What is the Health Agenda for Climate Adaptation?

Introduction

Extreme heat poses the most direct and immediate threat to human health and well-being. Rising temperatures exacerbate infectious disease patterns, reduce agricultural productivity, and strain India’s already burdened health system. Without urgent investments in adaptation, escalating heat and climate impacts will outpace the capacity of India’s health infrastructure and workforce, deepening inequities across regions and populations. To frame a credible health agenda for climate adaptation, we first need to understand the limits of what we know, and why our data systems fail to capture the true scale of climate-related health impacts.

Accurately measuring the health impacts of heat is a central challenge in developing a credible climate health agenda. Building an evidence base will require local, contextually grounded research and improved epidemiological data. Timely and transparent communication of uncertainty must become a central norm in climate health modeling. Beyond scientific uncertainty, India’s ability to measure and respond to heat-health impacts is further constrained by fragmented data systems. Bridging these gaps requires both regulatory reform and a shift in mindset.

To be meaningful, the health agenda for climate adaptation must first center heat, the most pervasive and measurable stressor linking climate change and health. This essay is part of the white paper, ‘Critical Perspectives on Extreme Heat in India’ by the Salata Institute’s Climate Adaptation in South Asia research cluster.