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Background

The CCF project stemmed from a common concern of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, Swiss Re and the United Nations Development Programme. This concern was centered on the emerging threats to health from climate change and the implications of diseases of humans and Earth's life-support systems for economies and development. Unique aspects of the study include:

• Integration of corporate stakeholders in the assessment process
• Combined focus on physical, biological and economic impacts
• Anticipation of short-term impacts, rather than century-scaled projections
• Scenarios of plausible futures with gradual and step-wise change
• A framework to deal with and plan for climate-related surprise impacts

In September 2003, a Scoping Conference for the CCF project was held at the United Nations in New York and involved more than 80 participants from multiple scientific disciplines, corporations, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations. Through the initial deliberations, follow-up workshops and teleconferences, a set of case studies and impact scenarios was developed.

In June 2004, a conference and Executive Roundtable were held at Swiss Re's Centre for Global Dialogue at Rschlikon near Zurich, Switzerland. This gathering expanded the reach of the project to include more representatives from the financial sector, allowing deeper exploration of the links between health, environmental and economic consequences of the changing climate. Risks and opportunities were addressed, as were policies and measures commensurate with the magnitude of the possible futures envisioned.

In August 2004, a follow-up workshop was facilitated to standardize the methodology for the case studies and scenarios. The resulting study was released today at the American Museum of Natura
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Contact: John Lacey
public_affairs@hms.harvard.edu
617-432-0442
Harvard Medical School
1-Nov-2005