Leveraging a greater than 50-year reputation for integrity, objectivity, and nonpartisanship, the NAM is uniquely capable of bold and constructive leadership even and especially when the issues that affect human health are complex and divisive. Climate change, one of the largest scale threats to human health and prosperity of our lifetimes, is such an issue, and the NAM is moving aggressively to mobilize solutions among health, science, global communities, and supply chain organizations. Entrenched societal challenges require collaborations and leadership equally from health organizations and those experiencing impacts in communities. Impactful solutions rely on cross-sectoral partnerships and co-creation of innovative strategies.

Strategy 2a: Address climate change as an urgent, existential threat to human life, health, and well-being as a top priority.

The NAM has an unwavering commitment to leading change across the health sector to slow the pace of climate change and mitigate its impacts. We have chosen to highlight climate change apart from other major challenges affecting human health due to its scale, urgency, and disproportionate impacts on people already experiencing poverty and instability. We will rapidly codevelop and deploy evidence-informed solutions with partners to aid the health sector in reducing its own carbon footprint while building resilience, caring for people impacted by climate change, and serving as a strong proponent of progress among other sectors. The NAM’s Climate Grand Challenge—the largest program in our history—will improve and protect human health by transforming systems that both contribute to and are impacted by climate change. The grand challenge has five strategic goals: 1) communicating about the health impacts of climate change; 2) developing a roadmap for systems transformation towards a climate- and health-sustaining economy; 3) catalyzing the health sector to reduce its climate footprint and ensure its resilience; 4) accelerating research and innovation at the intersection of climate and health; and 5) identifying solutions for communities that disproportionately experience climate-related health impacts. Together, these activities will leverage the Academy’s unparalleled independence, objectivity, convening power, and community of experts to advance the evidence, catalyze national and global communities, and accelerate transformation.

Strategy 2b: Anticipate and address critical issues affecting health and medicine across the United States and globally.

In recognition that health is largely determined by factors outside the clinical setting, the NAM has long been committed to addressing large-scale, intersecting societal challenges that threaten health and well-being. Going forward, in order to better anticipate these issues and respond with speed, we will apply a variety of methods to surveil and forecast emerging challenges and health impacts across scientific, social, and environmental dimensions, both within the United States and globally. These include challenges already mentioned in this plan—such as pandemics, violence, and the impacts of new science and technology—and others, such as critical shortages of health workers and other essential resources.

Strategy 2c: Inspire and catalyze bold, visionary action with transformational partnerships.

The complexity and global nature of the challenges affecting health today require outside-the-box solutions and nontraditional collaborations. The NAM will leverage pathbreaking programmatic mechanisms, such as Grand Challenges and global innovation competitions, as well as partnerships with government, philanthropy, industry and sectors beyond health and medicine, to unlock approaches that were previously unimagined. Further, we will work to develop networks of partners at all levels—beginning internally, leveraging the vast multidisciplinary expertise of the National Academies—and extending to localities, states, regions, and national and international actors. Such partnerships will enable timely co-development and deployment of solutions to complex and crosscutting health challenges. To further NAM’s global reach and leadership, we will continue to participate and lead discussions at international forums and venues including the United Nations General Assembly, G7 and G20 summits, World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, World Health Summit, Climate Week NYC, and the Conference of the Parties (COP), among others. We will also continue to collaborate with institutions such as the International Academy Partnership, WEF, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other global development banks.

Strategy 2d: Mobilize public-private partnerships and engage impacted communities to co-create actionable solutions.

No single sector can act alone to solve a major societal challenge affecting health. The NAM will leverage public-private partnerships, such as Action Collaboratives, to facilitate collective action toward shared goals. At every step, we will engage members of impacted communities as leaders in designing and implementing solutions. For example, the NAM will expand programmatic approaches, such as our Climate Communities Network (CCN), which brings together leaders from communities that are disproportionately impacted by climate change to collaboratively identify and develop solutions to climate-related health inequities both within and across member communities, and to inform the strategic direction and outcomes of NAM’s climate grand challenge. CCN members work alongside representatives from government, philanthropy, academia, and industry to catalyze innovation, inform policy, drive funding, and co-design solutions.