As the health impacts of the climate crisis become increasingly varied and their future trajectories more uncertain, both the range of risks addressed by public health policy and the scope of policy approaches employed must expand. Extreme climatic events, such as severe heatwaves and torrential rainfall, not only heighten the risks of disease exacerbation and premature death, but also adversely affect individuals’ mental health and daily lives. Future generations will bear particularly heavy burdens, as they are likely to experience the effects of the climate crisis over longer periods and during its more advanced stages. For them, the climate crisis is as much a health hazard as it is a source of psychological distress. The growing complexity and breadth of the health impacts of the climate crisis impose new demands on the healthcare system. On the one hand, it must strengthen its capacity to adapt to climate-related health risks; on the other, it must transition toward lower greenhouse-gas emissions and greater sustainability. This August issue of Health and Welfare Forum is themed around “Transitioning Health Policies for Climate Resilience.” In one article the author discusses young people’s perceptions of the climate crisis and explores the characteristics of their climate anxiety. The other articles analyze the mental-health burden associated with extreme heat to illuminate how climate change affects psychological well-being; review the current status and principal characteristics of health policies implemented in Korea and elsewhere to address the climate crisis, with a view to identifying prospective directions for the evolution of Korean health policy; and consider policy initiatives undertaken abroad to reduce carbon emissions within the healthcare sector while examining the corresponding policy challenges facing Korea. Health policy in its response to the climate crisis should not remain confined to dealing with particular hazards such as heatwaves or infectious diseases. It must explicitly recognize the health of future generations and vulnerable populations as a policy priority, seek to prevent both the physical and psychological health risks associated with climate change, and embed throughout its entire framework the perspective of climate adaptation. We hope that the discussions we present in this issue will help readers gain a broader understanding of the evolving climate-related health risks and policy landscape, and identify the future direction and principal tasks of a health policy committed to strengthening climate resilience.

As the climate crisis continues to intensify, placing future generations at greater risk of its long-term impacts, climate anxiety―the psychological distress arising from sustained exposure to information concerning climate change and its anticipated consequences―has become increasingly prevalent among young people. Drawing on interviews with young adults, the present study examines the features characteristic of climate anxiety and considers their implications for public policy. The government has announced that it will address the issue of climate anxiety through a cross-ministerial plan. Relative to middle-aged and older citizens, young people, who will bear the brunt of the intensifying climate crisis, are active agents capable of communicating about climate change and contributing intellectual and policy-oriented expertise to mitigation and adaptation efforts. Their significance in the formulation and implementation of health policies facilitating adaptive responses to climate change therefore lies in their dual role as both beneficiaries of such policies and participants in their realization. It follows that future governmental initiatives to address the climate crisis―including measures directed at climate anxiety―ought to proceed from a well-founded understanding of younger generations.

The climate crisis adversely affects both physical and mental health. As the consequences of extreme weather events extend beyond immediate physiological symptoms to the exacerbation of underlying medical conditions and an increased risk of mortality, identifying which populations bear the greatest health burden from the climate crisis―and by what mechanisms―has become an important policy concern. Focusing on schizophrenia and dementia, two mental disorders known to be particularly vulnerable to extreme heatwaves, this study examines whether healthcare utilization increases during heatwaves relative to non-heatwave periods, whether the attendant burden is concentrated among particular demographic groups, and what policy implications follow from these findings.

As the climate crisis has come to be recognized globally as a major public health policy issue, policy discussions have expanded to address both the protection of health from climate-related risks and the sustainability of healthcare systems. Similarly, in Korea, growing attention to the health impacts of the climate crisis has prompted changes in both the scope and the approach of public health policy responses. This article reviews the current state of Korean health policy on climate change, with particular reference to the policy plans of central government ministries, examines recent developments in health adaptation policy in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia―countries at the forefront of responding to the climate crisis―and identifies areas in which Korean health policy requires further development.

The climate crisis―characterized by extreme heatwaves, infectious diseases, and air pollution―is known to increase health hazards and the demand for medical care while also giving rise to conditions in which the healthcare sector itself becomes a substantial source of greenhouse-gas emissions through increased energy consumption, the procurement of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, waste management activities, and the transportation of patients and personnel. Carbon neutrality efforts must therefore extend beyond climate adaptation to include mitigation policies aimed at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions generated in the provision of medical services. For Korea, an appropriate course of action would consist of establishing a national net-zero roadmap under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Welfare; instituting a Scope 1-3 greenhouse-gas emissions inventory; aligning accreditation, health insurance, and procurement systems with carbon-reduction objectives; developing low-carbon clinical practice and supply chains; and advancing patient safety, health equity, climate resilience, and the long-term fiscal sustainability of the healthcare system through capacity building and international cooperation.

This study was undertaken to examine such recent developments among young adults as delayed entry into employment, the increasing duration of job search, and the growing prevalence of non-employed youth, with the analytical focus placed on patterns of time use rather than on conventional employment status categories. Drawing on raw data from the 2024 Time Use Survey, this analysis classified unmarried individuals aged 19-34 into three groups―employed youth, youth engaged in job search, and youth currently not seeking employment―and compared their weekday and weekend time-use patterns. The findings indicate that employed youth spend most of their weekdays on essential daily activities and paid work, while on weekends they devote their remaining time primarily to rest and recharge. Those preparing for employment consistently spend part of both weekdays and weekends on job-search activities, whereas youth not seeking employment tend to concentrate on personal pursuits, with relatively little difference in their time-use patterns between weekdays and weekends. Overall, feelings of time scarcity and fatigue increased with the amount of time spent on paid work.