Climate change is a 'global health emergency' and the harms are accelerating, Lancet report warns
Researchers say climate harms are accelerating, with heat deaths at a record high and losses topping $1 trillion for a third straight year.
- On Wednesday, researchers from University College London and the World Health Organisation published a report demanding Climate Change be declared a global health emergency before next month's Cop31 conference.
- Professor Marina Romanello of the Lancet Countdown said health risks escalated faster in the decade since the Paris Agreement, with annual heat-related fatalities surging by almost 36 per cent.
- Extreme heat contributed to a record 710,000 fatalities in 2023, with researchers attributing over 70 per cent directly to man-made warming as fossil fuels still provide over 80 per cent of energy.
- Severe drought affected nearly 52 per cent of global land for at least one month in 2025, while the world swings to water extremes—some regions drying out, others flooding.
- Clean energy funding hit a record in 2025, though researchers warn top oil producers will surpass production limits compatible with 1.5C by 150 per cent by 2040, undercutting progress.
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48 Articles
The 10th Lancet Countdown report shows that both the health effects of warming and the number of heat-related deaths have increased considerably since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015.
Firefighter Helps Women Exhaust by Heat in Texas, June 26, 2023. Kaylee Greenlee Beal/Reuters The impacts of climate change on health are increasing more rapidly than a decade ago, despite international commitments to contain global warming. The warning is from a report published last Tuesday (27) by the prestigious scientific journal "The Lancet", which points to an acceleration of heat-related deaths, extreme drought exposure and health proble…
Climate change should be formally declared 'global health emergency', new study suggests
A new report has urged international governments to declare climate change a global health emergency. Health harms from climate change have grown faster in the decade since countries signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 than in the decade before, according to the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change.Annual average heat-related deaths rose by nearly 36 per cent globally after the Paris Agreement was introduced, its findings suggest.In 2023…
Climate change intensifies global health risks, Lancet Countdown report warns
The 2026 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change finds that many of the health risks and harms of climate change grew faster in the decade since the Paris Agreement was introduced (2016–2025) than in the decade before it (2006–2015).
People die, working conditions deteriorate, natural livelihoods under pressure: time to declare a health emergency? International researchers have a clear opinion on this.
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