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Lancet Countdown report calls for global climate health emergency declaration
The tenth annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report warns that climate-related health risks are accelerating faster than global response measures. Researchers, led by University College London in collaboration with the World Health Organization, are calling on the United Nations and the WHO to formally declare climate change a global health emergency to shift action from voluntary commitments to coordinated, mandatory crisis management.
Key findings indicate that heat-related mortality has increased significantly since the 2016 Paris Agreement. In 2023, an estimated 710,000 people died from heat-related causes, with over 70 percent attributed to human-induced climate change. Between 2016 and 2023, the global average for annual heat-related deaths was approximately 540,800.
The report also highlights economic and environmental impacts. In 2025, extreme heat was estimated to have caused a loss of 1.07 trillion US dollars in global economic output. Additionally, extreme drought affected 51.8 percent of the world's land area for at least one month in 2025. The authors emphasize that while investments in clean energy are rising, they remain insufficient to offset the growing health threats from extreme heat, drought, and infectious diseases like dengue fever.
Entities
European Union · Lancet Countdown · Marina Romanello · Paris Agreement · Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus · The Lancet · The Lancet Countdown · United Nations · University College London · WHO Civil Society Working Group on Climate and Health · World Health Organization
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 2 SOURCES] Clean energy investment reached $2.1 trillion in 2025. newscentraltv.com · www.independent.co.uk
- [● 2 SOURCES] Fossil fuels provide 80 per cent of global energy. newscentraltv.com · www.independent.co.uk
- [● 3 SOURCES] Over 70 per cent of 2023 heat deaths were attributed directly to human-caused climate change. newscentraltv.com · theqldr.com.au · www.independent.co.uk
- [● 4 SOURCES] Researchers urge leaders to declare climate change a global health emergency. newscentraltv.com · www.latestly.com · theqldr.com.au · www.independent.co.uk
- [● 2 SOURCES] More than half of the world's land experienced at least one month of extreme drought during 2025. theqldr.com.au · www.independent.co.uk
- [DISPUTED] Extreme heat and reduced worker productivity cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually over the past three years. newscentraltv.com · www.latestly.com
- [● 29 SOURCES] There were 710,000 heat-related deaths in 2023. newscentraltv.com · theqldr.com.au · www.independent.co.uk · www.allgaeuer-zeitung.de · www.mdr.de · +24 more
- [● 9 SOURCES] Rising temperatures killed approximately 3 million people between 2016 and 2023. newscentraltv.com · www.latestly.com · quepasamedia.com · www.arabnews.pk · www.elespectador.com · +4 more
- [● 4 SOURCES] Climate disinformation is a threat to public health.
- [● 16 SOURCES] Heat-related deaths in 2023 were higher than deaths caused by malaria. www.allgaeuer-zeitung.de · www.nordbayern.de · www.leinetal24.de · www.marler-zeitung.de · www.ad-hoc-news.de · +11 more
- [● 23 SOURCES] Between 2016 and 2023, an average of 540,800 people died annually due to heat. www.allgaeuer-zeitung.de · www.mdr.de · www.nordbayern.de · www.leinetal24.de · quepasamedia.com · +18 more
- [● 34 SOURCES] Researchers are calling for the climate crisis to be recognized as a global health emergency. www.allgaeuer-zeitung.de · www.mdr.de · www.nordbayern.de · www.leinetal24.de · quepasamedia.com · +29 more