The 2025 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, released in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), delivers a stark warning: climate inaction is already claiming millions of lives each year and straining health systems worldwide. As the world heads toward COP30 in Brazil, the report urges that protecting health must be central to all climate action. Globally, 12 of 20 key health and climate indicators have reached record highs. Rising temperatures have led to a 23% increase in heat-related mortality since the 1990s, now causing around 546,000 deaths annually.
The average person experienced 16 days of extreme heat in 2024 that would not have occurred without climate change, with infants and the elderly facing particular vulnerability. Concurrently, droughts and heatwaves contributed to food insecurity for 124 million additional people in 2023. The economic toll…
