Scientists urge WHO to declare climate change a global health emergency
Researchers call for the World Health Organization to label climate change a global health emergency, citing a Lancet Countdown study that attributes three million heat‑related deaths worldwide since the 2015 Paris Agreement, with 68 % directly linked to human‑caused warming. The report also notes a record 710,000 heat‑related deaths in 2023, over 70 % of which stem from climate change, and highlights a surge in extreme drought affecting 52 % of land in 2025. The study was released ahead of COP 31 in Turkiye.
Key facts
- More than 140 experts from over 30 countries contributed to the Lancet Countdown paper, led by University College London and the WHO.
- Clean‑energy investment hit a record in 2025, nearly double the amount invested in fossil fuels.
- An unprecedented El Niño is intensifying heatwaves, floods, wildfires and droughts worldwide.
- Over 250,000 people lost all possessions in a recent wildfire in Spain.
- More than 50,000 heat‑related deaths were recorded in European cities last summer, about 65 % linked to climate change.
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Why it matters
Recognising climate change as a health emergency could mobilise coordinated global action.
What changed
First published from DW, The Straits Times, ABC News (Australia), RTÉ News and Asharq Al-Awsat