Climate change is a 'global health emergency,' new report says
Summary
A 2026 Lancet Countdown report, led by University College London with the World Health Organization, says climate-related health harms are growing and accelerating. It estimates that heat was linked to more than 540,000 deaths per year on average from 2016 through 2023, and that heat-related productivity losses cost the world more than $1 trillion in potential income in 2025.Key Facts
- The report draws on findings from 146 researchers at more than 100 institutions in over 30 countries.
- Researchers estimated that heat was linked to more than 540,000 deaths per year on average from 2016 through 2023.
- The report attributes 68% of those heat-related deaths to climate change.
- In 2023, heat was linked to an estimated 710,000 deaths, with more than 71% attributed to climate change, according to the report.
- The report estimates that nearly 3 million deaths from 2016 to 2023 could be connected to climate change.
- Reduced productivity from heat caused more than $1 trillion in potential global income losses in 2025, the third year in a row losses exceeded that amount.
- The pace at which land experienced extreme drought rose by about 700% in 2016–2025 compared with the decade before the Paris Agreement.
- The share of land affected by very extreme rainfall rose from 14.8% in 2006–2015 to 17.2% in 2016–2025.
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