The World Health Organization (WHO) and global partners are calling for the protection of people’s health to be recognised as the most powerful driver of climate action, as a new global report warns that continued overreliance on fossil fuels and failure to adapt to a heating world are already having a devastating toll on human health.
The 2025 report of the ‘Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change’, produced in collaboration with WHO, finds that 12 of 20 key indicators tracking health threats have reached record levels, demonstrating how climate inaction is costing lives, straining health systems, and undermining economies.
Dr Jeremy Farrar, assistant director-general for health promotion and disease prevention and care, WHO, said: “The climate crisis is a health crisis. Every fraction of a degree of warming costs lives and livelihoods. This report, produced with WHO as a strategic partner, makes clear that climate inaction is killing people now in all countries. However, climate action is also the greatest health opportunity of our time. Cleaner air, healthier diets, and resilient health systems can save millions of lives now and protect current and future generations.”
Key findings from the report include a rise in heat-related deaths, an increase in food insecurity, economic impacts, and increased air pollution. The report highlights that fossil fuel subsidies dwarf climate finance, with 15 countries spending more subsidising fossil fuels than on their entire national health budgets.
