GENEVA, 29th October, 2026 (WAM) -- Ahead of COP31, the latest Lancet Countdown report finds that the health impacts of climate change are accelerating, with heat-related deaths, drought and other climate-related risks increasing faster than a decade ago, even as clean energy investments and climate action begin to deliver health benefits.
A decade after the Paris Agreement entered into force, the 2026 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change reports that many climate-related health harms are growing faster than the global response. The report, produced by an international collaboration of researchers and institutions led by University College London and developed in strategic collaboration with WHO, tracks global trends across 54 indicators linking climate change and health.
According to the report, annual average heat-related deaths increased by nearly 36% in the years following the Paris Agreement compared with the previous decade. In 2023 alone, heat was linked to a record 710 000 deaths globally, with more than 70% of that burden attributable to human-caused climate change. The report also highlights worsening drought conditions, increasing exposure to hydrological extremes, and substantial economic losses linked to heat exposure.
The report also notes advances in climate-resilient health systems, including increased adoption of national health adaptation plans and climate-informed early warning systems.
“Climate change is already harming health in every region of the world, and the evidence shows that many of these impacts are accelerating,” said Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Head, Climate change, Air Quality and Energy and Health Unit. “At the same time, this report demonstrates that climate action is a health intervention. Cleaner energy, stronger health systems and early warning systems are saving lives today. As countries prepare for COP31, placing health at the centre of climate policies can help protect communities, strengthen resilience and deliver immediate benefits for people’s health and well-being.”
The report's authors call for climate change to be formally recognized and addressed as a global health emergency, and for health considerations to be integrated across climate mitigation, adaptation and financing decisions. Priorities include accelerating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, increasing support for adaptation, and expanding investments that strengthen health system resilience.