Europe sweltered in an unprecedented heatwave during the summer

Call to declare climate change 'global health emergency'

28 Oct 2026, 07:17 · RTE.ie

Climate change should formally be declared a global health emergency, experts have warned after they found that impacts on human health are outpacing the action countries are taking.

Health harms from climate change have grown faster in the decade since countries signed the international Paris Agreement in 2015 compared to the decade before, according to the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change.

Annual average heat-related deaths rose by nearly 36% globally after the Paris Agreement was introduced, its findings suggest.

In 2023 alone, heat was linked to a record 710,000 deaths, with more than 70% of that toll attributable to human-caused climate change, the researchers found.

More than 140 experts from more than 30 countries worked on the paper, led by University College London (UCL) and produced in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Research looked at how health interacts with heat and air quality among other 'indicators'

Published ahead of the start of UN climate summit Cop31 next month, the paper tracks 54 "indicators" that cover how health interacts with areas such as heat, air quality, climate suitability for infectious disease transmission, energy systems, adaptation, health research funding, legislative engagement, extreme weather events and climate-driven economic losses.

According to the findings, extreme drought affected nearly 52% of the world's land for at least a month in 2025, marking the second-highest level on record.

Using new satellite-based analysis, the researchers also found that 80% of the world's land has faced significant shifting patterns of increasing dry and wet groundwater storage conditions since 2003, with widespread impacts on food security and sanitation.

Clean energy investment reached a record in 2025 and was almost double what was invested in fossil fuels, the report said, adding that cleaner air prevented an estimated 323,000 deaths a year in at least 77 countries where air pollution from fossil fuels has fallen since 2016.

But the researchers noted that fossil fuels still supply more than 80% of the world's energy, producing planet-heating emissions that are driving the climate crisis.

Experts called for health to be placed at the centre of every climate decision

The UN recently warned that the world will overshoot the key climate threshold of 1.5C warming above pre-industrial levels, beyond which extreme weather events become more intense and frequent, and the risk of passing irreversible tipping points accelerates.

The researchers found that the 100 largest oil and gas companies in the world are on track to exceed production levels that would be compatible with limiting warming to 1.5C by 150% by 2040 - up from 138% from last year.

Responding to the findings, the experts behind the report called for health to be placed at the centre of every climate decision, from emissions reductions to funding priorities.

Professor Marina Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown, said: "A decade after the Paris Agreement, our findings are unambiguous: the health harms of climate change are growing faster than the world's response to them, and in many cases even accelerating."

"Real progress has been made in clean energy, health system readiness, and health-protective regulation, all of which are already delivering health benefits to local communities.

"However, progress has been too slow, too small, and isn't reaching those who need it most.

"That is why we are calling for climate change to be formally recognised as a global health emergency, with health placed at the centre of every climate decision."

She added: "These numbers point to a clear emergency.

"The rate of increase in many climate-related health threats is accelerating, while heat deaths linked to climate change have reached a record high, and the economic toll is battering vulnerable sectors and communities the hardest.

"The risks become even more profound when you consider how different hazards interact and compound.

"At the same time, drought is spreading, and the world is swinging to water extremes, some drying out, while others are flooding.

"This isn't a gradual worsening; it's a step change that must be recognised as the global health emergency it is."