New global findings in the 8th annual indicator report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change reveal that people in every country face record-breaking threats to health and survival from the rapidly changing climate, with 10 of 15 indicators tracking health threats reaching concerning new records. Authors call out governments and companies who continue “fuelling the fire” with persistent investment in fossil fuels, all-time high energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, and years of delays in adaptation that are narrowing the survival chances of people across the globe. 

Report underscores that the financial resources to deliver net zero emissions and secure a healthy future are available. Yet governments and companies are spending trillions of dollars on fossil fuel subsidies and investments that are making climate change worse—money that could be redirected towards clean renewable energy and activities that benefit people’s health, livelihoods and wellbeing.

Authors argue that the findings must force a global health-centred transformation of financial systems – shifting resources from the fossil fuel-based economy towards a zero-emissions future – that will deliver rapid health and economic benefits through improved energy access and security, cleaner air and water, healthier diets and lifestyles, and more sustainable job opportunities. 

“This year’s stocktake of the imminent health threats of climate inaction reveals the most concerning findings yet in our eight years of monitoring,” warned Dr Marina Romanello, Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown at University College London.

“Once again, last year broke climate change records—with extreme heat waves, deadly weather events, and devastating wildfires affecting people around the world. No individual or economy on the planet is immune from the health threats of climate change. The relentless expansion of fossil fuels and record-breaking greenhouse gas emissions compounds these dangerous health impacts, and is threatening to reverse the limited progress made so far, and put a healthy future further out of reach.” 

She added, “Despite this threat, we see financial resources continue to be invested in the very things that undermine our health. Repurposing the trillions of dollars being invested in, or subsidising, the fossil fuel industry every year would provide the opportunity to deliver a fair, equitable transition to clean energy and energy efficiency, and a healthier future, ultimately benefiting the global economy.”

The 8^th Lancet Countdown annual indicator report, funded by Wellcome and developed in close collaboration with the World Health Organization, represents the work of 122 leading experts from 57 academic institutions and UN agencies globally, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

Published ahead of the 29^th UN Conference of the Parties (COP), the report provides the most up-to-date assessment of the links between health and climate change, including new metrics which record extreme precipitation, stranded coal assets, tree cover loss, sand and dust storms, rising night time temperatures and sleep loss, and climate and health education and training.

Record-breaking human costs of climate change

The year 2023 was the hottest on record, with persistent droughts, deadly heat waves, and devastating forest fires, storms and floods, and disastrous impacts on the health, lives and livelihoods of people worldwide.

Heat-related deaths continue to rapidly increase, and are expected to exceed cold-related deaths in a high-warming scenario. Globally in 2023, heat-related deaths in those over age 65 increased by a record-breaking 167% above deaths in the 1990s, substantially above the 65% increase that would have been expected had temperatures not changed (i.e., accounting only for changing demographics). This compounds existing inequities, with the number of health-threatening heat days added by climate change higher in countries with a low human development index (a measure of education, income, and life expectancy). 

“People in all parts of the world are increasingly suffering from the financial and health effects of climate change, and disadvantaged communities in resource-limited nations are often the worst affected, yet provided with the least financial and technological protections,” said Prof. Wenjia Cai, Lancet Countdown Working Group 4 Co-Chair at Tsinghua University. “Adaptation is failing to keep pace with the rapidly growing health threats of climate change, and with limits to adaptation looming, and universal health coverage still a pipe dream for more than half the world’s population, financial support is urgently needed to strengthen health systems to better protect people.”