By Sam Robinson
Publication Date: 2026-10-31 09:00:00
A decade after the Paris Agreement set the ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the Lancet warns that the health impacts of climate change are accelerating faster than the global response.
Against this backdrop, the Lancet Countdown Report calls for climate change to be recognised as a public health emergency, requiring a globally coordinated, long-term response.
Produced by an international collaboration of 146 researchers and more than 100 institutions, led by University College London (UCL) and developed in strategic collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the report tracks global trends across 54 indicators related to climate change and health.
The Lancet Countdown’s annual assessment examines the health impacts of climate change alongside the potential benefits of interventions designed to address it.
Chief among the report’s concerns is the growing toll of extreme heat. Between 2016 and 2023, heat was associated…
