Lancet report declares climate change a global health emergency

Signed by 146 researchers from more than 30 countries, the Lancet report emphasized that extreme heat and drought are growing much faster than climate action, revealing that climate change has become a global health emergency.

The report, featuring contributions from 146 researchers across more than 100 institutions in over 30 countries, emphasized that extreme heat and drought are escalating rapidly ahead of climate action. It stated that between 2016 and 2023, when the Paris Agreement entered into force, an annual average of 540,000 people lost their lives due to heat-related causes, and 68 percent of these deaths were driven by climate change. It was expressed that in 2023 alone, temperature increases led to 710,000 deaths, with more than 71 percent directly linked to the climate crisis, surpassing deaths from malaria or HIV. It was noted that total deaths attributable to climate change throughout the 2016-2023 period reached approximately 3 million.

It was reported that due to rising temperatures and the resulting decline in labor productivity, the global economy lost more than 1 trillion dollars in potential income in 2025, marking the third consecutive year that the trillion-dollar threshold has been exceeded. It was stated that the proportion of land affected by extreme drought accelerated by approximately 700 percent in the 2016-2025 period compared to the previous decade, with more than half of the world's land facing extreme drought for at least one month in 2025.

The report noted that global clean energy investments increased by more than 7 percent in 2025 to reach 2.1 trillion dollars, exceeding fossil fuel investments by 82 percent. It was emphasized that fossil fuels continue to account for more than 80 percent of the global energy supply, and air pollution causes approximately 2.7 million deaths each year. Researchers called for climate change to be officially recognized as a global health emergency, for the WHO and the United Nations to coordinate a response, for health to be placed at the center of climate decisions, and for emissions to be reduced.