The 2026 Lancet Countdown report warns that global health harms from climate change are accelerating faster than international responses. Researchers attribute nearly 3 million heat-related deaths between 2016 and 2023 directly to climate change, including a record 710,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Extreme weather cost the global economy $1.07 trillion in lost income in 2025. Scientists and public health leaders are urging the United Nations and WHO to formally declare climate change a global health emergency.
Overview of the 2026 report
- ▪The 10th annual 2026 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report, led by University College London in collaboration with the World Health Organization, recommended establishing a formal mechanism to recognize climate change as a global health emergency.
- ▪The 2026 Lancet Countdown report brought together 146 multidisciplinary researchers from over 100 institutions across more than 30 countries to track 54 climate and health indicators.
Global mortality from extreme heat
- ▪The 2026 Lancet Countdown report found climate change caused nearly 3 million heat-related deaths globally between 2016 and 2023, averaging 540,800 annual deaths, 68% directly from human-caused climate change.
- ▪In 2023, extreme heat was linked to a record 710,000 deaths globally, with over 70% attributable to climate change.
Worsening global drought
- ▪The Lancet Countdown report found that extreme drought affected more than half of the world's land for at least one month in 2025.
- ▪The Lancet Countdown report found that the area of land hit by extreme drought expanded 700% faster between 2016 and 2025 than in the preceding decade.
Economic impacts of heat
- ▪The 2026 Lancet Countdown report found that heat exposure caused a global loss of 573 billion potential work hours in 2025.
- ▪Reduced labor productivity from heat exposure cost the global economy an estimated $1.07 trillion in potential income in 2025.
Impacts of climate change in India
- ▪Fine particulate matter pollution was associated with more than 2.2 million deaths in India in 2023, with fossil fuel combustion contributing to 38% of those fatalities.
- ▪Half of the heatwave days experienced by people in India between 2016 and 2025 were directly attributable to climate change, according to the 2026 Lancet Countdown report.
Proposed climate mitigation measures
- ▪Lancet Countdown researchers proposed an immediate global ban on new fossil fuel exploration and the complete phase-out of coal-fired power generation by 2035.
- ▪Lancet Countdown report authors recommended a global transition to predominantly plant-based diets as a key measure to protect public health.
Clean energy expansion
- ▪The Lancet Countdown report noted that renewable energy sources expanded from 5.5% of global electricity generation in 2016 to 13.5% in 2023.
- ▪Global clean energy investment reached a record $2.1 trillion in 2025, preventing an estimated 323,000 deaths annually from reduced air pollution across at least 77 countries.
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