• WHO calls for governments to prioritise health in climate policy • Report shows record rise in heat-related deaths, food insecurity, and productivity loss
ISLAMABAD, October 30, 2025: The World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners have urged global governments to treat public health as the central motivation for climate action, warning that continued dependence on fossil fuels and inadequate adaptation to rising temperatures are causing millions of preventable deaths annually.
According to the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change 2025, prepared in collaboration with WHO, 12 of 20 key health indicators linked to climate change have reached record highs, demonstrating that “climate inaction is costing lives, straining health systems, and undermining economies.”
“The climate crisis is a health crisis. Every fraction of a degree of warming costs lives and livelihoods,” said Dr Jeremy Farrar, Assistant Director General for Health Promotion at WHO.https://t.co/QeNuJe4D6d
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“The climate crisis is a health crisis,” said Dr Jeremy Farrar, WHO Assistant Director General for Health Promotion. “Every fraction of a degree of warming costs lives. Climate inaction is now killing people in all countries, while action offers the greatest health opportunity of our time.”
The report found that heat-related mortality has increased by 23 per cent since the 1990s, with an estimated 546,000 deaths annually. In 2023, the average person faced 16 days of extreme heat attributable solely to climate change, while older adults and infants endured over 20 heatwave days each, four times more than two decades ago.
Additionally, 124 million more people faced food insecurity compared to the previous year, and heat exposure caused a loss of 640 billion labour hours, equating to $1.09 trillion in productivity losses.
The report criticised governments for collectively spending $956 billion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2023, exceeding the total pledged to climate-vulnerable nations.
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On a positive note, reductions in coal-related pollution saved 160,000 lives annually between 2010 and 2022, while renewable energy reached 12 per cent of global electricity generation, creating 16 million jobs.
WHO said over 60 per cent of member states have now completed national health adaptation plans. It emphasised that phasing out fossil fuels, shifting to cleaner energy, and adopting climate-friendly diets could together save over ten million lives a year.
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