The world is not responding fast enough to the health damage caused by climate change, according to the latest Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, which is calling for climate change to be formally recognised as a global health emergency.

The annual report, led by University College London (UCL) and produced with the World Health Organization, draws on more than 140 experts from over 30 countries and tracks 54 indicators. It was released ahead of the UN climate summit, COP31, in Antalya, Türkiye.

Its headline findings are stark. Annual average heat-related deaths rose by nearly 36% globally after the 2015 Paris Agreement. Heat was linked to a record 710,000 deaths in 2023, and more than 70% of those deaths are attributed to human-caused climate change. In 2025, extreme drought affected nearly 52% of the world’s land for at least a month, the second-highest level on record, and since 2003 about 80% of the world’s land has seen significant shifts in groundwater storage.

Some trends point the other way. Clean energy investment reached a record in 2025, almost double the amount invested in fossil fuels, and cleaner air prevented an estimated 323,000 deaths a year in at least 77 countries. But fossil fuels still supply more than 80% of the world’s energy, and the report finds that the 100 largest oil and gas companies are on track to exceed production levels compatible with 1.5°C by 150% by 2040, up from 138% in last year’s assessment.

“The health harms of climate change are growing faster than the world’s response to them,” said Professor Marina Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown. She added that “progress has been too slow, too small, and isn’t reaching those who need it most,” and that “this isn’t a gradual worsening; it’s a step change that must be recognised as the global health emergency it is.”

For India, where heat, drought and groundwater stress are already shaping public health planning, the report’s tracking of heat deaths and water shifts will be closely watched. I