The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms

The Lancet Countdown is an international research collaboration that independently monitors the evolving impacts of climate change on health, and the emerging health opportunities of climate action. In its eighth iteration, this 2023 report draws on the expertise of 114 scientists and health practitioners from 52 research institutions and UN agencies worldwide to provide its most comprehensive assessment yet. In 2022, the Lancet Countdown warned that people's health is at the mercy of fossil fuels and stressed the transformative opportunity of jointly tackling the concurrent climate change, energy, cost-of-living, and health crises for human health and wellbeing. This year's report finds few signs of such progress. However, with health matters gaining prominence in climate change negotiations, this report highlights new opportunities to deliver health-promoting climate change action and a safe and thriving future for all.

The Publication finds the following: 

• To be effective, the transition to clean, zero-emission energy must be enabled through financial mechanisms and, importantly, be equitable.
• Redirecting subsidies, lending, investment, and other financial flows away from fossil fuels is crucial to supporting a healthy future. 
• Health-centred urban redesign can promote safe active travel, reduce building and transport-based air pollution and GHG emissions, and increase resilience to climate hazards.
•  Empowering countries and local communities in the safe development, deployment, and adoption of clean energies can reduce energy poverty by supporting access to decentralized energy. In turn, this can promote access to quality health-supporting services and promote local skills, generate jobs, and support local economies—strengthening the socioeconomic determinants of health.
• To truly protect health, climate negotiations must drive a rapid and sustained shift away from fossil fuels, accelerate mitigation, and increase support for health adaptation. Anything less would amount to health washing.