The 2024 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: facing record-breaking threats from delayed action

The 2024 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, reveals a stark escalation in climate-related health threats, with 10 of 15 indicators tracking health threats reaching alarming new records. In 2023 alone, people faced an average of 50 additional days of health-threatening temperatures than expected without climate change, and nearly half the world experienced severe drought, associated with heightened food insecurity for 151 million more people compared to previous decades.

Despite the initial hope inspired by the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world is now dangerously close to breaching its target of limiting global multiyear mean heating to 1·5°C. Annual mean surface temperature reached a record high of 1·45°C above the pre-industrial baseline in 2023, and new temperature highs were recorded throughout 2024. The resulting climatic extremes are increasingly claiming lives and livelihoods worldwide. Despite the availability of clean energy solutions, governments and companies continue to invest trillions in fossil fuels, exacerbating these health risks. The report calls for an urgent redirection of these funds to build a healthier, more sustainable future and underscores the need for a rapid, just transition to net zero emissions.