Average annual heat-related deaths increase 36%

A annual average heat-related deaths increased almost 36% worldwide after the entry into force of the Paris Agreement, indicates a report on Health and Climate Change” released today.

The 10th Lancet Countdown report, led by University College London (UCL) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), states that “only in 2023 was heat associated with a record of 710,000 deaths, of which more than 70% were attributed to climate change caused by human activity.”.

According to a statement from the scientific journal Lancet on the analysis, “heat was associated with an estimated average of 540,800 deaths per year between 2016 and 2023, 68% of them (369,900) caused by climate change, an increase from 55% (219,100) per year in the period 2006 to 2015.”.

In total, the calculations point to almost three million heat deaths caused by climate change between 2016 and 2023.

The Paris Agreement, signed in 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), implements the commitment of the countries of the world to prevent global temperatures from rising above 2°C (Celsius grades) in relation to the pre-industrial period, and preferably not exceeding 1,5°C.

The authors of the report say that the measures taken to limit global warming have brought “concrete health benefits” of the population, but they consider that they are insufficient to compensate for “the increasing damage caused by climate change”, arguing that these are declared “a global health emergency”.

“Ten years ago, we argued that combating climate change could represent the greatest opportunity to promote health in the 21st century, through adaptation measures and rapid progress in the gradual reduction of fossil fuels and other emission sources,” said Anthony Costello, co-president of Lancet Countdown, quoted in the statement.

“ A decade later we have proof that climate action centered on health works: cleaner air, resilient health systems and alert systems are protecting health and saving lives worldwide. But the pace and scale of the reduction of emissions are still far below what is needed in the face of the size and speed of damage,” he said.

According to the report, fossil fuel production plans are increasingly far from the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

“ Today, the world’s 100 largest oil and gas companies plan to produce, by 2040, 150% more fossil fuels than the volume compatible with that target, an increase over the 138% predicted in 2025.”.

The study points out that production plans persist despite the increased costs of fossil fuels, which pressure public finances, adding that net subsidies to them have “doubled since 2016.”.

“ In response to peaks in energy prices, global net subsidies to fossil fuels reached record levels between 2022 and 2024,” a year when “10 countries spent more on these subsidies than on their health systems,” he said.

The report, which counts on the work of 146 multidisciplinary researchers from more than 100 institutions in a three-year range of countries, is released just over a week from the beginning of the 31st United Nations climate conference, which runs from 9 to 20 November in Turkey.