In short:
A new Lancet report has found the number of heat-related deaths has been growing since the 2015 Paris Agreement, despite real gains from the climate pact.
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number → find → pact
It says climate action is not keeping pace with increasing health impacts as the world keeps burning fossil fuels.
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world → say → fuels
Researchers are calling for climate change to be declared a global health emergency to enable a coordinated global response.
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change → call → response
The latest global study on climate change-related health risks has found that 3 million deaths between 2016 and 2023 can be attributed to a warming planet.
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deaths → relate → planet
Published ahead of the world's COP 31 climate conference in Turkiye, this year's Lancet Countdown report noted significant progress had been made on key climate goals that could reduce heating by 2100 from up to 3.5 degrees Celsius to 2.6C.
It found the growth of energy from renewable sources had "vastly exceeded expectations", but that global action on climate change was "grossly insufficient", and that this had already led to significant harm to human health.
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this → publish → health
It is the first time the authors of the Lancet Countdown study have quantified heat-related deaths directly due to human-caused climate change.
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authors → quantify → change
The authors estimate more than half a million deaths per year between 2016 and 2023 were linked to heat and that 68 per cent of those deaths were caused by climate change.
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cent → estimate → change
Developing countries had the highest proportion of heat-related deaths, which the authors found "reflected the disproportionate adverse impacts of climate change on those least responsible for it".
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authors → develop → it
Study co-author and Macquarie University climate health expert Professor Paul Beggs said vulnerable people were most at risk from climate change globally, but no-one was immune.
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one → say → change
"Even here in Australia, we know people do die from heatwaves, people do die from bushfire smoke exposure and things like that," he said.
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he → know → that
"So I think it doesn't matter where you live; climate change is already having an impact on health, and that's only going to increase."
According to recently released peer-reviewed studies, severe heat killed more than 50,000 people across Europe during this year's Northern Hemisphere summer, which was marred by rolling heatwaves and fires.
uncertain
which → think → heatwaves
The scientists attributed about two-thirds of these deaths to human-caused climate change.
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scientists → attribute → change
The Lancet report tracks 54 indicators of how climate change and efforts to tackle it affect health, but warns that wider, system-wide risks could be far greater than the individual measures suggest.
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measures → track → health
"A severe El Niño threatens to compound the impacts of climate change and trigger unprecedented climate-related humanitarian crises globally," the report states.
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report → threaten → crises
"Climate change has become a global health emergency.
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change → become → ?
Addressing it requires urgent course correction."
More heatwaves, droughts
The study authors noted that the past 11 years had been the hottest on record, accompanied by more frequent heatwaves and droughts.
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years → address → heatwaves
Climate change has increased the risk and intensity of droughts, which affected more than 50 per cent of global land in 2025 for at least a month.
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which → increase → month
At the same time, extreme rainfall has also increased, resulting in a higher flood and landslide risk.
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rainfall → increase → risk
The report found the world's exposure to very high or extremely high risk of wildfire had also increased.
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exposure → find → wildfire
Climate change was also affecting productivity, according to the researchers.
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change → affect → researchers
"Globally, heat exposure caused the loss of 573 billion potential work hours in 2025, resulting in US $1.07 trillion in income losses," the report found, with low-and middle-income countries most affected.
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countries → cause → losses
Western Sydney physician Aditya Vyas co-authored a separate Lancet climate health report due to be released on Oceania.
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Vyas → co → Oceania
He said health workers had recorded a 13 per cent increase in emergency presentations during heatwaves, which he described as a "silent killer" in the community.
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he → say → community
"The impacts are worse now than they were before, but also they're worsening, and for the next generation this is going to have a real impact on their health status," Dr Vyas said.
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Vyas → worsen → status
'Vested interests' obstructing progress
The Lancet authors found fossil fuels continued to supply about 80 per cent of global energy, pushing energy-related emissions to a record high in 2024.
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fuels → obstruct → 2024
"Unequal access to clean energy and the persistent use of polluting fuels are not only exacerbating climate change risks, but also directly harming health and increasing vulnerabilities through air pollution," the report states.
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report → pollute → pollution
The authors also cited "vested interests", in the form of "lobbying and disinformation by fossil fuel interests and political allies", as an obstruction in the effort to transition towards clean energy.
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authors → cite → energy
This was "countering the growing body of scientific literature on the links between health and climate change."
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This → counter → health
The authors singled out the USA for promoting fossil fuel expansion and withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.
"
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authors → single → Agreement
The growing political support for fossil fuels from the USA and other countries threatens to lock the world into a future of irreversible damage and mounting risks to health and survival."
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support → grow → health
Air quality preventing deaths
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quality → prevent → deaths
The authors also provided cause for hope in the form of growth in renewable energy sources and its effect on human health.
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authors → provide → health
They estimated that 400,000 deaths were prevented in 2023 compared to 2016 due to improved air quality from switching to cleaner energy sources.
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deaths → estimate → sources
Electricity use in transport had increased by 427 per cent from 2016 to 2023 globally, the report's authors noted, which, together with air pollution control and active travel promotion, had "prevented 85,000 deaths across 75 countries".
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which → increase → countries
Scaling up access to off-grid renewables would prevent another 2 million deaths annually, which could be "attributable to household air pollution from solid-fuel use".
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which → scale → use
Professor Beggs said the report was an urgent call to prioritise human health over fossil fuels.
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report → say → fuels
"Australia is the president of COP this year," he said.
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he → say → COP
"We're really hoping for big things in terms of progress on mitigating climate change, and that means reducing fossil fuel emissions."
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that → hop → emissions
The Aporia
