The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change (October 2022)

Summary

Published annually, the 'Lancet Countdown on health and climate change' is an international, multidisciplinary collaboration, dedicated to monitoring the evolving health profile of climate change, and providing an independent assessment of the delivery of commitments made by governments worldwide under the Paris Agreement. 

Content

This year’s Lancet Countdown report, 2022 on Health and Climate Change (a collaboration of over 120 leading experts from UN countries and academic institutions) warns that ‘the health of people around the world is at the mercy of a persistent fossil fuel addiction’.  The report makes it “clearer than ever that we are at a critical point” says Rachel Stancliffe, Director of The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, and that “if we continue as we are, including subsidising fossil fuels, we will be locked into a devastating future for the children of today”.

The report states how alarming things have become – with a 68% increase in heat-related deaths amongst the most vulnerable population groups (infants and those over 65years) in the last four years. It claims that governments and companies continue to prioritise the fossil fuels above, and to the detriment of peoples’ health, jeopardising a liveable future.

The Lancet Countdown report’s key message is that we face a critical juncture and states that a health-centred, aligned response to the crisis, can deliver a future where people can not only survive, but thrive.  We owe it to future generations to heed this and act now!