Seed Global Health reposted this
Climate action works. But inaction is costing millions of lives every year - straining health systems and destabilizing economies. 12 of the 20 key indicators measured in the 2025 The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report, which track health threats, have reached record levels. But the report also demonstrates the huge benefits to health and the economy from climate action: ⬇️ It estimates 160,000 premature deaths were avoided every year between 2010 and 2022 from reduced coal-derived outdoor air pollution alone. ⚡️ Renewable energy generation reached a record 12% of global electricity, creating 16 million jobs worldwide. 👩🏾⚕️ 66% of medical students received education in climate and health in 2024 - building capacity to reduce and treat health impacts. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e5ZA3Fkm Protecting people’s health should be our greatest motivation and driver of climate action - because inaction is now killing people in every country. Despite government backsliding, the report also highlights that cities, communities, and the health sector are leading the way in climate commitments. Global leaders must now match the efforts of mayors, community leaders, and health professionals to drive climate action. Because what is the cost of inaction? The report demonstrates that failing to act has serious consequences - not just for health, but also for economies and livelihoods: 🌡️ The rate of heat-related deaths has surged 23% since the 1990s, reaching 546,000 a year due to the failure to curb global warming. 📉Heat exposure caused 640 billion potential labour hours to be lost in 2024, with productivity losses equivalent to US$ 1.09 trillion. 🔥In 2024 alone, air pollution from wildfire smoke was linked to a record 154,000 deaths. 🦟The global average transmission potential of dengue has risen by up to 49% since the 1950s. 🛢️Our over-reliance on fossil fuels is also straining national budgets. As fossil fuel prices soared, governments collectively spent 956 billion US dollars on net fossil fuel subsidies in 2023. Climate action is the greatest health opportunity of our time. Cleaner air, a just transition, and resilient health systems can save millions of lives, build stronger economies, and protect livelihoods now and for future generations. #COP30 can - and must - be the moment where health moves from the margins of climate policy to its center. We have the data, the tools, and the evidence to act. What’s missing is commitment - and that has to change. Leaders must embrace this opportunity and realize the co-benefits of urgent claimte action. While cities and communities are leading, governments, philanthropies, and investors are lagging behind. They must come together to make health financing a major policy goal of climate action, and deliver on the Belém Action Plan in two weeks time. Because ultimately the success of climate action has to be measured not in degrees Celsius averted - but in lives saved.