Wazzup Pilipinas?!
As heat records shatter and climate threats reach unprecedented levels, a stark new assessment reveals the devastating human toll of continued fossil fuel dependence—and a narrowing window to prevent catastrophe
The world is burning, drowning, and suffocating—and the death toll is mounting. A comprehensive new report released today paints an undeniable picture of climate change's accelerating assault on human health, with 13 out of 20 health threat indicators reaching record levels as governments backslide on their climate commitments and fossil fuel companies triple down on production plans.
The ninth annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report, a collaboration of 128 experts from 71 academic institutions and UN agencies worldwide, delivers a sobering verdict: our continued addiction to fossil fuels and failure to adapt to climate change is killing us—slowly at first, then all at once.
A Death Toll Measured in Millions
The numbers are staggering. Heat-related deaths have surged 23% since the 1990s, claiming an average of 546,000 lives annually between 2012 and 2021. In 2024 alone, wildfire smoke killed a record 154,000 people—a 36% increase from the decade prior. Air pollution from burning fossil fuels accounts for 2.5 million deaths each year, while unhealthy, high-carbon diets contributed to 11.8 million preventable deaths in 2022.
"This year's health assessment paints an undeniably bleak picture of the devastating health harms unfolding across the world, with record health threats from heatwaves, extreme weather, and wildfire smoke, resulting in millions of deaths," warns Dr. Marina Romanello, Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown at University College London. "The devastation to people's lives and livelihoods will continue to escalate unless we end our dependence on fossil fuels and ramp up efforts to adapt to climate change."
The year 2024 was the hottest on record, with catastrophic consequences rippling across the globe. The average person worldwide faced a record 16 additional days of health-threatening heat directly attributable to climate change. For the most vulnerable—infants under one year and adults over 65—the exposure was even worse: an average of 20 days of extreme heat annually, representing increases of 389% and 304% respectively compared to the 1986-2005 baseline.
The Economic Stranglehold
The climate crisis isn't just killing people—it's strangling economies and overwhelming public health budgets. Extreme heat caused a record 639 billion hours of lost work potential in 2024, translating to approximately $1.09 trillion in income losses—roughly 1% of global GDP. Heat-related deaths among those over 65 alone carried an economic burden of $261 billion.
In perhaps the most damning indictment of current energy policies, governments worldwide spent $956 billion in net fossil fuel subsidies in 2023 to keep domestic energy prices stable—far exceeding the $300 billion annually pledged at COP29 to support climate-vulnerable nations. Even more alarmingly, 15 of 87 countries responsible for 93% of global carbon emissions spent more subsidizing fossil fuels than on their entire national health budgets in 2023.
"The increasing affordability and accessibility of clean renewable energy presents an opportunity to enhance domestic energy production, reduce health damages from fossil fuels, and redirect fossil fuel subsidies toward supporting a healthy, sustainable future," Dr. Romanello emphasizes.
Food Insecurity and Disease Spread
The cascading effects of climate change are creating a perfect storm of interconnected health crises. Heat and drought drove 123 million more people into moderate or severe food insecurity in 2023 compared to the 1981-2010 average. Meanwhile, the global capacity for dengue fever transmission has increased by 49% since the 1950s, as warming temperatures expand the geographic range of disease-carrying mosquitoes.
For the 2 billion people still relying on polluting fuels in their homes—concentrated in 65 countries with limited access to clean energy—indoor air pollution caused 2.3 million avoidable deaths in 2022 alone. This energy poverty trap keeps the most vulnerable communities dependent on harmful, polluting fuel sources while wealthier nations race ahead with renewable transitions.
The Corporate Climate Criminals
While millions suffer and die, the world's largest fossil fuel companies are accelerating toward oblivion. The top 100 fossil fuel companies have increased their production plans (as of March 2025) to levels that would produce greenhouse gas emissions nearly three times what's compatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C by 2040—making health-protective adaptation efforts virtually impossible.
Private banks are bankrolling this deadly expansion. The 40 largest financial institutions invested a record $611 billion in fossil fuels in 2024—a 29% increase from 2023 and 15% more than they invested in clean energy. This financial backing of fossil fuel expansion is "threatening public health and putting national economies, on which people's livelihoods depend, at risk," the report states.
Adding insult to injury, more than 128 million hectares of forests were destroyed in 2023—a 24% increase from 2022—weakening the planet's natural capacity to mitigate climate change just when we need it most.
Political Retreat in the Face of Crisis
"The shocking reality is that one of the greatest threats to human flourishing comes from leaders and companies backing away from their climate commitments, delaying action, and doubling down on fossil fuel production, while each additional unit of greenhouse gases increases the costs and difficulty of adaptation efforts," warns Professor Nahid Ahmeli, co-chair of Working Group 4 of the Lancet Countdown.
The report reveals a disturbing pattern: as climate impacts intensify, political will to address them is weakening. Some of the world's wealthiest nations are cutting foreign aid, constraining financial support for climate action and leaving populations worldwide facing mounting dangers without adequate protection.
"If we remain trapped in our excessive dependence on fossil fuels, health systems, cooling infrastructure, and disaster response capacities will soon be overwhelmed, putting the health and lives of the world's 8 billion people at increasing risk," Professor Ahmeli cautions.
A Cruel Irony: Those Suffering Most Did Least to Cause the Crisis
The data reveals a cruel injustice at the heart of the climate crisis: the countries suffering most from climate consequences are also the most politically engaged on climate and health issues, yet they're not leading the clean energy transition—because they lack access to technology and resources.
In low-income countries, clean renewable energy accounts for just 3.5% of electricity generation compared to 13.3% in wealthy nations. Meanwhile, 88% of households in poor countries still depend on polluting biomass for cooking and heating. This inequality in access to clean energy keeps the most vulnerable communities trapped in dependency on harmful, polluting fuel sources while their populations bear the brunt of climate impacts they did least to cause.
"After nine years of global monitoring, it's clear that these health damages represent the price we pay as a result of world leaders' continued failure to take necessary action to combat climate change and protect health—a price paid disproportionately by the most vulnerable countries that contributed least to this crisis," notes Professor Stella Hartinger, Director of Lancet Countdown Latin America.
Signs of Hope in the Darkness
Yet amid this litany of devastation, the report identifies genuine reasons for hope. While some national governments retreat from climate commitments, local governments, individuals, civil society, and the health sector are stepping up to chart a healthier future—potentially signaling the beginning of transformative, large-scale climate action.
According to data from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the world's largest voluntary system for reporting climate action progress, a growing number of cities (834 of 858 that reported in 2024) have completed or plan to complete climate risk assessments. The health sector has shown notable leadership, with global health-related emissions falling 16% between 2021 and 2022. Nearly two-thirds of medical students worldwide received education in climate and health in 2024, building capacity for further progress.
The transition away from coal, particularly in wealthy countries, has prevented approximately 160,000 premature deaths annually between 2010 and 2022 by reducing air pollution from fine particulate matter. The share of electricity generated from modern renewable sources reached a record 12% in 2022, while the shift to clean energy is creating healthier, more sustainable jobs. More than 16 million people worked directly or indirectly in renewable energy in 2023—an 18.3% increase from 2022.
"Climate action remains one of the greatest health opportunities of the 21st century—it drives development, stimulates innovation, provides employment, and reduces energy poverty," explains Professor Thaddeus Mhebhaudi, Director of Lancet Countdown Africa. "Realizing the multiple benefits of a health-focused response requires exploiting opportunities not yet leveraged for climate change mitigation and enhancing resilience to its growing impacts."
The Final Warning
"As an increasing number of world leaders threaten to roll back the limited progress achieved so far, the urgent need emerges for immediate efforts at all levels and across all sectors to accelerate climate action that will deliver immediate health benefits," warns Professor Anthony Costello, co-chair of the Lancet Countdown.
"While some governments insist on supporting an ultimately unsustainable, unhealthy, and uninhabitable reality, people around the world are paying the terrible price for this. We must build on the momentum we're seeing from local action: implementing a just and equitable transformation that protects health requires concerted efforts from everyone."
The report's message is unequivocal: we have the solutions to avoid climate catastrophe, and communities and governments worldwide are proving that progress is possible. Clean energy transitions, urban adaptation efforts, and shifts toward healthier, climate-friendly diets could save more than 10 million lives annually. But time is running out.
The choice facing humanity is stark: continue down the path of fossil fuel dependence toward a future of disease, disaster, and premature death for millions—or seize this moment to accelerate climate action that protects health, saves lives, and builds a sustainable future. The cost of inaction is measured in millions of lives. The question is whether we'll act before it's too late.
The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change 2025 report was produced by 128 experts from 71 academic institutions and UN agencies worldwide, led by University College London in strategic partnership with the World Health Organization. The report was released ahead of the UN's COP30 climate conference.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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