Leading international experts have called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the climate crisis a global public health emergency, warning that failure to act could result in millions of unnecessary deaths. The independent pan-European commission on climate and health, convened by the WHO, concluded that the climate crisis poses such a worldwide threat to health that it warrants the highest level of health alert—a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (Pheic).
The commission's report, to be presented to European ministers ahead of the WHO's world health assembly, highlights the spread of vector-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya, as well as health impacts from extreme weather, global heating, food insecurity, and air pollution. Previous Pheic declarations include Covid-19 and Mpox. While not reversing climate change, such a declaration would trigger a coordinated international response that has so far been lacking.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, former prime minister of Iceland and commission chair, stated: 'The climate crisis may not be a pandemic, but it’s still a public health emergency that threatens humanity’s very health and survival. If we don’t act more quickly, many millions more people could die or face life-changing illness.' Sir Andrew Haines, the commission's chief scientific adviser, added that current emission rates accelerate health risks, including deaths from heat, floods, infectious diseases, and food insecurity.
The commission also urged governments to stop subsidising fossil fuels, which cause 600,000 premature deaths annually in Europe alone. European countries spend approximately €444bn (£387bn) a year on oil and gas subsidies, with 12 nations exceeding 10% of national health expenditure on such subsidies in 2023. Jakobsdóttir called this 'a public health failure,' noting that new subsidies would be catastrophic for health.
The report further recommended measures to tackle disinformation, national climate health impact assessments, and recognition of climate change as a mental health crisis. Jakobsdóttir emphasised: 'Make it personal. Climate change is shortening lives in European cities right now, filling hospitals, and driving mental health issues. Policies that fix it—clean air, active travel, insulated homes, sustainable food—also make people healthier today.'
