The work brings together 146 researchers and tracks 54 indicators linking climate and health. It examines heat, drought, hydrological extremes and health system preparedness, among other areas.
The report’s estimates, relayed by WHO and Le Temps, associate heat with about 710,000 deaths worldwide in 2023. This is a retrospective global estimate, rather than a tally of deaths in Europe in 2026.
The authors acknowledge benefits from clean energy and health adaptation but consider them insufficient and unevenly distributed. Their appeal seeks a coordinated response that places health at the centre of climate policy. It does not itself constitute a formal emergency declaration by WHO.