In a news release on October 29, 2025, the World Health Organization warned that inaction on climate change already costs millions of lives each year. It points out that 12 of 20 key health-related indicators reached record levels, linking rising heat, air pollution, and other climate-driven stresses to increasing mortality, strains on health systems, and economic losses.
Among its major findings is that heat-related mortality has increased by 23 % since the 1990s, with an estimated average of 546,000 heat-related deaths per year. The report also points out that fossil fuel subsidies remain enormous—in 2023, governments provided about US$956 billion in net fossil fuel subsidies, which in many countries exceeded spending on health—showing how political priorities continue to hamstring efforts to both mitigate climate change and protect public health.
