Despite the initial hope inspired by the 2015 Paris
Agreement, the world is now dangerously close to
breaching its target of limiting global multiyear mean
heating to 1·5°C. Annual mean surface temperature
reached a record high of 1·45°C above the pre-industrial
baseline in 2023, and new temperature highs were
recorded throughout 2024. The resulting climatic
extremes are increasingly claiming lives and livelihoods
worldwide.
The Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health
and climate change was established the same year the
Paris Agreement entered into force, to monitor the
health impacts and opportunities of the world’s response
to this landmark agreement. Supported through strategic
core funding from Wellcome, the collaboration brings
together over 300 multidisciplinary researchers and
health professionals from around the world to take stock
annually of the evolving links between health and climate
change at global, regional, and national levels.
The 2024 report of the Lancet Countdown, building on
the expertise of 122 leading researchers from UN agencies
and academic institutions worldwide, reveals the most
concerning findings yet in the collaboration’s 8 years of
monitoring.