The Lancet Countdown works to ensure that health is at the centre of how decision makers understand and respond to climate change. Through high-quality scientific data, we work to inform policies that can maximise the health benefits of climate action, and enable a world in which all populations can thrive.
Our Background
The 2015 Lancet Commission’s conclusion – that ‘tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century’ highlighted the need for a global monitoring system with the ability to engage policymakers and support health professionals.
In 2016 the Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change was formed to address this gap, beginning with a public consultation to identify key areas to track and monitor. The collaboration recognises that health should be at the centre of how governments and decision makers understand and respond to climate change, to maximise the human benefits of a robust response.
Publishing annually in The Lancet, with strategic and financial support from the Wellcome Trust, The Lancet Countdown is hosted by University College London, and works with almost 300 leading researchers from around the world to track and understand the evolving links between climate change and people’s health.
279
leading experts
112
collaborating institutions
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regional centres
Dr Jeremy Farrar, Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Care at the World Health Organization
“This report, produced with WHO as a strategic partner, makes clear that climate inaction is killing people now in all countries. However, climate action is also the greatest health opportunity of our time. Cleaner air, healthier diets, and resilient health systems can save millions of lives now and protect current and future generations.”
Professor Charlotte Watts, Executive Director, Solutions at Wellcome
“This year’s Lancet Countdown is crystal clear about the global leadership we need: as the widespread impacts of climate change on lives and livelihoods become ever more visible, we know that urgent climate action will have significant benefits for health.”
Dr Githinji Gitahi, Group CEO of AMREF Health Africa
“This report once again provides strong evidence that the impact of climate change is being counted not just in degrees and carbon metric tonnes but in lives lost. The science reflects what communities across Africa experience daily – bearing the brunt of increasing heat-related deaths, rising infectious disease threats, and growing food and water insecurity. Health is the human face of climate change.”
Wellcome is a financially and politically independent global charitable foundation established in 1936. It supports science to solve the urgent health issues facing everyone, bringing together expertise across science innovation, and society to develop solutions to address three of the biggest health challenges facing humanity – climate change, infectious disease and mental health. The Climate and Health program seeks to generate the health evidence for policy action that protects health from climate change.
Learn more: www.wellcome.org
Founded by Thomas Wakley in 1823, The Lancet began as an independent, international weekly general medical journal with the vision that it should drive social and political change through advancing medical research and science for the greater good. Since its founding, the journal has evolved to include over 20 titles that are part of The Lancet Group while retaining the core belief that medicine must serve society, that knowledge must transform society, and that the best science must lead to better lives.
Learn more: www.thelancet.com
Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London’s leading global university, ranked consistently in the top 10 universities worldwide. The UCL Institute for Global Health (IGH) is a world-leading centre of research and teaching excellence. Its research focuses on conducting high quality, high impact research to inform health policies and practices, tackling the biggest global health challenges. IGH has strong partnerships with researchers, patients, communities, healthcare providers and policymakers in the UK, Europe, Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America.
Learn more: www.ucl.ac.uk
