Lancet report urges WHO to declare climate change global health emergency

Authors of the latest Lancet Countdown report are urging the World Health Organization and the United Nations to formally declare climate change a global health emergency. Euronews reported that climate risks have rapidly intensified since the Paris Agreement took effect in 2016. [1]

The report authors argue that health risks are multiplying faster than global efforts to resolve them. Euronews reported that a formal emergency designation would transition international action away from slow voluntary promises toward mandatory and coordinated emergency management. [1]

As FTMQ News reported earlier, cities worldwide are already restructuring infrastructure to cope with rising environmental risks. Turkey is upgrading housing and tracking renewable energy, while Uzbekistan is constructing New Tashkent with climate resilience in mind. [2]

Other European cities have also taken steps to address climate hazards. As FTMQ News reported earlier, the Portuguese city of Guimaraes expanded green corridors and restored rivers to lower urban temperatures after earning the European Green Capital title for 2026. [3]