WHO says six climate and health steps could save 1.6 million lives a year

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says a handful of practical steps linking climate policy to public health could prevent close to 1.6 million deaths every year, according to a report the UN agency released on Wednesday.

The report comes just days before world leaders gather in Turkey for COP31, the annual UN climate summit. Its central argument is simple: much of the damage a warming climate does to human health can be avoided with tools governments already have.

Among the six measures the WHO lists are early warning systems that alert communities to dangerous heat, and water and sanitation systems built to withstand climate shocks. It also recommends better hand hygiene, a shift to cleaner fuels for cooking at home, and pricing fossil fuels so their true cost is reflected.

What the numbers say

According to the report, rolling out the six measures together would deliver what the WHO calls a triple gain: healthier populations, lower emissions and stronger economies.

The agency estimates the steps could keep about 16.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere each year. On the money side, it puts the potential fiscal benefit at up to $5.4 trillion annually, with a further boost of nearly $4 trillion from lives saved, disasters avoided and lower healthcare bills.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the climate crisis is also a health crisis, but stressed that much of the harm can be prevented using tools already available. He said the report shows that expanding proven, affordable actions could save millions of lives, with the biggest gains in the countries that need them most.

The agency was candid about the limits of its own work. It said the projections rest on ambitious scenarios, and that gaps in data and other uncertainties affected the estimates.

Why it matters for Nigeria

For Nigerians, the report touches on problems that are already familiar: extreme heat, unsafe drinking water, dirty cooking fuels and public health systems under strain. Cleaner household energy and better water and sanitation are the kind of measures that would show up directly in fewer illnesses and lower household spending on treatment.

Tedros urged leaders heading to COP31 to put health at the centre of climate decisions. Whether governments follow that advice, and how the measures would be funded, will become clearer at the summit.