An independent expert body, the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health, is urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to immediately declare the escalating climate crisis a global public health emergency. The push comes following a report, which drew the attention of experts including Karl Lauterbach, the former German Federal Minister of Health (SPD).
The eleven-member group, established last year by the WHO Europe office and chaired by former Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, includes notable figures such as Connie Hedegaard, a former Danish EU Climate Commissioner. Drawing on the findings of the commission’s recently released 54-page report, Lauterbach emphasized to the press that while the economic consequences of climate change are clear, it is the direct health results that present the greatest danger, and the issue should have long been a primary focus for the WHO.
The commission warns that climate change already poses a threat to the health and lives of millions worldwide. For example, in the record-hot year of 2024, approximately 63,000 deaths in Europe were attributed to heat-related causes. Furthermore, they note that temperatures on the continent have risen at twice the rate of the global average over recent decades. According to the report, the climate crisis undermines security, social cohesion, human rights, and health-and has been dangerously treated as a problem belonging only to future generations.
To address this escalating threat, the commission offers several concrete recommendations. These include establishing a WHO Information Center for Climate and Health, designed to equip national governments with data and arguments to combat climate denial. They also recommend that the WHO should conduct a mandatory evaluation every two years to assess how well member states are preparing their healthcare systems for climate impacts. Crucially, the group urges national governments to immediately eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels.
From a structural standpoint, the commission notes a significant gap: current WHO regulations do not grant the organization the authority to declare a health emergency due to warming. They stress that this mandate must be changed to enable the WHO to coordinate effective countermeasures, particularly during catastrophic heatwaves.
The report will be formally presented in Geneva on Sunday afternoon, just ahead of the convening of the World Health Assembly, the highest WHO decision-making body, starting Monday. Throughout the weekend, representatives from all 193 member states will be meeting to formulate the organization’s future strategy.
