Skip to content

The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change

Categories: Access to climate change funding for health, Climate change & health Vulnerability & Adaptation Assessments, Health National Adaptation Plans, Net zero health systems, GHG emissions assessments, Action plans for sustainable low carbon health systems

Logo Lancet Countdown and Wellcome

The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change is an international research collaboration, established in partnership with Wellcome which continues to provide core funding, and headquartered at University College London (UCL).

Bringing together over 300 researchers from leading research institutions and UN agencies across the globe, we work to ensure that health is at the centre of how decision makers understand and respond to climate change. Through high-quality scientific data published in The Lancet, we work to inform policies that can maximise the health benefits of climate action, and enable a world in which all people can thrive. 

Supporting the following commitments:

  • Commitment 1: Conduct climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessments (V&As) at population level and/or health care facility level.
  • Commitment 2: Develop a health national adaptation plan (HNAP) informed by the health V&A, which forms part of the National Adaptation Plan.
  • Commitment 3: Use the V&A and HNAP to facilitate access to climate change funding for health.
  • Commitment 4: Set a target date by which to achieve health systems net zero emissions (ideally by 2050).
  • Commitment 5: Deliver a baseline assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of the health system (including supply chains).
  • Commitment 6: Develop an action plan or roadmap by a set date to develop a sustainable low carbon health system (including supply chains).

Country experience:

As an international research collaboration, the Lancet Countdown has sustained partnerships with academic institutions, governments, public health agencies, and health organisations. Over the past five years, the collaboration has provided insights related to climate change-health to over 60 countries. Since inception, its reports have been cited over 2000 times across intergovernmental organisations, national governments and other organisations. 

In addition, the Lancet Countdown operates through regional centres and collaborations in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Oceania, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Each produces regular regional assessments and indicator-based reports on climate change and health, applying the Lancet Countdown framework to regional and national contexts. Through these centres, the collaboration works closely with researchers, ministries of health, public health institutions, and policymakers across a broad range of countries to support climate-health assessments, indicator development, adaptation planning, health system resilience, emissions monitoring, and evidence-informed policy action.