“9 local story ideas from the 2024 Lancet Countdown report on climate change and health”

– by Naseem S. Miller

The Journal’s Resource

Health threats from climate change are reaching record-breaking levels, affecting people in every country, according to the eighth annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report, which provides an up-to-date assessment of the links between health and climate change.

Ten of the report’s 15 health indicators, including heat-related mortality, infectious disease transmission, food and water security, and air pollution exposure, reached new records.

The report, which represents the work of 122 leading experts, including scientists and policymakers from 57 academic institutions and UN agencies globally, calls for the trillions of dollars that governments and companies spend on fossil fuels to instead be used for a rapid and fair transition to a net zero greenhouse gas economy.

In 2023, which was the hottest year on record, global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions reached an all-time high, 1.1% above 2022.

“With climate change breaking dangerous new records and emissions persistently rising, preventing the most catastrophic consequences on human development, health, and survival now requires the support and will of all actors in society,” the authors write. “However, data suggest that engagement with health and climate change could be declining across key sectors.”

The future of efforts to combat climate change in the U.S. remains unclear. In August, the Biden administration released the first-of-its-kind National Heat Strategy, a comprehensive plan for addressing the increasing risks of extreme heat in the U.S. between 2024 and 2030. But, President-elect Donald Trump has said that he wants to get rid of federal efforts and regulations that aim to cut carbon emissions and the use of fossil fuels.

Journalists can play a key role in informing and engaging their audiences about the impact of climate change on health, although there has been a slight drop in newspaper stories that make this connection, according to the Lancet report.

In 2023, 24% of English, Chinese, German, Portuguese and Spanish newspaper articles on climate change mentioned health, a 10% decline from 2022, according to the report.

Separately, a November 2024 study published in the journal Environmental Communication finds that coverage in Spanish-language newspapers “resembles coverage in mainstream English-language media, and does not localize the issue for their audiences, which suggests a significant information gap for millions of immigrants.”

To help journalists localize coverage of the international Lancet report, we first highlight its major findings and then list 9 local story ideas.

The report is funded by Wellcome, a London-based charitable foundation, and developed in close collaboration with the World Health Organization. It was published in late October ahead of the 29th UN Conference of the Parties (COP), which brought together representatives from nearly every country to address global climate change. The report primarily covers data and developments from 2023 and 2024.

Key Findings of the 2024 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change

Key takeaways

• Climate change continues to drive record-breaking health threats, including heat-related mortality, sleep loss due to rising nighttime temperatures and the expanding geographical range of infectious diseases such as dengue, malaria and West Nile virus. An all-time high of more than 5 million dengue cases were reported in more than 80 countries in 2023.
• The average annual economic losses from weather-related extreme events increased by 23% between 2010 and 2023, to $227 billion, a value that exceeds the GDP of about 60% of national economies. Climate change can lead to a loss in productivity, especially in outdoor industries such as construction, mining and agriculture; it can destroy infrastructure and disrupt supply chains; it can reduce agricultural yields; it can increase heat-related illnesses; and overall undermine economic stability and growth.
• Food and water insecurity are on the rise. More than 151 million people faced moderate to severe food insecurity in 2022, and nearly half the global land area experienced at least one month of extreme drought in 2023.
• Greenhouse gas emissions from the health care industry have increased by 36% since 2016, “making health systems increasingly unprepared to operate in a net zero emissions future.” In 2021, greenhouse gas emissions from the health care sector were 9.5% higher than in 2020.
• Only 35% of countries reported having early warning systems for heat-related illness. The ministries of health in many countries lack public health surveillance systems that integrate weather information, which can help with early warning and response in case of extreme weather events. A key barrier for many was a lack of financial resources.
• Dependence on fossil fuels is prolonging the climate change crisis. Energy-related CO2 emissions hit an all-time high in 2023, while oil and gas companies are expanding fossil fuel production despite the goals of the Paris Agreement, which was adopted in 2015, establishing a global framework to combat climate change.
• Climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts are insufficient, with only 27% of Green Climate Fund adaptation projects explicitly targeting health benefits. Investment in renewable energy in vulnerable countries remains low. The Green Climate Fund was established in 2010 to help developing countries address climate change.
• Between 2016 and 2022, the world lost almost 450 million acres of forest cover, equal to 5% of global tree cover. Poor tree cover and inadequate forest conservation worsen climate change and increase the risk of forest fires, animal-borne diseases and allergies.

The report offers some glimmers of hope.

• Deaths from fossil fuel-derived air pollution fell almost 7% from 2.25 million in 2016 to 2.09 million in 2021. More than half of this decline was due to efforts to reduce pollution from coal burning, demonstrating the life-saving potential of coal phase-out.
• The share of electricity generated from clean energy reached 10.5% in 2021, almost twice that of 2016.
• Global investment in clean energy grew 10% in 2023 to $1.9 trillion, exceeding fossil fuel investment by 73%.
• Employment in renewable energy companies reached a record high of 13.7 million employees in 2022, a 35.6% increase since 2016.
• The number of scientific publications on health and climate change grew by 7.4% between 2022 and 2023, although the research findings aren’t consistently translated into policies.
• Wikipedia article views on the health effects of climate change have increased by 40% since 2022, suggesting a growing public interest. Also, despite the slight drop in recent news articles, media coverage of the issue has grown over time. In 2016, there were 5,447 articles discussing health and climate change, whereas in 2023, the number had increased by 132%, to 12,658.

Angry Bear can not do The Lancet’s article justice by C&P-ing the nine stories it has published as it is too lengthy. Instead, AB did do the Key Take-aways (above) and Glimmers of Hope (also above). The article from which the above information is derived from is here: “9 local story ideas from the 2024 Lancet Countdown Report on Climate Change and Health: Journalist Resource as presented by  Naseem S. Miller.