New partnership between Wellcome and UN Climate Change puts people’s health at the heart of climate action

The partnership agreement comes as the latest Lancet Countdown Report on Health and Climate Change finds that:  

• The rate of heat-related deaths has surged 23% since the 1990s, to 546,000 a year
• A record 154,000 deaths were linked to air pollution from wildfire smoke in 2024
• The global average transmission potential of dengue has risen by up to 49% since the 1950s 

Working alongside other UN agencies and partners from across the world, Wellcome and UN Climate Change will support both mitigation and adaptation solutions, ensuring that health evidence and robust science underpin and strengthen international and national climate policy-making – prioritising the real challenges people face such as extreme heat, air pollution, infectious disease, mental health, and food insecurity.

John-Arne Røttingen, CEO at the Wellcome says:
“Wellcome strongly supports a multilateral system that is inclusive and represents the voices of all countries. UN Climate Change plays a vital role in global climate negotiations and agreements, and we will work in partnership to ensure that both scientific expertise and the voices of communities most affected by climate change inform health-centred action. We look forward to working with UN Climate Change alongside our partners around the world to support the implementation of evidence-based solutions that enable everyone, everywhere to thrive.”

Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary says:  
“Every year, the impacts of climate change on people’s health become more intense with lives and livelihoods being destroyed in every region of the world, and especially in the most vulnerable countries. Prioritising health is vital for human prosperity and progress, and our partnership with Wellcome is about solutions and empowerment - enabling communities and countries to thrive as we confront the rising toll of global heating. Together, we will work to spread the vast benefits of health-related climate actions – from clean energy to sustainable food systems to more climate-resilient communities – reaching far more people from all regions, because it is vital no one is left behind.”