The 2021 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: code red for a healthy future

The Lancet Countdown is an international collaboration that independently monitors the health consequences of a changing climate. Publishing updated, new, and improved indicators each year, the Lancet Countdown represents the consensus of leading researchers from 43 academic institutions and UN agencies. The 44 indicators of this report expose an unabated rise in the health impacts of climate change and the current health consequences of the delayed and inconsistent response of countries around the globe—providing a clear imperative for accelerated action that puts the health of people and planet above all else.The 2021 report coincides with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), at which countries are facing pressure to realise the ambition of the Paris Agreement to keep the global average temperature rise to 1·5°C and to mobilise the financial resources required for all countries to have an effective climate response. These negotiations unfold in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic—a global health crisis that has claimed millions of lives, affected livelihoods and communities around the globe, and exposed deep fissures and inequities in the world’s capacity to cope with, and respond to, health emergencies. Yet, in its response to both crises, the world is faced with an unprecedented opportunity to ensure a healthy future for all.

Marina Romanello, Alice McGushin, Claudia Di Napoli, Paul Drummond, Nick Hughes, Louis Jamart, Harry Kennard, Pete Lampard, Baltazar Solano Rodriguez, Nigel Arnell, Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, Kristine Belesova, Wenjia Cai, Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Stuart Capstick, Jonathan Chambers, Lingzhi Chu, Luisa Ciampi, Carole Dalin, Niheer Dasandi, Shouro Dasgupta, Michael Davies, Paula Dominguez-Salas, Robert Dubrow, Kristie L Ebi, Matthew Eckelman, Paul Ekins, Luis E Escobar, Lucien Georgeson, Delia Grace, Hilary Graham, Samuel H Gunther, Stella Hartinger, Kehan He, Clare Heaviside, Jeremy Hess, Shih-Che Hsu, Slava Jankin, Marcia P Jimenez, Ilan Kelman, Gregor Kiesewetter, Patrick L Kinney, Tord Kjellstrom, Dominic Kniveton, Jason KW Lee, Bruno Lemke, Yang Liu, Zhao Liu, Melissa Lott, Rachel Lowe, Jaime Martinez-Urtaza, Mark Maslin, Lucy McAllister, Celia McMichael, Zhifu Mi, James Milner, Kelton Minor, Nahid Mohajeri, Maziar Moradi-Lakeh, Karyn Morrissey, Simon Munzert, Kris A Murray, Tara Neville, Maria Nilsson, Nick Obradovich, Maquins Odhiambo Sewe, Tadj Oreszczyn, Matthias Otto, Fereidoon Owfi, Olivia Pearman, David Pencheon, Mahnaz Rabbaniha, Elizabeth Robinson, Joacim Rocklöv, Renee N Salas, Jan C Semenza, Jodi Sherman, Liuhua Shi, Marco Springmann, Meisam Tabatabaei, Jonathon Taylor, Joaquin Trinanes, Joy Shumake-Guillemot, Bryan Vu, Fabian Wagner, Paul Wilkinson, Matthew Winning, Marisol Yglesias, Shihui Zhang, Peng Gong, Hugh Montgomery, Anthony Costello, Ian Hamilton

Lancet 2021; 398: 1619–62, October 2021
https://doi.org/10.1016/