Overview
- The report links roughly 546,000 heat-related deaths a year (up 23% since the 1990s), 154,000 deaths from wildfire smoke in 2024, and about 2.5 million annual deaths to air pollution from burning fossil fuels.
- Extreme heat in 2024 drove a record 639 billion lost labor hours with income losses of about US$1.09 trillion, reflecting mounting economic strain alongside health impacts.
- Thirteen of 20 tracked health indicators reached unprecedented levels, with 2024 the hottest year on record and the average person exposed to an extra 16 dangerous hot days attributable to climate change.
- Governments provided an estimated US$956 billion in net fossil-fuel subsidies in 2023 as major producers expanded output plans far beyond climate limits and top banks lent US$611 billion to fossil fuel firms in 2024.
- Shifts away from coal and growth in renewables have already prevented an estimated 160,000 premature deaths annually between 2010 and 2022, underscoring immediate health gains from faster mitigation.