Overview
- Heat-related deaths have risen about 23% since the 1990s to roughly 546,000 a year, with the report describing about one heat death every minute.
- Air pollution tied to fossil-fuel combustion is attributed to about 2.5 million deaths annually, and wildfire smoke was linked to a record 154,000 deaths in 2024.
- Exposure to high temperatures caused a record 639 billion lost labour hours in 2024, with least developed nations losing about 6% of national GDP.
- The assessment says many health indicators hit new extremes, including 12 of 20 tracked metrics, with the average person experiencing a record 16 additional hot days in 2024 and dengue transmission potential up 49% since the 1950s.
- The report highlights policy and finance drivers, citing $956 billion in fossil-fuel subsidies in 2023, $611 billion in bank lending to the sector in 2024, and corporate production plans incompatible with the Paris 1.5°C goal, even as shifts away from coal averted an estimated 160,000 premature deaths annually from 2010 to 2022.