An independent pan-European commission on climate and health convened by the World Health Organization concluded that the climate crisis is a worldwide threat to health and called on the WHO to declare it a public health emergency of international concern. The commission's report cited the international spread of vector-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, extreme weather events, global heating, food insecurity and air pollution as grounds for the declaration.

A public health emergency of international concern is the highest level of health alert under the WHO, previously invoked for Covid-19 and Mpox. Such a declaration would not reverse climate change but would trigger a coordinated international response. The commission has 11 members, including former health and climate ministers.

"The climate crisis may not be a pandemic, but it's still a public health emergency that threatens humanity's very health and survival. And if we don't act more quickly and comprehensively, many millions more people could die or face life-changing illness," said Katrín Jakobsdóttir, a member of the commission.

"The way to challenge climate scepticism and misinformation is simple: make it personal. Climate change is not happening somewhere else, to someone else, in the future. It is shortening lives in European cities right now," Jakobsdóttir said.

Sir Andrew Haines, the commission's chief scientific adviser, said: "WHO has already recognised that climate change is a major threat to global health. What we're asking for is a step further." He added: "If we carry on emitting at current rates, that will accelerate the risks to health for both current and future generations including: more people suffering and dying from excess heat, floods and infectious diseases, air pollution from wildfires, more preterm births and more food insecurity."

The report stated that fossil fuels are directly responsible for 600,000 premature deaths a year in Europe, while Europe spends about €444bn (£387bn) a year on subsidies for oil and gas production. In 12 European countries, fossil fuel subsidies exceeded 10% of national health expenditure in 2023, and in four countries they exceeded the entire health budget.

"This is not a sustainable energy policy. It's really more of a public health failure," Jakobsdóttir said. "And it's one that could get a lot worse. New subsidies for fossil fuels as well as countries considering redrilling in the wake of the Iran crisis would be catastrophic for health. European governments are subsidising the very industries responsible for their own citizens' premature deaths. We need health leaders to really step into the climate debate and not just be on the receiving end of it."

The report called for measures to tackle disinformation, greater use of national climate health impact assessments and recognition that climate change is also a mental health crisis. It also recommended that healthcare systems become more resilient by assessing flood risk for health facilities and planning for extreme and prolonged heatwaves. The healthcare sector accounts for 5% of global emissions.

Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said: "The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have clearly shown what fossil fuel dependency really means – not just higher bills, but strained or broken health systems, disrupted food and fuel supplies and societies under pressure. The case for acting on climate now is not just environmental. It is a security argument, a health argument and an economic argument, all at once. And it is a moral imperative." Kluge added: "The decisions taken by governments today will determine the disease burden carried by people who are currently in primary school. It now falls to the rest of us to act on their recommendations and protect future generations. I commit to ensuring that climate change is treated as the health emergency it is across the 53 member states of the WHO European region."