Six measures could save 1.6 million lives a year: WHO

Police officers block the path of activists marching alongside a five-meter-long Godzilla symbolizing the extreme El Nino during a rally against the climate crisis in Jakarta, Indonesia, on October 30, 2026. [AFP]

Implementing a few climate and health measures could save nearly 1.6 million lives a year and generate trillions of dollars for the economy, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

The UN agency's report, released days before the COP31 climate change conference kicks off, proposed heat-health warning systems and climate-resilient infrastructure for drinking water and sanitation.

Improved hand hygiene, cleaner household energy sources and more efficient fossil fuel pricing were also on the list.

"The climate crisis is a health crisis, but much of the harm it causes can be prevented with tools we already have," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

The WHO's report said rolling out six concrete measures could provide "a triple dividend" of "healthier people, lower emissions, and stronger economies".

As well as saving lives, the measures could help avoid 16.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, the report said.

The measures could also generate up to $5.4 trillion in fiscal benefits each year, as well as a nearly $4 trillion economic boost by saving lives, avoiding disasters and reducing healthcare costs.

The WHO acknowledged the study relied on ambitious scenarios and that there were data gaps and inherent uncertainties in the projections.

But Tedros maintained that the report showed how "scaling up proven, affordable actions could save millions of lives, with the greatest gains in the countries that need them most".

As global leaders prepare to head to the COP31 in Turkey next week, he urged them to ensure that protecting health is at "the centre of climate action".