UN climate chief warns climate crisis is now a health emergency of 'pandemic scale'

Summary

The United Nations climate chief has warned that the climate crisis is now a health emergency of 'pandemic scale', and that countries must protect their health systems as climate change poses a growing threat to public health. The warning came as the COP31 climate conference opened in Turkey. Euronews also reports that health receives only a small fraction of climate finance, and that COP31 is placing healthcare systems and their ability to adapt at the centre of discussions on the first day of the talks.

Timeline

1. Euronews

   9 Nov 2026, 15:18 UTCSource ↗

   Euronews reports that the UN climate chief warns the climate crisis is a health emergency of 'pandemic scale' and that countries must protect health systems as climate change poses a growing threat to public health during COP31 in Turkey.

2. Euronews

   9 Nov 2026, 16:26 UTCSource ↗

   Euronews reports that health gets only a small fraction of climate finance, and that COP31 is putting healthcare systems and their ability to adapt at the centre of discussions on the first day of the UN climate conference.