UN Climate Chief: Heat Puts Pregnant Women at Risk, Urges Action
UNFCCC head Simon Stiell warns extreme heat endangers pregnancy, citing survey data and urging maternal health in climate plans ahead of COP31.
The story in focus
At a pre-COP ministerial meeting in Fiji, UNFCCC chief Simon Stiell said extreme heat is making pregnancy a new fault line in the climate crisis, citing a Wellcome survey in which 73 percent of maternal health professionals reported more heat-linked complications over five years.
- Stiell called pregnancy a new fault line in the climate crisis and urged inclusion of maternal and newborn health in climate plans.
- A Wellcome survey of maternal health professionals in five countries found 73 percent saw increased heat-linked cases or complications over five years.
- Stiell outlined three priorities: integrate pregnancy care into adaptation planning, turn evidence into protection, and improve data.
Warning at pre-COP meeting
Speaking in Fiji at an event organized by Wellcome ahead of the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, UNFCCC chief Simon Stiell said pregnancy and childbirth have become a new fault line in the global climate crisis. He linked extreme heat during pregnancy to premature birth, stillbirth, low birth weight and maternal complications.
Stiell said climate action should be measured by whether it protects life at its most fragile, and called for maternal and newborn health to be built into national climate plans.
Survey findings
Stiell cited new data from a Wellcome-commissioned survey of maternal health professionals in five countries across five continents. Seventy-three percent reported that heat-linked cases or complications had increased over the past five years, and 81 percent were concerned or very concerned that extreme heat would increasingly put maternal, foetal and newborn health at risk without more action.
Nearly all respondents had cared for a pregnant woman or baby whose health they considered affected by extreme heat. Stiell said the risks are not shared equally, noting that people working outdoors, living in unregulated housing, travelling far to a clinic or relying on facilities without water, power or cooling cannot be protected by advice alone.
Call for finance and planning
Stiell set out three priorities: making pregnancy and newborn care part of adaptation, heat and health planning; turning evidence into protection through guidance, training, heat alerts and safer facilities; and improving data on where risks are growing and which interventions work.
He called for the tripling of adaptation finance agreed at COP30 in Belém to be delivered and for nations to work with the whole financial system to make $1.3 trillion a year for developing countries a reality. He commended the COP31 Presidency of Türkiye and Australia's President of Negotiations for making health a key priority.
What did the Wellcome survey find about heat and maternal health?
A Wellcome-commissioned survey of maternal health professionals in five countries found that 73 percent reported increased heat-linked cases or complications over five years, and 81 percent were concerned or very concerned about future risks without more action.
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