📰 Continuing coverage: WHO urged to declare climate crisis a global health emergency

The World Health Organization WHO has spent years pushing global health standards, but one area keeps slipping: protecting workers. After the U.S. under Donald Trump halted payments to the agency in 2020, the WHO quietly reduced funding for occupational safety and health programs, according to advocates and internal documents reviewed by Inside Climate News. Now, as climate change turns up the heat on dangerous jobs, experts say the move has left millions of workers in the dark—literally and figuratively—exposed to risks that are getting worse every year.

Every year, about 3 million workers die from job-related accidents or toxic exposures, and another 374 million suffer non-fatal injuries or illnesses, according to the International Labour Organization. Those numbers don’t include the growing threat of climate-driven dangers like extreme heat and wildfire smoke, which are hitting outdoor workers the hardest. Construction crews, farmworkers, and delivery drivers are already feeling the pain. In the U.S. alone, heat killed 166 workers in 2021, a 20% jump from the year before, according to OSHA records.

WHO shifts focus away from worker safety

The WHO’s shift started in 2020 when the Trump administration pulled U.S. funding, which had accounted for about 22% of the agency’s budget. The WHO didn’t replace that lost cash, and in the aftermath, it cut or paused several occupational safety and health programs, including those tracking workplace heat stress and chemical exposures. Internal memos show the agency redirected those funds to other priorities, like pandemic preparedness and digital health initiatives. The move wasn’t announced publicly, but advocates say it’s had real-world consequences.

Europe’s largest labor union, the ETUC, called out the WHO in a 2023 report for failing to respond to the growing threat of climate-related workplace hazards. The union’s research found that while the WHO talks about climate adaptation, it’s not putting worker safety at the center of its plans. “The WHO is missing a huge opportunity to protect the people who keep the economy running,” said Esther Lynch, ETUC’s general secretary. “These workers aren’t just statistics—they’re our neighbors, our family members, and they’re getting hurt because the WHO isn’t paying attention.”

Climate change is making dangerous jobs deadlier

The numbers tell the story. A 2022 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that extreme heat now costs the global economy $360 billion a year in lost productivity. Outdoor workers lose about $2.40 per hour for every 1°C rise above 25°C, the study found. That’s a direct hit to paychecks and families. In India, where temperatures regularly hit 45°C, farmworkers report collapsing from heat exhaustion at least once a week during peak harvest seasons. In California, wildfire smoke has forced fruit pickers to work shorter shifts or stay home, cutting their earnings by up to 40% during peak fire seasons.

The WHO’s own research shows that heat stress alone killed at least 15,000 workers globally between 2000 and 2020. But experts say those numbers are likely far higher because many heat-related deaths go unreported. The agency’s worker safety programs used to track these trends, but now that funding is gone, there’s no systematic way to measure the toll. “Without this data, we’re flying blind,” said Dr. Linda McCauley, dean of Emory University’s nursing school and a leading expert on occupational health. “We can’t fix what we don’t measure.”

What’s next for the WHO

Next week, the WHO’s executive board will meet to set priorities for the coming year. Worker safety advocates are pushing for the agency to restore funding and make occupational health a core part of its climate strategy. They’re not asking for a revolution—just a return to basics. “The WHO already has the tools to protect workers,” said Dr. Barry Levy, a physician and public health advocate who’s worked with the WHO. “It just needs the will to use them.”

But the agency faces pressure from all sides. Some member states want to focus on pandemic preparedness, while others argue climate adaptation should take priority. The WHO’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has signaled support for worker safety in recent speeches, but critics say talk isn’t enough. They want concrete steps, like reviving the agency’s heat stress guidelines or funding a global database on workplace injuries linked to climate change.

The stakes couldn’t be clearer. With heat waves getting longer, wildfires spreading faster, and extreme weather events becoming routine, the workers who keep society running are the ones paying the price. Unless the WHO acts, millions more will join the grim statistics—and the cost won’t just be measured in lives lost, but in families struggling to get by.

What You Need to Know

  • Source: Inside Climate News
  • Published: May 16, 2026 at 09:00 UTC
  • Category: Environment
  • Topics: #climate · #environment · #energy · #war · #conflict · #must-prioritize-workers

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Curated by GlobalBR News · May 16, 2026

🇧🇷 Resumo em Português

A Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) enfrenta críticas por reduzir programas de segurança do trabalhador justamente quando as mudanças climáticas tornam atividades como agricultura e construção ainda mais perigosas. Especialistas alertam que a entidade global precisa agir com urgência para evitar um colapso na proteção de milhões de pessoas expostas a condições extremas, desde ondas de calor sufocantes até tempestades violentas.

No Brasil, onde o agronegócio e a construção civil empregam milhões e sofrem diretamente com os efeitos do clima — como secas prolongadas e chuvas torrenciais —, a decisão da OMS soa ainda mais preocupante. O país, que já registra altas taxas de doenças relacionadas ao trabalho, como insolação e problemas respiratórios, corre o risco de ver esses índices explodirem sem políticas efetivas de prevenção e fiscalização. Além disso, a falta de atenção da OMS nesse tema afeta diretamente a saúde pública, já sobrecarregada por outras crises, como a pandemia.

A pressão sobre a OMS deve crescer nas próximas semanas, com organizações sindicais e ambientalistas cobrando respostas rápidas para evitar um retrocesso na luta por direitos trabalhistas e saúde ocupacional diante da emergência climática.