Former UN Climate Chief to Lead Lancet Commission on Sea-Level Rise and Health

Christiana Figueres will co-chair new initiative examining the public health impacts of rising oceans.

Apr. 8, 2026 at 1:41am

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A translucent X-ray photograph revealing the internal structure of a coastal hospital building, its walls and foundations glowing against a dark background to illustrate the vulnerability of critical medical infrastructure to rising seas.An X-ray view exposes the fragility of coastal hospitals as sea levels rise, a growing public health crisis driven by climate change.New Orleans Today

Christiana Figueres, a former UN climate chief and key negotiator for the 2016 Paris agreement, has been appointed as the co-chair of a new Lancet Commission dedicated to investigating the intersection of sea-level rise, public health, and social inequality. The commission aims to analyze how the advancing waterline is altering daily life for hundreds of millions of people and the specific ways it creates escalating threats to wellbeing.

Why it matters

Sea-level rise is described by the commission as a health crisis that amplifies existing inequities and drives new patterns of disease. The physical encroachment of the ocean into human settlements creates a cascade of public health challenges that extend beyond simple flooding, including contamination of drinking water, increased infectious diseases, food insecurity, forced displacement, and worsening mental health.

The details

The commission will focus on the uneven nature of these health risks and the legal frameworks necessary to hold countries accountable for the resulting harms. It will examine how critical infrastructure required to provide medical care, such as hospitals, are also under threat from rising seas. The initiative follows a 2024 UN general assembly meeting where representatives from low-lying countries and small island developing states characterized the issue as a global crisis threatening 1 billion people.

  • The Lancet Commission is scheduled to deliver its full report by September 2027.
  • Christiana Figueres was appointed as co-chair of the commission on April 7, 2026.

The players

Christiana Figueres

A former UN climate chief and key negotiator for the 2016 Paris agreement, who has been appointed as the co-chair of the new Lancet Commission.

Lancet Commission

A new initiative dedicated to investigating the intersection of sea-level rise, public health, and social inequality.

Dr Saia Ma'u Piukala

The WHO regional director for the western Pacific, who has discussed the threat to hospitals and other critical infrastructure in the Solomon Islands due to rising seas.

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What they’re saying

“Figueres has linked these health crises to a global dependence on fossil fuels, which she claims is driving both geopolitical instability and the environmental changes causing sea-level rise. She has described the health impacts of climate change as the mother of all injustices and warned that countries are being held hostage by their reliance on these fuels.”

— Christiana Figueres, Former UN Climate Chief

What’s next

The Lancet Commission, which includes nearly two dozen health and environment experts, is scheduled to deliver its full report by September 2027.

The takeaway

This new Lancet Commission represents a critical effort to investigate the growing public health crisis posed by sea-level rise, which disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities and threatens essential medical infrastructure. Its findings could help drive policy changes to hold polluting countries accountable and protect those most at risk.