Extreme heat turns pregnancy into a 'new fault line' in the climate crisis, UN warns

Pregnancy and childbirth have become a “new fault line in the global climate crisis” as extreme heat worsens, the head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) warned on 5 October 2026, calling for maternal and newborn health to be built into countries’ climate plans. Speaking in Fiji at an event organized by global charitable foundation Wellcome, ahead of the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, UNFCCC chief Simon Stiell urged governments to protect life at its most fragile, according to UN News. He addressed the first day of the pre-COP ministerial meeting. Stiell said a deep test of climate action was “far, far simpler” than degrees, targets and finance. He stressed that rising temperatures mean rising danger in pregnancy.

Extreme heat during pregnancy is increasingly linked to premature birth, stillbirth, low birth weight and maternal complications, Stiell noted. His remarks drew on fresh survey findings commissioned by Wellcome. The survey covered maternal health professionals in five countries across five continents. The data were released on the same day as his address. The findings framed the backdrop for the pre-COP discussions.

Some 73 percent of health-care professionals reported that heat-linked cases or complications had increased over the past five years. Another 81 percent said they 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 had been affected by extreme heat. Stiell underlined that no one is immune, but the risks and impacts are not shared equally. 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.

“A safe birth is already too often shaped by geography, income and access to care. Without action, extreme heat will widen that injustice,” Stiell said.

He added that “‘Staying cool’ is simply not an option when there is no cool place to go.” For small islands and other nations that “did practically nothing to create this climate crisis,” the findings underscore the need for support at scale. He called for the tripling of adaptation finance agreed at COP30 in Belém to be delivered. He also urged nations to work with the whole financial system to make $1.3 trillion a year for developing countries a reality.

Stiell set out three priorities for the response:

• Making pregnancy and newborn care part of adaptation, heat and health planning;
• Turning evidence into protection through guidance, training, heat alerts and safer facilities;
• Improving data to show where risks are growing and which interventions work.

“What is not named in a plan is too often not funded, not measured and not protected,” he said, adding that “Harm that is not counted is too easily ignored.”

He commended the COP31 Presidency of Türkiye and Australia’s President of Negotiations for making health a key priority, building on Brazil’s work last year.

“A changing climate must never be accepted as a reason pregnancy and birth become less safe,” he said. “A newborn’s healthy start must never depend on a family’s ability to escape the heat.”