Stroke and Climate Change: A World Stroke Organization Scientific Statement

Advancing mitigation efforts that reduce greenhouse gas emissions is essential, since limiting further climate change directly decreases the environmental drivers of stroke risk and protects long-term population brain health, along with broader climate-related health risks. Stroke professionals and organizations can meaningfully contribute through local, regional, and global advocacy. Climate-related environmental variables already meaningfully increase stroke risk and exacerbate existing health inequities. To further counter these trends, stroke prevention and care systems should integrate climate risk awareness, patient education, and early-warning mechanisms into clinical practice and health system planning. Priority areas include targeted protection for vulnerable groups, standardized exposure metrics, longitudinal surveillance, consistent education on climate change's impact on brain health, and expansion of research in underrepresented regions. Strengthening global collaboration and embedding climate resilience into stroke systems of care are critical for reducing both stroke-related morbidity and the wider health impacts of a climate-impacted world. This scientific statement has been reviewed and approved by the WSO Executive.