Policy brief: The importance of protecting human health in the EU climate policies
As anthropogenic climate change continues to escalate, its detrimental effects on human health are becoming pronounced, demanding urgent transformative actions from European policymakers. This policy brief underscores the importance of protecting human health in the EU climate change policies.
As the European Climate-Health Cluster, comprising six pioneering research projects, we call for increased engagement of legislators and policymakers to co-create evidence-based policies that effectively safeguard public health in the face of climate challenges.
Keypoints in this policy brief:
- As the 2024 European Climate Risk Assessment shows, Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world and increasingly prone to a range of climate-related hazards;
- According to the 2024 report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change in Europe, heat-related deaths have increased across most of Europe;
- Impacts are also unequally distributed across Europe;
- Legislators and policymakers in Europe have an opportunity to be at the forefront of efforts to protect human health from climate change as well as to maximise the potentially huge health co-benefits of mitigation strategies.