The European Climate and Health Observatory

On 24 February 2021, the European Commission adopted the Communication ‘Forging a climate-resilient Europe – the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change’. The Strategy outlines a long-term vision for the EU to become a climate-resilient society, fully adapted to the unavoidable impacts of climate change by 2050. This strategy aims to reinforce the adaptive capacity of the EU and the world and minimise vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement and the proposal for a European Climate Law.

The Strategy aims to build a climate resilient society by improving knowledge of climate impacts and adaptation solutions; by stepping up adaptation planning and climate risk assessments; by accelerating adaptation action; and by helping to strengthen climate resilience globally. It pursues three objectives and proposes a range of actions in order to meet them:

  • Smarter adaptation: Improving knowledge and manage uncertainty; including:
    • Pushing the frontiers of adaptation knowledge;
    • More and better climate loss data; and
    • Enhancing and expanding Climate-ADAPT as the European platform for adaptation knowledge.
  • More systemic adaptation: Supporting policy development at all levels and all relevant policy fields; including three cross-cutting priorities to integrate adaptation into:
    • Macro-fiscal policy;
    • Nature-based solutions; and
    • Local adaptation actions.
  • Faster adaptation: Speed up adaptation implementation across the board.

Climate-ADAPT, the European platform for adaptation knowledge, will be enhanced and expanded. As a first concrete deliverable of the new Strategy, the European Climate and Health Observatory will be launched on Climate-ADAPT, to better track, analyse and prevent the impacts of climate change on human health.

WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN CLIMATE AND HEALTH OBSERVATORY?

The European Climate and Health Observatory (‘Observatory’) is a partnership between the European Commission, the European Environment Agency (EEA) and several other organisations. It contributes to the European Green Deal and the EU4Health vision for a healthier European Union.

The European Climate and Health Observatory is managed jointly by the European Commission and the EEA. The Observatory is maintained by the EEA as part of the European Climate Adaptation Platform (Climate-ADAPT) with the support of the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation (ETC/CCA).

The European Climate and Health Observatory aims to support Europe in preparing for and adapting to the impacts of climate change on human health by providing access to relevant information and tools. It also fosters information exchange and cooperation between relevant international, European, national and non-governmental actors.

The European Climate and Health Observatory provides access to the following types of information related to climate and human health in Europe:

  • European and national policy context
  • Impacts of climate change on health in Europe
  • Indicators on climate and health
  • Information systems and tools on climate and health
  • Early warning systems on climate and health

The European Climate and Health Observatory also includes a searchable Resource Catalogue, which provides access to further relevant quality-controlled resources, including:

  • Publications and reports
  • Research and knowledge projects
  • Guidance material
  • Information portals

The pilot version of the European Climate and Health Observatory has been launched in early 2021 jointly with the adoption of a new EU strategy on adaptation to climate change.

The Observatory is being developed further in cooperation with its partners and European countries.