European research on environment and health

Description

This publication gives an overview of EU funded research under FP8, i.e. Horizon 2020, including their potential to contribute to various EU policy actions and programmes. The catalogue presents 13 projects related to climate change and human health.

According to WHO, between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year in the world from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress. The direct damage costs to health (i.e. excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation) is estimated to be between USD 2-4 billion/year by 2030. In addition, climate change affects many of the social and environmental determinants of health, i.e. clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.

Facing increasing environmental challenges, those related to climate change among several others, and needing to protect public health, the EU has established an extensive framework of thematic programmes and regulatory actions related to environment and health. In 2021, the European Commission adopted its new EU strategy on adaptation to climate change. It acknowledges that climate change impacts the health and well-being of Europeans, who increasingly suffer from heat waves. Furthermore, it calls for the need of a deeper understanding of the climate-related risks for health. Within this context, the European Climate and Health Observatory has been established under Climate-ADAPT.

To be credible, the frameworks and regulatory actions need to rely on solid scientific evidence. Therefore, the EU has also provided increasing financial support through Framework Programmes of Research and Innovation (FP) for over 500 multi-national, multi-partner research projects with an estimated EU contribution of around € 2.4 billion since 2000. Research particularly aiming at better understanding the health impacts of global change (including climate change) emerged especially in the FP7 and continued under its successors. Under Horizon 2020 (FP8 that ran from 2014 until 2020), 13 of those projects were funded, receiving around €53 million from the EU. And the true financial support and prominence given to this area is larger, as climate change is considered to be one of the co-determinants for health in many other projects.

This project catalogue briefly describes 351 funded projects with an EU contribution of close to € 1.4 billion (either ongoing or completed already), including 13 that relate to climate change and human health. Their potential to contribute to various policy actions and programmes is indicated.

The described projects are a foundation to go forward with the current Framework Programme - Horizon Europe, that started in 2021. The current Framework Programme – Horizon Europe – has identified the following as two of the first missions to be implemented: Climate-neutral and Smart Cities and Adaptation to climate change including societal transformation, both of which acknowledge the protection of human health and wellbeing as an important component and societal benefit of action. Furthermore, a targeted call for proposals was launched in 2021 (‘Health impacts of climate change, costs and benefits of action and inaction’), which has resulted in the funding of a new cluster of six projects in this area, starting in 2022.

Reference information