Lancet Countdown in Europe

The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change is an international research collaboration that brings together 120 leading experts to monitor how the world’s changing climate is impacting public health. Every year, the Lancet Countdown publishes a report that harnesses the latest global data to make clear how climate change is affecting our health, the consequences of delayed action and the health benefits of a robust response. Find more information about the initiative here. 

The Lancet Countdown in Europe is a new transdisciplinary research collaboration launched in September 2021 to monitor progress on health and climate change in Europe. Building on the work of the global Lancet Countdown and other regions, it leverages the wealth of data and cross disciplinary expertise in Europe, to develop region-specific indicators to address the main challenges and opportunities of Europe’s response to climate change for health. The indicators provide information to guide health and climate policy decision making and contribute to the European Observatory on Climate and Health. Find more information about the initiative here.

The work of the Lancet Countdown in Europe draws on broad expertise, including that of epidemiologists and public health experts, climate scientists, economists, social scientists, and political scientists from 29 leading European academic and UN institutions. Our work ranges from ensuring policymakers have access to high-quality evidence-based guidance, through to providing the health profession with the tools they need to improve public health.

We are a collaboration of more than 40 contributors that together report on at least 30 indicators, monitoring and quantifying the health impacts of climate change and the health co-benefits of accelerated action since the 1950s. The Lancet Countdown in Europe’s findings are published in The Lancet Public Health across five key domains:

• Climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability
• Adaptation, planning, and resilience for health
• Mitigation actions and health co-benefits
• Economics and finance
• Politics and governance

The data makes clear how climate change is affecting our health, the consequences of delayed action and the health benefits of a robust response. The publication of the Lancet Countdown in Europe report(s) is accompanied by a media and communications campaign, a series of launch events around Europe, and policy engagement outreach.

The Lancet Countdown in Europe operates in collaboration with other Lancet Countdown regional centres, including South America, Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), and Asia.

For general inquiries:

e-mail address: europe@lancetcountdown.org

For data inquiries:

Kim van Daalen (kim.vandaalen@lancetcountdown.org)

Prof. Rachel Lowe (rachel.lowe@bsc.es)

Social media:

Twitter: @LCDEurope