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The Europe Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change will be coordinated at Heidelberg University and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain. Prof. Dr Joacim Rocklöv (Heidelberg) and Prof. Dr Cathryn Tonne (Barcelona) are set to take over leadership over the next five years. The report tracks the health impact of climate change at the European level, as well as adaptation and mitigation measures, economic consequences, and scientific and public engagement. The next report for Europe is set to be published in the journal “Lancet Public Health” in spring 2026.
Press Release
Heidelberg, 7 February 2025
European Report on Health and Climate Change Coordinated in Heidelberg and Barcelona
Joacim Rocklöv and Cathryn Tonne set to be responsible for Lancet Countdown Europe
The Europe Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change will be coordinated at Heidelberg University and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain. Prof. Dr Joacim Rocklöv (Heidelberg) and Prof. Dr Cathryn Tonne (Barcelona) are set to take over leadership over the next five years. The report tracks the health impact of climate change at the European level, as well as adaptation and mitigation measures, economic consequences, and scientific and public engagement. The next report for Europe is set to be published in the journal “Lancet Public Health” in spring 2026.
Since 2017, the Lancet Countdown, a worldwide multidisciplinary collaboration between research institutions and United Nations organizations, has been using a wide range of indicators to track the impacts of climate change on public health as well as international political responses. A separate report for Europe was introduced in 2021 with the goal of creating a reliable information base to accelerate climate adaptation and mitigation measures and defining new ways to protect and promote health. Lancet Countdown Europe is one of six centers within the international Lancet Countdown Initiative, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust based in London (UK). The European center has a strategic partnership with the World Health Organization in Europe (WHO/Europe) and the European Environmental Agency (EEA).
“People all across Europe are feeling the harmful effects of climate change on their health. Regions that were previously too cold for this are becoming hubs for the transmission of infectious diseases. In summer, forest fires rage through southern Europe and the number of heat-related deaths in Europe is on the rise. Air pollution increases the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and reduces people’s life expectancy,” stresses Prof. Rocklöv. According to Prof. Tonne, the latest findings on the impacts of climate change in Europe show that adaptation measures to protect health will reach their limits if greenhouse gas emissions are not sustainably reduced and reinforced by a variety of approaches to mitigate health risks.
The epidemiologist, mathematician and statistician Joacim Rocklöv holds an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship at Heidelberg University and is conducting research in a range of projects at both the university and the Heidelberg University Hospital, focusing on the impacts of climate and environmental changes on public health. For that purpose, he leads the Heidelberg Planetary Health Hub (Hei-Planet), which is based at the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health and the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing. Alongside Prof. Rocklöv, Dr Hedi Kriit will be acting as the Lancet Countdown research fellow coordinating, among other things, the work of the 69 researchers and ensuring the scientific quality of the next report.
As an environmental epidemiologist at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Cathryn Tonne is studying the causes and consequences of air pollution, especially focusing on health co-benefits of climate change mitigation activities. Dr José Chen will be assisting Prof. Tonne and, besides scientific activities, will also be responsible for the strategic planning of policy engagement.
Contact:
Heidelberg University
Communications and Marketing
Press Office, phone +49 6221 54-2311
presse@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de
https://lancetcountdown.org/europe – Lancet Countdown Europe
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