The newly released European State of the Climate 2024 annual report (ESOTC), co-published by the European Union’s Copernicus Earth observation program and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), confirms what public health experts have long warned about: the health costs of climate change in Europe are rising fast, and so is the human toll.
HEAL calls on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to commit to protecting people’s health from the triple crisis during her second term in a letter. First, by anchoring health protection as well as EU climate, environmental action at the Executive Vice-Presidency level, and second, by adopting a disease preventative approach in all the upcoming legislative, budgetary and financial initiatives, including the Clean Industrial Deal, the Vision for Agriculture and Food, the Climate Adaptation Plan. HEAL urges her to safeguard and strengthen the EU climate and environmental acquis for better health, and accelerate on the zero pollution path, including for the foreseen reform of the EU chemicals law REACH.
Full letter here.