In 2020, the European Union approved the European Green Deal, setting its member states on the path to carbon neutrality by 2050. And in 2024, the EU revised its Ambient Air Quality Directive to reduce fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide in air to much lower levels, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), and also monitor newly recognized air pollutants of concern, such as ultrafine particulate matter. Through these steps and more, Europe has become a proving ground for climate and health policy.
The EU Climate Adaptation Strategy explicitly links health to climate resilience, pushing member states to develop heat action plans, strengthen disease surveillance and redesign cities to withstand floods and heat waves. Research networks like the Lancet Countdown Europe publish annual reports showing how climate change is already shaping health indicators across the continent. And studies by the European Environment Agency have quantified lives saved by cleaner air — evidence with lessons far beyond Europe’s borders.
Journalists can ramp up their national environmental health care coverage by following how communities, researchers and policymakers are responding to Europe’s changing climate, which is already transforming public health.
Climate resilience and a warming continent
As the world’s fastest warming continent, Europe has some of the most advanced heat wave warning systems, air pollution monitoring networks and cross-border disease surveillance programs. European institutions have pioneered frameworks that link climate adaptation directly to public health — including the EU’s Climate and Health Observatory and the World Health Organization’s regional heat-health action plans.
Many EU countries are treating coal phaseouts, tree planting or urban cooling strategies not just as climate policies but also as public health interventions, with clear indicators related to mortality and disease prevalence. In many ways, Europe is setting an example for the rest of the world, offering both cautionary tales of vulnerability and evidence that strong policy saves lives.
The sources collected here span European institutions, national agencies, research networks and advocacy groups and can help journalists track continental trends and uncover local stories.
Pan-European institutions & agencies
Getting familiar with continent-wide decisions and data is a good starting place for understanding how a member country stands out within the EU, and how broad policies may affect particular places.
- The European Environment Agency (EEA) offers reports on air quality, heat stress and environmental health
- The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) records surveillance of climate-sensitive diseases like West Nile virus, Lyme disease and dengue.
- The European Commission on Energy, Climate Change and Environment (DG CLIMA) is responsible for the EU’s climate adaptation strategy, including health-related policy briefs.
- The EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the research arm of this commission and publishes scientific reports on climate impacts, including extreme heat and floods.
- The European Green Deal is a key climate policy that is tracked by this commission and sets the goal of climate neutrality by 2050.
- The European Health Union coordinates public health responses among EU member countries.
- The 8th Environment Action Programme (EAP) is a key policy that builds on the European Green Deal, accelerating the goals toward climate neutrality and a sustainability that must be met by 2030.
- WHO’s Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health (PECCH) is a commission of 11 members from across Europe that will make actionable recommendations on climate and health.
- WHO Regional Office for Europe offers key resources on heat waves, air pollution and climate-related health risks across 53 countries.
National-level sources
Nations often offer finer scale detail to help narrow further into a topic.
- Each EU member country has its own public health and environment agencies that provide specific national data. For example, France’s Santé Publique France, Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Italy’s Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) and Spain’s Carlos III Health Institute track relevant statistics to heat waves, air pollution and disease outbreaks, and monitor public health warnings and aspects of climate adaptation plans.
Academic and research networks
Use the latest research as a news peg for greater nuance when refining a topic.
- The Lancet Countdown Europe publishes reports tracking climate and health indicators across European countries.
- The European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC) produces policy reports on climate-health risks and adaptation.
- Climate-Health Network (CHN) is a Europe-wide collaboration between universities and NGOs on health co-benefits of climate action.
- The EC-funded Climate Change and Health Cluster comprises six projects that focus on a climate-health issue: coastal health, development of clear climate-health indicators, diseases transmitted by sand flies, pregnancy and postpartum health, infectious diseases, and ecosystem-level solutions. Each of these project areas are themselves large multidisciplinary endeavors made up of researchers across the continent.
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) is a multidisciplinary institute focused on global health.
- The Austria-based International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis supports research on global energy and biodiversity issues, including multidisciplinary climate-health projects.
NGOs and advocacy organizations
Advocates offer important stakeholder viewpoints and can often connect a journalist with local sources.
- Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) is a Brussels-based NGO focused on the policy intersection between public health and the environment, including air pollution and phasing out coal.
- European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) is a Belgium-based nonprofit group that advocates for improving public health across Europe.
- Doctors for the Environment is a group for medical professionals lobbying for stronger climate-health measures, with various national branches.
- The Berlin-based Centre for Planetary Health Policy (CPHP) publishes reports on climate-health policy in Germany and internationally.
Data portals & tools
Assessing datasets and maps from afar can help journalists decide on a location or source that stands out in some way, improving international travel planning.
- The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) provides EU Earth observation data, including temperature, drought and climate-health indicators.
- Eurostat publishes official EU statistics on air quality, climate risks, mortality and many other health and environment indicators.
- The European Climate and Health Observatory is a joint EEA–EC–WHO platform with country case studies and datasets.
