Extreme weather events are no longer just a climate concern but a public health emergency, the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health has warned.
In an open letter released on 13 August, the Commission urged all 53 WHO Member States in Europe and central Asia to step up preparedness and climate adaptation. The letter was signed under the chairmanship of former Icelandic prime minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir.
A deadly and growing threat
The Commissioners point to record-breaking heatwaves sweeping the continent with increasing frequency, intensity and lethality. Heat-related mortality in the region has jumped 30 per cent over the past two decades. In 2022 and 2023 alone, 35 European countries recorded more than 100,000 heat-related deaths.
The letter warns that older adults, people with disabilities and those living in poor-quality housing, pregnant women, young children and outdoor workers are especially at risk. The dangers extend beyond immediate fatalities. Heat undermines mental health, reduces productivity, damages crops, raises energy costs and strains critical infrastructure. Climate change is also reshaping the epidemiological map. Locally transmitted dengue cases in the EU/EEA rose 368 per cent between 2022 and 2024. Diseases once considered rare are now spreading rapidly in the region.
An EU strategy to address the emerging public health risks is no longer an option; it is a necessity. -EuroHealthNet
Hospitals under pressure
Health systems are struggling to cope. Heatwaves overwhelm emergency rooms with heart, lung and kidney cases. They also disrupt sleep and drive up anxiety levels. Certain prescription drugs exacerbate risks by impairing the body’s ability to regulate temperature.
Healthcare workers are also at risk, facing exhaustion and burnout. At the same time, cooling systems, IT networks and hospital buildings can fail. During the 2022 UK heatwave, Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London suffered critical breakdowns, a stark example of systemic vulnerability.
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“Accelerating the adoption of heat–health action plans must be a priority, not in a few years, but now,” the Commissioners warn. Such plans save lives by protecting vulnerable groups and easing hospital pressure.
Health, climate and the economy
The Commission frames the climate crisis squarely as a health crisis, and calls for economic indicators to reflect that reality. “Our economic systems don’t reward prevention,” the letter states.
Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Honorary President of the Club of Rome, reinforced the call in a LinkedIn post: “We need new measures of success, ones that put health, equity, and sustainability at the core.”
EuroHealthNet adds its voice
Earlier in June, EuroHealthNet issued “An urgent call for an EU Strategy on Climate and Health.”
“The climate crisis demands swift action. An EU strategy to address the emerging public health risks is no longer an option; it is a necessity,” EuroHealthNet declared. Caroline Costongs, Director of EuroHealthNet, stressed: “As the climate crisis is a cross-border threat to public health, EU coordination and policy action is required. This includes climate crisis preparedness, improving living environments, housing, transport, food, greening health systems, and climate justice.”
Europe’s temperature is rising twice the global average, leading to adverse health impacts such as heat-related illness and deaths. “Effective measures are urgently needed!” Prof. Joacim Rocklöv, Co-director of the Lancet Countdown in Europe on Climate Change and Health, said.
Reaction frm DG Sante
EU officials also weighed in. “Climate action is health action,” said Antonio Parenti, Director at DG SANTE. He called for protecting lives now and building stronger systems for the future. HERA chief Florika Fink-Hooijer warned that “Climate change and biodiversity loss are drivers for health crises and diseases. Let’s ensure countermeasures keep pace with the rising environmental threats.”
Climate change and biodiversity loss are drivers for health crises and diseases. Let’s ensure countermeasures keep pace with the rising environmental threats. – Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General of HERA
From rhetoric to action
The Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health, convened by WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge, brings together former prime ministers, ministers, EU commissioners and leading scientists.
Kluge reinforced the urgency in a LinkedIn post: “I applaud the Commissioners for their courage, expertise, and unwavering commitment to turning evidence into extraordinary action. I very much look forward to their final recommendations in 2026. Health is priceless, and so is our planet. The two are inextricably linked.”
A missing EU strategy
EuroHealthNet is urging the European Commission to develop and adopt an EU Strategy on Climate and Health, a single framework to coordinate adaptation and mitigation, embed climate-health priorities across all EU policies, and ensure dedicated funding in the next long-term EU budget (MFF 2028–2034).
The Pan-European Commission’s open letter echoes the same urgency, warning that accelerating the adoption of heat–health action plans “must be a priority, not in a few years, but now.”
As Europe endures another summer of record-breaking heatwaves, both WHO-linked experts and European public health networks are converging on the same message: without extraordinary action, the gap between recognition and protection will continue to cost lives.
