Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels not only makes the continent economically and politically vulnerable, but also has dramatic consequences for the health of the population. Rising air pollution, heat damage and the spread of climate-related infectious diseases warns the 2026 report for Europe of the Lancet Countdown to Health and Climate Change, co-directed by Prof. Dr. Joacim Rocklöv (University of Heidelberg) and Prof. Dr. Together with other experts from academia, practice and policy they will discuss the results of the report during a public event at the University of Heidelberg, comparing the current findings with successful measures for climate action and health protection. The live launch event will take place on April 22, 2026.
Lancet Countdown Europe is a multidisciplinary research collaboration made up of 65 experts from research institutions and United Nations agencies. Established in 2021 as a regional center of the global Lancet Countdown, the collaboration tracks the connections between health and climate change in Europe in five areas. These include health risks and impacts, adaptation and mitigation actions taken, the areas of economics and finance, and engagement with climate change and health across social actors. The third report for Europe, which will be published in the Lancet Public Health journal, presents a total of 43 indicators.
“We see very clearly that climate change caused by fossil fuels is a growing threat to the health of a growing number of people in Europe,” Underlines Professor Rocklöv. But at the same time, he adds, there are also positive examples from climate action and health protection.”A series of steps being taken at national and local level allow us to hope that the climate crisis can be contained and its effects reducedsays the epidemiologist, mathematician and statistician, who, as Alexander von Humboldt Professor at the University of Heidelberg, conducts research in a series of large-scale projects at the university and the University Hospital Heidelberg on the effects of climate and environmental change on public health.
The Dean of the Heidelberg University Medical School, Prof. Dr. Michael Boutros, will open the launch event for the Lancet Countdown to Health and Climate Change Europe 2026. Then Professor Rocklöv and Professor Tonne will present the main results. This will be followed by some of the success stories in climate action and health protection, with speakers Aleksandra Kazmierczak, who is also the coordinator of the European Observatory on Climate and Health and the climate and health expert of the European Environment Agency, and Francesca Racioppi, head of the European Center for Environment and Health of the World Health Organization. Experts from the Robert Koch Institute (Germany), the Austrian Competence Center for Climate and Health and the Agence Nationale de Santé Publique (France) will comment on the findings and report on ways their countries have responded to, for example, cases of climate-related infectious diseases, which have been increasing rapidly in recent years. A panel discussion with federal, state and local policymakers will focus on how measures for climate action and health protection can be successfully implemented.
The event on 22 April will take place in the Great Hall of the Old University (Grabengasse 1, Heidelberg) and will also be broadcast live, from 13:00. The interested public is also invited. Those attending the Great Hall must take their seats by 12.45pm. The opening event will be in English with simultaneous interpretation in German for those attending in person. Participation – both in person and online – requires registration at
