Climate change harms health in Europe

Climate change is claiming an increasing number of victims in Europe. This is evident from the latest Lancet Countdown Europe, in which 64 researchers from 42 different countries map out the consequences of climate change for European public health. The results of this third edition are published today in the journal Lancet Public Health.

The study maps out the consequences using a wide range of indicators. A new indicator in this report was developed by researchers Marlies Hesselman and Monique van Cauwenberghe from the Faculty of Law at the University of Groningen. They investigated how often health is cited in climate change litigation.

Climate change litigation is a powerful tool for demonstrating how climate change affects people’s health and for bringing about far-reaching policy changes. Take, for example, the recent ruling in the climate case brought by Bonaire and Greenpeace against the Dutch state.

Health is being cited with increasing frequency in climate change litigation. The researchers examined 300 terms relating to physical and mental health in 992 court documents submitted in European climate cases between 2011 and 2024. What is particularly striking is the huge increase in references to mental health over the past five years. 88 per cent of these references date from after 2019.

Climate/eco-anxiety in particular is cited as a health concern, especially in cases brought by young people.