Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CATALYSE (Climate Action To Advance HeaLthY Societies in Europe)
Période du rapport: 2022-09-01 au 2024-02-29
Despite clear signs that the impacts of climate change are escalating, the global response has been inadequate. Traditional scientific efforts have fallen short of providing knowledge and tools that have been broadly applied in decision-making, and innovative approaches to knowledge translation are needed. To catalyse climate action in Europe to protect public health, our overarching goal is to provide new knowledge, data, and tools on: i) the relationships between changes in environmental hazards caused by climate change, ecosystems, and human health; ii) the health co-benefits of climate action; iii) the role of health evidence in decision making; and iv) the societal implications of climate change for health systems. This will be achieved through five specific objectives: 1) to develop an integrated indicator framework and repository to track the status of health-relevant outcomes of climate actions; 2) to quantify the health co-benefits and full social and environmental costs and benefits resulting from mitigation measures outside of the health sector; 3) to develop innovative surveillance and forecasting tools that facilitate effective response to environmental health hazards (e.g. heat stress, allergenic pollen) caused by climate change and the design, monitoring and evaluation of interventions to mitigate climate change; 4) to investigate how stakeholders engage with evidence regarding the health impacts of climate change, and to develop strategies and tools to facilitate engagement; and 5) to provide evidence and training on the most effective strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation for health systems, with specific focus on vulnerable populations including those occupationally exposed to hazards induced by climate change.
Data sources and priorities areas identified for tracking dimensions of climate change and health in Europe. LCDE indicator report 2024 was prepared. Co-benefits framework drafted in WP2 and emissions modelling has started. Data collected and processed for Task 3.1 and first epidemiological models have been applied. Task 3.2 has focused on developing approaches for dealing with selection biases in sparse data derived from social media. Task 3.3 completed a predictive machine learning model to predict bicycle volume at the street-level in the city of Berlin. Task 3.4 developed a prototype system extracting causal and attributional relationship in free text using traditional NLP and large language models. Literature review and a qualitative study performed to assess how policy makers perceive and engage with evidence regarding the health impacts of climate change. 2 case studies were performed in Poland and the UK, and a third case study in Barcelona is at an early stage. In WP5, literature review and document overviews search strategy were carried out to have state-of-the art evidence on climate change and health system adaptation and mitigation. A survey on health system adaptation actions and plans is being developed to collect information from EU countries on current practise. A questionnaire on the perception of occupational heat stress and access to health care among migrant agricultural workers was developed. Carbon footprint of Catalunya’s Health System calculated and mitigation scenarios being developed with local health care stakeholders and policy makers.
WP1 conducted literature review to map concepts in the climate change and health literature. This is being refined to focus on how vulnerable populations are represented in the literature specifically concepts related to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. A scoping review was published exploring the nexus between forest-based mitigation and health. Task 2.1 is generating detailed policy scenarios that can be used for integrated analysis across sectors. A narrative review is underway mapping different levers of change relevant to mitigation, the societal agents, and specific mitigation actions relevant to EU policy. Task 3.1 calibrated small-area epidemiological models to better understand vulnerability of population subgroups in Catalonia. Task 3.2 implemented an early warning system within a mHealth app that warns users when their rhinitis symptoms are expected to worsen. This tool will allow patients with rhinitis to improve the management of their disease. Task 3.3 demonstrates how bicycle volume can be extrapolated from a few scarcely located counting stations to street-level predictions. Task 3.4 produced first results showing successful extraction of explicitly stated causal and attributional relationships from self-reported text data. Task 4.2 explored how policy makers perceive and engage with evidence regarding the health impacts of climate change. Case studies were conducted investigating how policymakers understand and use evidence on the health impacts of climate change in designing and implementing policies. Results from literature reviews, a survey, interviews and primary studies conducted in WP5 will provide additional evidence on the current state-of the-art of climate change and health adaptation and mitigation in health systems. The carbon footprint of the Catalan health sector has been calculated and the process and methodologies used can serve as a guide to improve knowledge and engagement with stakeholders necessary for implementation.