Germany should consider health effects of climate change across all policies – expert council

Anchoring health, climate and environment in all government departments and ministries is one of the recommendations put forward by Germany's health and resilience expert council, an independent government advisory panel, in a position paper on how society can best deal with future health crises. The link between health and climate change was one of five areas the council – set up in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to make evidence-based recommendations – investigated.

By establishing a "health and environment in all policies" approach, the government could minimise the health and climate impacts of political decisions in areas ranging from urban planning to agriculture to energy policy, the council stated in its position paper. The council also recommended focusing on the health benefits of climate protection as part of an effective climate communication strategy. It also called for ensuring that the burden of dealing with and mitigating climate change is spread fairly across society to "increase the acceptance of, and support for, urgently necessary climate protection measures".

A well-functioning society and economy are not possible without a livable climate and healthy environment, the advisors said. While the German healthcare system accounts for 5 percent of the countries emissions, diseases and emergencies related to climate change also increase burdens on the system, according to the paper.

The council made seven recommendations in total, including the implementation of a coordinated reporting system that integrates and analyses health, economic, climate and environmental data as well as public and social media discourse with the help of artificial intelligence. This would help identify social inequalities at all levels and to "deploy resources in a targeted manner and make evidence-based political decisions". Climate change has an impact on the health of all people but hits those hardest who are least responsible for causing it and who have fewer resources to cope with it, noted the council. 

A recent report by German health insurance company DAK stated that high temperatures pose an increasing health risk in Germany as climate change progresses. Younger children are more likely to suffer. Another health insurance survey from 2023, found more than 40 percent of young Germans say that climate change has negative effects on their mental and physical health.