One of the first impacts to be tracked is in the European Parliament resolution of 17 December 2020, on the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change. The Green Deal had promised a new, more ambitious strategy on adaptation to climate change, to be delivered in 2021, and this resolution set out the European Parliament’s request, with a preamble explicitly referencing our advice. Multiple aspects of the resolution are in line with our recommendations, including the integration of human health in climate adaptation, the importance of addressing climate impacts on vulnerable populations and areas, the need to strengthen the resilience of the health sector, and the need to fully engage the health community in the design of the instruments for adaptation.
One of our key recommendations is expressed in the new Commission Strategy on adaptation. The strategy notes "the need for a deeper understanding of the climate-related risks for health,’ and that climate change will increasingly challenge the ability of public health systems to function effectively". To counter such threats, we recommended that the Commission considers the creation of a disaster risk and climate change and health knowledge centre or coordinating mechanism. That recommendation has an obvious echo in the decision set out in the strategy to "establish a European climate and health observatory under Climate-ADAPT". Together with the EEA, the Commission launched this initiative alongside the strategy in the spring of 2021. The SAM report, amongst other reports from the field, also informed the Observatory’s longer-term strategic objectives by 2030, published in October 2022.
Our advice was cited in scientific journals such as the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Springer Climate, Environmental Research, and Climate Policy.