Connecting climate change and health research
About ENBEL
ENBEL - Enhancing Belmont Research Action to support EU policy making on climate change and health – is a project funded by the EU’s Horizon2020 programme aimed at connecting health and climate change research. Specifically, ENBEL brings together leaders in climate change and health research and coordinates a network of international health and climate research projects under the Belmont Forum’s Collaborative Research Action (CRA) on Climate, Environment and Health (CEH) and EU-funded projects.
Science-based evidence on climate change and health links
Climate change is according to the WHO the greatest threat to human health in the 21st century. The project will engage with policymakers and key stakeholders at EU, national and international level to understand their evidence needs on climate and health. Then we will synthesize scientific evidence on climate change and health links, identify knowledge gaps and translate evidence into outputs relevant for EU, national and regional policy with the aim of shaping low-carbon economies and build climate resilience.
The key thematic focus is on environmental and occupational heat, air pollution (including from wildfires) and climate-sensitive infectious diseases, with specific attention given to high-risk groups and populations.
ENBEL brings together international health & climate research projects funded by Belmont Forum and the EU. This figure shows the climate hazards, vulnerability factors, health risks and exposure determinants represented in the consortium and highlights ENBEL’s key thematic focus.
Networking and cooperation
The overall concept of ENBEL is a bottom-up approach to networking and cooperation across the often separate worlds of climate and health research communities.
ENBEL draws upon research on climate and health in Europe, incl. the Arctic region, East and Southern African regions, the Asia-Pacific region, and the South and Central Americas.
The project consortium is multidisciplinary and includes 17 partners from 11 European countries as well as from Botswana, Kenya, and South Africa. Together the partners have competencies in medicine, epidemiology, public health, climate and air quality modelling, health impact assessment, economics, science and policy communication and stakeholder engagement.
The project runs from November 2020 until October 2023.