APUG – Aktionsprogramm Umwelt und Gesundheit | Umweltbundesamt

no climate scenario developed

The expected impacts of climate change on the human health in Germany can be manifold. For example, warmer weather can promote the proliferation of pathogenic germs and their vectors, like ticks, gnats and rodents. Also native allergenic animals, like oak processionary (Thaumetopoea processionea), may benefit from higher temperatures. Moreover, prolonged periods of pollen circulation in the air and an increase in extreme weather events, like heat and torrential rain periods, are to be expected. Climate change can also lead to a higher exposure to particulate matter, ozone and UV radiation. If the climate warming continues, the current scientific knowledge prognosticates an increase in extreme weather events and their associated health hazards also for Germany.

Climate changes can have direct effects on the human health. Extreme examples are physical injuries, possibly with fatal consequences, that can be caused by storms, flooding or heat waves. But also indirect impairments of health related to climate change are investigated, like newly established or increasing numbers of allergies, and infectious diseases that are caused by the introduction of new or the spread of established disease carriers. It can be expected that in the near future the consequences of climate change will have a more profound effect on the public health.

The government wants to protect the public against health risks. For that reason, the government needs solid knowledge about the state of the public health and about environmental health impacts. It needs to identify risks, establish standards and inform the public about health risks.

The Aktionsprogramm Umwelt und Gesundheit (APUG) supports strategies and measures to record, evaluate and communicate health risks that are caused by environmental impacts. The goal is to improve the empirical database for assessing the pollution situation and to gain representative data about the existing pollutant load of the public and their home environment (reference values).

In most cases the currently available environmental data and public health data can not be analysed together. That complicates an appropriate evaluation of the impact of the environment on the public health – an evaluation where relationships are neither over- nor underrated. Research projects shall show ways how procedures and methods to evaluate environmental health risks can be improved.

The scientific estimation and the public perception of health risks from environmental impacts can differ. This can lead to a mood of uncertainty among the public and to a loss of confidence in federal agencies. The as part of the Aktionsprogramm Umwelt und Gesundheit (APUG) established ”risk panel“ prepared recommendations for this which are presented in the final report of this panel.

The Federal Environment Agency and the Robert Koch Institute jointly developed the framework for recommendations for actions for adaption measures to health consequences of climate change. For this, the Federal Environment Agency started an online evaluation of activities and measures on the federal, regional and local level. After an intensive exchange between representatives from federal and regional agencies and other experts in 2011, the Federal Environment Agency and the Robert Koch Institute received the order to jointly develop the recommendations for actions.

Evaluation of activities and measures on climate change and health: A central office that bundles the diverse campaigns, information, intentions and projects in the topic is missing so far. Within the framework of the national Aktionsprogramm Umwelt und Gesundheit (APUG) the Federal Environment Agency and its nationwide evaluation contributed to the visibility of the different adaptation activities in Germany and provided the results in a report.

This is an overview of already realised, current or planned activities, works and projects on municipal, regional and federal level in Germany. The structure of the evaluation was based on the six fields of activity with their individual goals from the report “Climate change and health: General framework on recommendations for actions for federal agencies and other stakeholders in Germany“, prepared by the Federal Environment Agency and the Robert Koch Institute.

The collection of concrete adaptation measures shall be a guide and help for interested parties and in addition offers the opportunity to explore future cooperation and funding opportunities. The results of the survey can be downloaded from a website as an excel file. Each entry was controlled for quality before publishing.