Lancet Countdown annual report – Germany

Since 2015, the Lancet Countdown — an interdisciplinary collaboration of over 50 research institutions and UN organizations—has been analyzing the global health impacts of climate change and evaluating international policy responses through more than 50 indicators. The findings from this comprehensive monitoring are published annually in late autumn in the medical journal The Lancet, under the title Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Climate Change and Health reports in the medical journal The Lancet. The overarching goal of the Lancet Countdown is to provide a robust data foundation that empowers policymakers and professionals, such as healthcare workers, to integrate scientific evidence on climate change and health into both political decisions and practical action.

In addition to the annual publication of the Lancet Countdown reports, national initiatives have increasingly emerged to present the key findings of the global report, adapt them to local contexts, and formulate tailored recommendations for policymakers. In Germany, such an initiative was launched in 2019 by the German Alliance on Climate Change and Health (KLUG). Since its initiation, various stakeholders from science, health policy, and practice have been involved, including the German Medical Association, Helmholtz Zentrum München, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Since 2022, the initiative has been coordinated by the Centre for Planetary Health Policy (CPHP).

In 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2024, the initiative published Policy Briefs for Germany alongside the global Lancet Countdown reports. These briefs emphasize different priority areas for action based on the global findings. For instance, the 2024 Policy Brief highlights critical topics such as heat protectioh, nutrition, and resilience in the health sector.Beyond the policy briefs, annual German launch events provide a platform where experts contextualize and discuss the global report’s findings as they relate to Germany. In both 2019 and 2022, the results were presented at the Federal Press Conference, with Federal Minister of Health Prof. Dr. Karl Lauterbach attending in 2022.

For more information on the German initiative for the Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Climate Change and Health, please visit klimagesund.de.

Project aims

The goals of the project are:

(1) To present the scientific findings of the Lancet Countdown reports on climate change and health at a German launch event, contextualize them in the national context, and discuss them with national and international experts.

(2) To publish policy briefs for Germany that outline concrete actions and recommendations for German (health) policy and practice, based on the scientific findings of the Lancet Countdown reports.