Enhancing Belmont Research Action to support EU policy making on climate change and health

ENBEL will support EU policy making by bringing together leaders in climate change and health research. We do so by coordinating a network of major international health and climate research projects under the Belmont Forum’s Collaborative Research Action (CRA), Societal Challenge 1 and 5 of EU’s Horizon 2020, and other national and international funding schemes. The network will develop evidence syntheses and co-produce with stakeholders a series of tailor-made knowledge products. The project will engage with EU policy advisors to translate science into policies that help shape low-carbon economies and build climate resilience in member countries while supporting EU diplomacy and development strategies. 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. This can have major impacts on knowledge production and policies. ENBEL brings together a consortium whose work generates actionable knowledge on how climate change-health risks will develop under global warming, what are the social costs and effective, cost-efficient and equitable mitigation and adaptation strategies. ENBEL focuses on three major climate change related health hazards: environmental and occupational heat, air pollution (particularly from wildfires) and climate-sensitive infectious diseases, with specific attention given to high risk groups and populations within Europe, and in Africa/Asia-Pacific region. ENBEL will support a knowledge management platform of EU funded research on climate change and health is two ways: A) build and manage a web-based knowledge platform of health impact of climate change by using innovative tools such as video, photos, maps and infographics; B) connect to existing and recognised knowledge platforms.Through our partners in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC), ENBEL will support, strengthen and establish channels for collaboration and capacity-building in LMIC.