The COVID-19 pandemic and global environmental change: Emerging research needs.

The outbreak of COVID-19 raised numerous questions on the interactions between the occurrence of new infections, the environment, climate and health. The European Union requested the H2020 HERA project which aims at setting priorities in research on environment, climate and health, to identify relevant research needs regarding Covid-19. The emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 appears to be related to urbanization, habitat destruction, live animal trade, intensive livestock farming and global travel. The contribution of climate and air pollution requires additional studies. Importantly, the severity of COVID-19 depends on the interactions between the viral infection, ageing and chronic diseases such as metabolic, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and obesity which are themselves influenced by environmental stressors. The mechanisms of these interactions deserve additional scrutiny. Both the pandemic and the social response to the disease have elicited an array of behavioural and societal changes that may remain long after the pandemic and that may have long term health effects including on mental health. Recovery plans are currently being discussed or implemented and the environmental and health impacts of those plans are not clearly foreseen. Clearly, COVID-19 will have a long-lasting impact on the environmental health field and will open new research perspectives and policy needs.

Health in impact assessments: opportunities not to be missed

Prospective impact assessment is a consolidated approach for pursuing foresight in policy and decision-making, systematically deployed worldwide. There is consensus that, even in well developed impact assessments, human health is not always covered adequately. Partly as a response, health impact assessment (HIA) has emerged and has been applied in several countries in Europe and beyond. Opinions about the merits of HIA separate from other forms of impact assessment differ. This publication aims to provide a detailed and balanced view on “health in impact assessments”. Five key types of impact assessment, namely environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, social impact assessment, sustainability assessment, and HIA are presented, and four key questions are discussed: How can the various assessments contribute to promoting and protecting human health? How can further integration of health support the various forms of impact assessments? What forms of integration seem advisable? What priorities for further development? This analysis suggests that the potential of impact assessments to protect and promote health is underutilized, and represents a missed opportunity. Ways need to be found to exploit the potential to a fuller extent.

Capacity Building in Environment and Health (CBEH) project: strengthening health in environmental assessments in Slovenia: gap analysis and way forward

In the frame of the Capacity Building in Environment and Health (CBEH) project, co-funded by the European Commission, a workshop was held in Slovenia in order to analyse the specific capacity needs in the country in relation to the implementation of health impact assessment (HIA) and further integration of health in environmental assessments (EAs). During the workshop in Ljubljana in June 2012, ways to enhance capacity in health in EAs across Slovenia were examined. The aim was for experts in health and environment to review their experience in impact assessments. Discussion focused on the following types of impact assessment: HIA; environmental impact assessment (EIA); and strategic environmental assessment (SEA). One of the key findings was that, even though capacity-building activities in HIA and different HIA pilot projects have already taken place in Slovenia, there still seem to be unmet needs in various government departments. Furthermore, there is a need to define clear roles and responsibilities between environment and health in regard to HIA and further integration of health into EAs.

Capacity Building in Environment and Health (CBEH) project: strengthening health in environmental assessments in Estonia: gap analysis and way forward

In the frame of a project on Capacity Building in Environment and Health (CBEH), co-funded by the European Commission, a workshop took place in June 2012 to review the specific capacity needs of Estonia in relation to: implementation of health impact assessment (HIA); further integration of health in environmental assessments (EAs); and use of methods for quantitative risk assessment in local assessments.HIA is a prospective process – it looks at the potential effects of policies, plans, programmes and projects on health. One of the drivers for looking into HIA and its implementation in Estonia was the occurrence of a number of fires in the area of the city of Kunda. This focus provided a platform to examine ways of working between environment and health, and to develop a programme for HIA at a country level.One of the key findings was the need to define clear roles and responsibilities between environment and health for the implementation of risk assessment and HIA. Consequently, the main outcome was a plan for the integration of health in EAs. Using information provided by participants on existing EA activities, one project was specifically identified as being useful to develop those needs.

Strengthening the implementation of health impact assessment in Latvia

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a means of assessing the health impacts of policies, plans and projects in diverse economic, social, and environmental sectors using quantitative, qualitative and participatory techniques. The recent Latvian strategy for protecting and promoting public health provides an important legal and policy entry point for the strategic goal of health in all policies and the more operational objective of strengthening HIA implementation at the national and local levels. This could be achieved by enabling the health sector to take leadership for HIA in Latvia. For instance, the Ministry of Health or National Health Service could establish a national HIA support unit.

Health and strategic environmental assessment: background information and report: WHO consultation meeting, Rome, Italy, 8–9 June 2009

The application of impact assessment is increasingly important for development of sustainable projects and policies. Substantial progress has been made on how to meaningfully include health in strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and other forms of impact assessment. However, in the light of the evolving policy context in Europe further promotion of the consideration of health effects and support with all sectors of civil society, including the health sector is required. In line with this, the Budapest Declaration on Environment and Health, 2004, calls for taking “significant health effects into account in the assessment of strategic proposals”. Hence WHO is working to assist its Member States with their respective ministries of health to engage into the SEA process. This report summarizes the general discussion and conclusions of an international consultation meeting on “Health and strategic environmental assessment”. The overall aim of the consultation meeting was to seek further advice from SEA and health experts and discuss challenges and opportunities for the further involvement of the health sector in SEA and strategic planning processes.