Climate Change is already impacting human health and is bound to get worse. Worldwide people are facing the effects of environmental change in their daily lives because a lack of clean air, safe drinking water, secure shelter and insufficient food. Extreme heat contributes directly to deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Globally the number of weather-related natural disaster disasters more than tripled over the past fifty years, among others resulting in increasing levels of malnutrition and undernutrition and in forced migration heightening the risk of mental disorders and communicable diseases. Climatic conditions strongly affect water- and vector-borne diseases.
Measuring the impact of these changes can only be approximate and while all populations will be affected by climate change, some are more vulnerable than others. The Paris Agreement in 2015 definitely was a major political step in reducing the risks of climate change, however the (health) impact of climate change hugely exceeds the progress we are making. Time to act is now.

This symposium aims to take stock of progress and to look at promising responses to alter the current scenario. In the morning plenary session prominent scholars on the intersect of climate change and health will give an overview of up-to-date knowledge on climate/health, present evidence and possible solutions to emerging issues in the debate: Prof Sir Andy Haines (London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene), Prof Maarten van Aalst (Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre), Dr Marzella Wüstefeld (World Health Organization), and Prof Pim Martens (Maastricht University). Anneke Wensing, activist and change-maker chairs the morning programme.