Costs and benefits of climate services for heat-health adaptation in Europe

Abstract Background Climate services for health aim to support informed decision-making and enable early action and preparedness. More knowledge is still needed regarding the costs and benefits of climate services, as well as effectiveness, and technical, structural, and societal barriers and facilitators to implementation and use. Aim To map the evidence on the economic assessment and use of climate services for health in reducing heat-associated mortality and morbidity and explore the societal impact of climate services, particularly in Europe. Methods We focus on two methods in this study: 1) a scoping review of literature on the economic assessment and health benefit of climate services 2) a set of interviews with climate service developers and providers in Europe to understand further technical and societal aspects as well as evaluation of such services. Findings From the scoping review, a total of 27 peer-reviewed articles all presenting heat early warning systems (HEWS) that work on a weather timescale were identified. The results from economic assessment studies suggested HEWS can produce health benefits greater than the operational cost, even during future climate change scenarios. While most of the studies assessing health outcomes have suggested that HEWS can help in reducing heat-related mortality and morbidity, some concluded no significant impact and some suggested increased healthcare services utilization after implementation of HEWS. The findings from the six interviews conducted across Europe identifies barriers for climate service development and implementation such as insufficient financing and cultural differences between climate and health professionals. Conclusions Our results find limited evidence on the economic assessment of climate services, gap in knowledge regarding health benefits from climate services using seasonal/sub-seasonal and long-term climate information and several barriers to making these services useful for end-users.