More than 1,200 medical specialists, nursing professionals, researchers, and others in the health field from 27 European countries have signed the open letter "Another deadly summer in Europe: a radical change is needed in ambition and resources", in which they urge the institutions of the European Union to approve immediate and mandatory measures against extreme heat, as well as to significantly increase investment aimed at protecting public health.
The document, promoted by the European regional node of the Planetary Health Alliance, will be officially delivered to the European Parliament and the European Commission on 10 December next, the day before the Environment Council for the first time sets out its position on the proposal for a European Climate Resilience Law.
The letter is based on the European Declaration on Heat and Health, released in August 2026 with the backing of 129 organizations, and calls for the accumulated scientific evidence to be translated into concrete adaptation policies and adequate financing.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the summer of 2026 was the warmest ever recorded in Western Europe, with strong impacts on the health of the population. The text warns that the consequences of extreme heat affect above all older people, women, those who suffer from chronic conditions, workers exposed outdoors, and those who live alone in overheated homes.
The document also points out that intense heatwaves and wildfires caused in 2026 a shortfall close to 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the European Union, which is equivalent to around 180 billion euros.
Josep Maria Antó, research professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), emphasizes that the national and European actions deployed so far have not been enough to prevent the high mortality linked to heat, and calls for binding adaptation rules and specific funding allocations.
Six key proposals to safeguard health against heat
The letter’s backers outline six major lines of action. First, they urge that extreme heat be recognized as a serious and cross-border threat to health and that legal obligations for adaptation be established, with specific objectives in terms of health outcomes.
In addition, they propose the creation of a European Action Plan on Heat and Health, which includes an emergency fund to adapt healthcare facilities, care homes, and educational centers, as well as integrated health alert systems for heat and for smoke from wildfires in all Member States.
In the field of work, they call for a specific European directive on prevention of risks arising from heat, with binding temperature thresholds, automatic stops or limitations on work activity, and compensation mechanisms that also take into account temporary workers, migrant people, and employees of digital platforms.
Another of the demands focuses on ensuring safe indoor temperatures for vulnerable groups by improving passive cooling in homes and planning electrical grids capable of withstanding peak demand during the summer months.
Likewise, they demand speeding up emissions reductions, phasing out, progressively, the more than 400,000 million euros per year earmarked for subsidies to fossil fuels, and redirecting those resources toward clean energy, improving air quality, and strengthening resilient healthcare systems.
Finally, they ask to place health, scientific evidence, and equity at the core of the EU’s climate policies, to systematically assess the health impacts of Community legislation, and to ensure that healthcare professionals and affected communities take an active part in climate governance.