European health professionals demand climate change action ahead of COP31

In anticipation of the COP31 conference, 1,240 health professionals from 28 European countries have issued an open letter to the European Commission and the European Parliament. The signatories, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, and public health experts, demand binding legislation, adequate funding, and measurable policies to protect public health from the intensifying impacts of climate change. The initiative, coordinated by the Planetary Health Alliance Europe and supported by the Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health, seeks to improve social adaptation strategies in response to rising health risks.

The appeal follows alarming reports that extreme heat led to between 30,000 and 35,000 excess deaths across Europe during the summer of 2026. This letter was published on November 5, 2026, nine days after the European Commission proposed a new climate resilience law. The effort builds upon the European Declaration on Climate and Health, which was endorsed by 129 organizations in August 2026. As the world prepares for COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, scheduled for November 9–20, 2026, experts warn that Europe currently lacks a sufficiently binding framework to address the mounting economic and human toll of climate-related health crises.