Analysis of heat action plans and health adaptation measures to heat extremes in Germany
Project management: Prof. Dr. Henny Annette GreweProf. Dr. Beate Blättner
Research assistants: Debora Janson
Project partners: adelphi research gemeinnützige GmbH
Funding: Umweltbundesamt
Duration: September 2019 to December 2022
The aim of the project is a nationwide survey of climate adaptation measures in the field of human health risks from heat, the evaluation of the impact of the GAK recommendations on heat action plans and the derivation of (further) development recommendations for climate adaptation services on heat stress based on this. Part of the project is an advisory service for Länder and municipalities wishing to develop heat action plans.
The subject of the study will be
- The recommendations for the development of heat health action plans presented in 2017,
- regional heat action plans that have already been drawn up or are currently being planned, and
- individual prevention measures already implemented in the context of heat.
Institutions or persons responsible for the prevention and minimisation of heat-related health risks are to be approached and interviewed at the level of the federal states, regions and municipalities in order to determine, on the one hand, the awareness of the recommendations for action presented and, on the other hand, the state of implementation in the area of heat prevention. In the course of this, best practice examples and success factors as well as deficits and barriers for the development or implementation of corresponding climate adaptation measures are to be identified.
It is part of the survey and evaluation to examine which developments took place in the development or implementation of both the recommendations for action and the heat action plans, which connections exist between recommendations for action, heat action plans and heat prevention measures, and how adaptation to extreme heat and increased solar radiation in Germany can be improved and optimised.
In addition, the stock and quality of climate adaptation services on heat stress will be recorded. Climate adaptation services include publicly provided advisory services, tools, databases and materials that support the development and/or implementation of health-related climate adaptation measures. They include, for example, the KomPass database, climate information systems of the Länder, the Climate Check for managing climate risks in industrial SMEs or the recommendations for action themselves. An existing procedure is used to evaluate the quality of the climate adaptation services.
The results of the survey and evaluation of recommendations for action, heat action plans and heat prevention measures, as well as the inventory and quality assessment of the climate adaptation services on heat stress, are incorporated into a needs and gap analysis of the climate adaptation services. Based on this, recommendations for the further development and updating of existing climate adaptation services and for the design of new ones will be developed. If necessary, research recommendations for the establishment and further development of climate adaptation services will also be made.