What the Commission does
Human health depends on the quality of our environment. Therefore disruptive transformations of healthy and resilient ecosystems pose a threat to human health and wellbeing.
Due to public concern and the need to protect citizens' health from impacts of environmental degradation, the European Union has over the past decades established an extensive framework of thematic programmes, strategic objectives and regulatory actions that are related to environment and health.
The quality of the environment we live and work in is a powerful determinant of our health and well-being. Environmental factors such as air, soil and water quality have a significant influence in the risk and incidence of disease.
With the delivery of significant contributions towards a number of the Commission's 2019-2024 Priorities, environment and health research and innovation is framed by several wider strategies and policy initiatives within a rich EU policy context, such as:
- European Green Deal
- 8th Environmental Action Programme to 2030
- Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability
- Zero Pollution Action Plan
- EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027
- The European Health Union
- The Horizon Europe missions
The implementation of EU supported environment and health research delivers research results and innovation across various domains. This includes the generation of harmonised data for risk assessment, advancement of technologies, contribution towards informed decision-making and production of knowledge applicable in the academia, health, pharmaceutical, policy-making, and public health sectors by protecting citizens' health and well-being.
Project clusters in Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe
The clustering of projects funded under the same call topic is a strong tool to facilitate greater synergies, avoid overlaps and maximise the policy and societally relevant impact of Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects.
In recent years, several clusters of projects have been formed under different areas of environment and health research. These clusters foster inter-project collaborations as well as a coordinated communication and dissemination of project results to the policy and regulatory sectors and to society at large.
There are currently 11 active project clusters in the environment and health portfolio:
- Animal-free Safety assessment of chemicals: Project cluster for Implementation of novel Strategies (ASPIS)
- Climate Change and Health Cluster
- Cluster on Electromagnetic fields Exposure and Health (CLUE-H)
- European research cluster to understand the health impacts of micro- and nanoplastics (CUSP)
- European Human Exposome Network (EHEN)
- Cluster on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Knowledge on Health-related Effects (ENKORE)
- Cluster on the Role of Environmental Pollution in Non-Communicable Diseases (EXPOHEALTHNET)
- Cluster on Indoor Air and Health (IDEAL)
- Cluster for Methods for assessing health-related costs of environmental stressors (METEOR)
- Planetary Health Cluster
- Workplace Innovation for Sustainable Well-being Cluster (WISEWORK-C)
There are 2 additional clusters which have completed their work:
Other important initiatives
Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC)
The European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC) was launched in May 2022. The Horizon Europe (Programme Cofund Actions) cofunds PARC with €200 million (2022-2029), out of a total budget of €400 million.
It brings together ministries and national public health and risk assessment agencies, as well as research organisations and academia, the European Chemicals Agency, the European Food Safety Authority and the European Environment Agency. PARC involves a total of 200 members (beneficiaries, affiliated entities and associated partners) from 27 countries (22 EU Member States, 3 Associated Countries, as well as Switzerland and the UK).
This ambitious partnership aims to establish a research and innovation hub of excellence to support the EU and national chemical risk assessment and management efforts with new data, knowledge, methods, networks and skills to address current and emerging chemical safety challenges.
With the goal of contributing to the implementation of the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability towards a Toxic-free Environment, PARC strives towards the fundamental priority of better protecting human health and the environment. It builds upon previous accomplishments, including those of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU).
International Human Exposome Network
Human exposome research studies how environmental exposures influence health and disease throughout a person's life, from conception onwards. In other words, the exposome is the combination of all of life’s exposures, including chemical, biological, psychological and social exposures.
This mapping endeavour requires huge amounts of data from different sources, including data on environmental, health and social circumstances. As a result, exposome research can benefit greatly from the cooperation between research groups in different countries and regions of the world, in order to gather the required expertise, data analysis and integration capability as well as to reach adequate representation and diversity in the data.
The International Human Exposome Network (IHEN) is a global initiative launched in December 2023 and funded through a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) to enhance collaboration in exposome research. This CSA comprises 12 partners from 9 countries, aiming to connect researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders to advance the understanding of the exposome and its impact on human health.
Building on the European Human Exposome Network (EHEN), IHEN seeks to foster global cooperation to better understand and address environmental factors affecting health and improve the capacity of the research community to drive policy change in this area.
Horizon Europe Green Pharmaceutical Projects
The pharmaceutical sector has a significant environmental impact due to resource-intensive manufacturing processes, a reliance on hazardous chemicals and the generation of potentially harmful waste and emissions. Green pharmaceutical manufacturing focuses on integrating environmentally friendly practices throughout the lifecycle of pharmaceutical products. This includes developing energy-efficient processes, using biodegradable and less toxic raw materials and adopting innovative waste management strategies to minimise pollution.
Under call HORIZON-HLTH-2021-IND-07-01 of Horizon Europe, a total of 5 projects were selected (with €35 million in EU funding) to focus on developing innovative green pharmaceutical manufacturing methods.
The 5 projects are:
The projects aim to explore synergies and coordinate common scientific and policy-relevant efforts. By fostering collaboration among the projects, they seek to accelerate the transition toward greener pharmaceuticals aligning with the principles of environmental sustainability and resilience.
The European Commission has outlined several key priorities related to pharmaceuticals to ensure the health and well-being of its citizens, as well as to foster a competitive and innovative pharmaceutical industry. Central to these efforts are the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and REACH.
Read more about the Horizon Europe Green Pharmaceutical Projects.
Horizon Europe projects on carbon-neutral and sustainable healthcare systems
Under Horizon Europe, there are 3 research projects investigating ways to make health and care systems more environmentally sustainable and climate-neutral, aligning with the EU’s broader ambitions on climate change mitigation.
Launched in late 2023 and early 2024, these projects aim to generate the necessary evidence to ensure that health and care systems prioritise delivery of care while also integrating strategies to reduce their environmental footprint and energy consumption. By leveraging cutting-edge innovation, digital solutions and sustainable practices, the projects support the transition towards greener and more resilient healthcare systems.
Funded with a total EU contribution of €15 million under the call HORIZON-HLTH-2023-CARE-04-03 of Horizon Europe, the 3 projects are:
This collaborative effort seeks to identify scalable solutions that will help healthcare providers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders adopt sustainable and climate-resilient approaches while maintaining high-quality patient care.
The European Commission has defined key objectives for sustainable and climate-neutral healthcare systems, ensuring that health services prioritize both patient well-being and environmental responsibility. Central to this are the European Green Deal, namely through the Circular Economy Action Plan and Zero Pollution Action Plan to promote resource efficiency and waste reduction. The EU Climate Law and Fit for 55 Package mandate emission reductions, integrating carbon-neutral strategies into healthcare.
The EU Health Union aims to strengthen healthcare resilience to climate change, while REACH regulates hazardous substances to minimize environmental impact. Together, these policies drive the healthcare sector toward a greener and climate-resilient future.
Portfolio of projects from the Horizon 2020 Green Deal call
Under Horizon 2020, research calls for proposals to support the European Green Deal (with a full budget of €1 billion) were launched in 2020. This call covered several areas of the European Green Deal, each with a separate set of topics.
For the ‘Zero-Pollution, Toxic free Environment’ area, two topics were published:
- Innovative, systemic zero-pollution solutions to protect health, environment and natural resources from persistent and mobile chemicals
- Fostering regulatory science to address combined exposures to industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals: from science to evidence-based policies
3 projects were selected under the first topic and are supported by the EU with €40 million in funding. They are:
From the second topic, 3 additional projects were selected and are supported by the EU with funding of €20 million. They are:
All 6 projects began their work in 2021 and will continue for several years. The projects synergise and enhance efforts in areas related to policy, dissemination and communication, and technical aspects.
Funded projects
The Horizon Europe Work Programme funds projects dealing with a wide range of environmental stressors and their impacts on human health.
Calls for proposals are published primarily under Destination 2 of Cluster 1 of Horizon Europe (Health), entitled “Living and working in a health-promoting environment”.
Each call for proposal is subdivided into individual topics, which offer guidelines for proposals to be submitted in terms of both the scope they should cover and the outcomes to which they are expected to contribute. The topic text will also lay out the requirements that must be fulfilled by the applicants.
Ongoing topics
In 2025, the Horizon Europe work programme includes 2 research and innovation actions. These actions opened for the submission of proposals in May 2025 with a submission deadline of 16 September 2025 (for the first stage) and 16 April 2026 (for the second stage):
Past initiatives
European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU)
The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) was a European Joint Programme co-funded by Horizon 2020 with €50 million out of a total budget of €74 million (2017-2022).
HBM4EU developed a European programme for monitoring the exposure of European citizens to chemicals and understanding the potential impact of such exposures on human health. Furthermore, HBM4EU served as a research network builder that led to the establishment of PARC.
The main output of the programme is EU-wide evidence to support sound policymaking for effective chemical regulations in Europe. The data generated through HBM4EU are FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) and can be accessed via the European Commission’s IPCHEM data portal.
The results produced from HBM4EU, such as guidelines for various aspects of human biomonitoring, together with policy briefs, are openly available. In December 2022, the European Environment Agency published its Zero pollution monitoring assessment, including a chapter on health with contributions from HBM4EU results.
HBM4EU results were also considered as evidence for amending two directives to further improve the protection of workers by toughening the exposure limits to lead and diisocyanates in February 2023. HBM4EU studies were specifically acknowledged in these amendments.
You can learn more about the successes of HBM4EU by reading this Results in Brief article.
HERA coordination action
HERA was a coordination and support action (2019-2022), funded by Horizon 2020, including 24 participating institutions.
The project's overall aim was to identify priorities for the environment, climate and health research in the EU for 2020-2030. The final version of the EU research and innovation agenda is now available. It focuses notably on how to advance multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral understanding in the context of environment and health research and policies.
20 years of EU research in environment, climate and health
Detailed information (including results) is available on all projects related to environment and health funded by the EU in the Fifth (1998-2002), Sixth (2002-2006), and the Seventh Framework Programmes for Research (2007–2013; vol.1 and vol.2) as well as in Horizon 2020 and Euratom. The latest project catalogue with data on Horizon Europe projects is now also available.
Documents
The first two years of Horizon Europe, the ongoing EU Framework of Research and Innovation running from 2021-2027, have seen a substantial increase in the EU allocation to support environment and health projects on an annual basis. At the time of publication, already 84 projects have been funded, with an overall EU contribution of around € 587 million.
The Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda on Health and Climate Change provides a forward-thinking overview of the research needs and knowledge gaps related to human health and climate change. It aims to inform EU funding priorities and inspire global research initiatives on these topics.
Addressing challenges in the field of environment and paediatric cancer research
Children and adolescent cancers are rare and their aetiological connection to the environmental is poorly understood. In October 2023, the European Commission hosted a workshop addressing the environmental determinants of paediatric cancer.
The ‘Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change’ conference emphasised the urgent need for research on the health impacts of climate change and gaps in adaptation and mitigation. It highlighted the healthcare sector’s role in emissions and the importance of sustainable practices. Key themes included global collaboration, interdisciplinary work and equitable partnerships.
Latest
The Strategic Agenda on Health and Climate Change will support a fair and sustainable response to the impacts of a changing climate on our health.
Research and innovation news alert: The Commission has launched a call for evidence to gather input for the upcoming Strategy for European Life Sciences.