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This report aims to raise awareness about the range of risks to human health associated with changes in water quantity and quality under the changing climate. It assesses our preparedness for ongoing and future impacts by examining the current policy landscape in Europe. At the same time, it seeks to inspire action by showing examples of practical measures implemented across various sectors and on various scales in the EEA member and collaborating countries.

The publication provides the following opportunities for action:

• Mitigating climate change. Minimising greenhouse gas emissions and phasing out fossil fuels at the global level are the most effective ways to minimise the magnitude and frequency of climate extremes and their impacts on human health.
• Lowering human exposure to existing hazards is essential to reducing health risks. This can happen through various actions, such as reducing development in areas of high flood risk, water scarcity, vulnerability to wildfire or coastal erosion, and by considering relocation from these areas.
• Making mental health a focus of policy and action. As the numbers of people whose mental health is impacted by floods or water scarcity tend to exceed those affected physically, addressing the impacts of climate extremes on mental health is urgently needed.
• Justice in adapting to climate change and in managing increasingly scarce, unpredictable or polluted water resources must be ensured.