Integrating Mental Health Preparedness for Climate-Affected Populations into European Adaptation Management

This is an open-access viewpoint paper, developed under COST Action CA23113 (CliMent).
 

Extreme weather events, displacement, and resource insecurity can contribute to trauma, anxiety, and chronic stress. This viewpoint paper, developed within COST Action CA23113 (CliMent), argues that mental health preparedness should become a core responsibility of European climate adaptation planning. It connects two complementary dimensions: the direct, indirect, and existential pathways of climate-related distress, and a proposed Climate–Well-being Vulnerability Framework for organizing spatially relevant evidence. Drawing on a narrative synthesis of scientific literature, policy documents, and collaborative knowledge exchange, the paper outlines six propositions and seven policy recommendations linking risk recognition to service planning, resource allocation, and accountability. Geographic information systems are presented as decision-support tools, although their operational use requires harmonized data, transparent assumptions, local validation, and community participation. Particular attention is given to displacement-related stress and barriers to care, while avoiding the treatment of migrants as a homogeneous risk group. The framework connects climate, health, social, and emergency services and distinguishes conceptual guidance from validated risk assessment. The paper concludes that effective preparedness requires sustained local capacity, inclusive governance, improved data systems, and coordinated action across scales.