Adapting to the impact of climate change: strategies for reducing UV exposure

Cases of UV-related diseases, and especially cancer, have been rising continuously for decades, and this situation is being further exacerbated by climate change. Based on current scientific insights into the climate impact “UV-related damage to health”, the latest Climate Impact and Risk Analysis for Germany (KWRA 2021; Subreport 5; Area of Action “Human health") therefore attested to a high level of climate risk and a correspondingly urgent need for action. There is a pressing need for the target group-oriented, sustainable and nationwide introduction and implementation of measures to prevent disease. Of course, the aim of these measures is not to avoid UV radiation and therefore the sun altogether but rather to lay the foundation for an informed approach to the sun and UV radiation and to facilitate viable UV protection.

The challenge of risk acceptance/motivation

As UV radiation cannot be felt and is therefore not perceived as being directly dangerous, there is a widespread lack not only of awareness of the health risks associated with UV radiation but therefore also of motivation to consistently address this danger. Accordingly, there is a need for adaptation strategies aimed at minimising the climate risk due to UV-related health damage.

Effective measures encompass both behavioural and situational prevention.

Adaptation strategies for minimising UV-related diseases

As part of the latest Climate Impact and Risk Analysis (KWRA 2021), adaptation measures and tools were formulated with regard to the climate impact “UV-related damage to health (especially skin cancer)”. These adopted measures form part of the third Adaptation Action Plan III (APA III) of the German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (DAS). The adopted measures include:

• preparation and reviewing of information measures tailored to the individual needs of different population groups
• development of training courses for disseminators such as doctors or educational and teaching staff
• integration of the topic “protection against UV radiation” into teaching, education and training programmes
• integration of UV exposure into early warning systems
• consideration of UV radiation as a health-relevant environmental factor in the setting up of an integrated environmental and health monitoring system
• development of freely accessible GIS-based modelling programmes for the visualisation of UV radiation exposure for the purposes of urban planning, building design and landscape architecture in order to facilitate the sensible creation of outdoor areas with reduced levels of UV radiation.

Sustainability is the objective

It is vital that all measures be designed in a sustainable manner – i.e. that, once the measures are established, they are continually applied, replicated and reviewed, as well as being re-established and further applied in an optimised form. This continuity is crucial for the success of the measures aimed at minimising UV-related damage to health.

Success is to be achieved by promoting behavioural and situational preventive measures that are established on a nationwide basis. In this regard, the third Adaptation Action Plan III (APA III) (in German) made the following stipulations as part of the concept of “further-reaching adaptation”:

• Promotion of the nationwide establishment of behavioural preventive measures, including by developing multi-component programmes (written, visual, electronic and interpersonal communication, including the use of media (webpages, social media, SMS or apps) to clarify the UV-related risk to health and the application of corresponding protective measures. The oncological S3 guideline “Prevention of skin cancer” (in German) sets out that multimedia approaches and the use of media for children and young people are ideal ways of relaying information.
• Promotion of the nationwide establishment of behavioural preventive measures at the local authority level. This includes the establishment of measures in the areas of development, civil engineering and above all planting (trees, greening of buildings, and lawns) that enable an effective reduction of high solar radiation loads both as individual measures and in combination. These measures must be increasingly integrated into climate adaptation strategies of the federal government and local authorities. With regard to construction measures, it is important to ensure good shading and, if necessary, canopies with shading elements – particularly in areas with a high reflectivity. Through informed planning of daily routines in kindergartens and schools, as well as informed work scheduling, the aim is to reduce solar radiation loads – in accordance with the highest-priority recommendation of the oncological S3 guideline “Prevention of skin cancer” (in German). Furthermore, this guideline recommends that, in the face of advancing climate change, use should be made of surfaces with the lowest possible reflectivity (albedo) when creating or redesigning squares (including school playgrounds and kindergartens) or streets, and that the majority of all spaces in residential areas that are not built on should be covered with greenery in order to reduce albedo and provide shade.
• Inclusion of the topic as a subgoal of the health goals “Growing up healthy” and “Healthy ageing” already formulated as part of the Prevention Act (PrävG), as well as changes to building regulations.