Green Data for Health: ANSES’s ambitions for leveraging environmental health data

A year after ANSES took over Green Data for Health, where do things now stand?

The first important point to make is that Green Data for Health did not start from square one. This initiative, which was announced in the Fourth National Environmental Health Action Plan, was launched by the Ecolab laboratory of the General Commission for Sustainable Development (CGDD). The CGDD played a pivotal role by laying the groundwork from 2020 and bringing together an initial group of partners with the shared belief that better cross-referencing of environmental and health data was needed. The support provided by the CGDD during the transfer to ANSES ensured real continuity and enabled us to ramp up our activities quickly.

The Agency had been involved in the project as a partner since its launch, which ensured a smooth transition when it was entrusted with the coordination of GD4H on 2 April 2025, on the signature of the cooperation agreement. A year on, the "transplant" has been a success! We have moved from an initiative that was still in its exploratory phase to a structured scheme that now brings together 18 national partners, with an interministerial governance framework in place and a community of several hundred stakeholders from the research  community, national public institutions, local authorities and the voluntary sector.

At the same time, GD4H has become a genuine agency project. ANSES's teams have been actively involved, whether in support roles and assisting with research projects, or in developing use cases and examples of data reuse to demonstrate correlations or links between health and the environment.

Lastly, we have invested heavily in building a community of contributors, users and supporters. We have already presented GD4H at major events such as the French Mayors' and Local Authorities' Exhibition and the Paris International Agricultural Show, and we organised an initial webinar in the autumn on the use of environmental health data in the regions, followed by another in early March on preparations for the One Health Summit. All this is helping to gradually build a genuine community around environmental health data.

In terms of resources, we have also reached a significant milestone, with an annual budget of around €1.2 million to fund coordination, work on database interoperability and the first use cases.

The issue of environmental health data is becoming increasingly important. Why such an acceleration now, and in what way is it a strategic choice for ANSES?

It is no coincidence that ANSES has chosen to commit to the coordination of Green Data for Health. This is a deeply strategic decision, which reflects the changing nature of the challenges we face.

Today, major health issues can no longer be addressed in isolation. We are faced with complex, multifactorial phenomena – such as chronic diseases, pollution or the impacts of climate change – that lie fully within the scope of the One Health approach.

In very practical terms, "One Health" means that the traditional boundaries between human health, animal health and the environment are no longer relevant when it comes to understanding risks, particularly given the scientific and technological tools available to us today. 
In this context, data and the ability to break down barriers between resources become key drivers. This enables us to connect together scattered pieces of information, gain a better understanding of the interactions between exposure and health effects and, above all, shift from a reactive to a proactive approach.

This is precisely where GD4H is positioned. By taking on this coordinating role, ANSES has chosen to commit to a field with great potential that will be absolutely pivotal for the future of public environmental health policies and, in the longer term, other public policies within the One Health field, such as prevention of zoonoses and the effects of pollution in water, air and food on living organisms.

This choice is also consistent with the DNA of the Agency, in its mission at the intersection of science and public policy. GD4H builds on this mission, adding a new dimension: that of structuring and leveraging data on a large scale.

There has been a clear and rapid increase in interest in these topics, whether from institutions, the research community or local stakeholders. The fact that more and more of them wish to join or partner with this initiative clearly shows that we are at a pivotal moment.

The One Health Summit in April 2026 highlighted the issue of data, with the announcement of a declaration on their convergence. How will this make a difference?

The One Health Summit, held in Lyon in early April 2026, marked a turning point in the way these issues are addressed.

Until now, the issue of environmental health data – or data relating to the One Health approach more broadly – has been driven primarily by scientific and technical communities. This summit took things to a whole new level: it has now become a political issue, raised to the highest level of government and given an international dimension.

The message that emerged was simple but fundamental: without data convergence, the One Health approach cannot become an operational reality.

What is particularly interesting is that this international dynamic ties in very closely with what we are building with GD4H. For the past year, we have been working precisely to create the conditions for this convergence by adopting a pragmatic approach: increasing the connectivity of existing systems, developing data interoperability and producing practical use cases.

With the Declaration of Intent on Data Convergence, the Summit played a catalysing role, bringing new visibility and legitimacy to these issues. In a way, it marked the culmination of a year’s collective effort and has further boosted momentum.

For ANSES and GD4H, it was a very powerful driver. It has helped to strengthen cooperation, including at international level, and clarify the role of data as a key element in One Health policies.

What does the future hold for Green Data for Health?

This initiative is now being scaled up. Following an initial year spent establishing governance structures, bringing partners together and launching the first use cases, efforts now turn to consolidation and deployment.

This initially means continuing work on interoperability, mobilisation and strategic support for environmental health data, which are central to the project, and broadening the range of use cases relating to topics with a major impact, such as emerging pollutants or the health effects of climate change. There is also a strong focus on regional relevance, to ensure that this work can provide practical insights for public policy in line with local needs.

A new governance framework also needs to be established.

Up until now, GD4H has been organised around a core group of national public bodies. In the future, this initiative will need to expand to include other types of players: local authorities, the academic sector and, potentially, private-sector organisations, particularly in the areas of technology and innovation.

This expansion presents both an opportunity and a challenge. It will be necessary to consider appropriate forms of governance that can accommodate this diversity of players while ensuring a framework based on trust, sovereignty and responsible use of data.

Lastly, there is the challenge of establishing a long-term structure.

The budget and human resources available to us today provide a solid foundation, which has helped to generate momentum. But if we really want to live up to the ambition shared by all the partners and make data a key driver of the One Health approach, we will need to go further in terms of structuring and supporting the project.

The aim is clear: to make Green Data for Health a permanent tool capable of supporting the long-term transformation of environmental health policies, by shifting from a reactive approach to a genuine preventive, proactive approach based on data.