Assessing the Value of a Human Life in Heat-Related Mortality: Lessons from COVID-19 in Belgium

This study evaluates the cost of heat-related mortality using economic impacts and mortality data from the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium as a proxy. By examining the economic loss measured by gross domestic product (GDP) decline and excess mortality during the first COVID-19 wave (March–June 2020), a new estimate for avoided heat-related mortality is derived. The results show that the cost per avoided death is EUR 377,000 ± EUR 222,000, significantly lower than numerical values of the commonly used Value of a Statistical Life (VSL). However, when this cost is divided by the expected remaining (... Mehr ...