The Guardian view on Europe's heatwave: leaders should remind the public why ambitious targets matter

The Guardian

5 days ago

At times like now, with dangerously high temperatures in several European countries, the urgent need for adaptation to an increasingly unstable climate is clearer than ever. From the French government's decision to close schools to the bans in most of Italy on outdoor work at the hottest time of day, the immediate priority is to protect people from extreme heat – and to recognise that a heatwave can take a higher toll than a violent storm.
People who are already vulnerable, due to age or illness or poor housing, face the greatest risks from heatwaves. As well as changes to rules and routines, public health warnings are vital, especially where records are being broken and people are unfamiliar with the conditions. In the scorching European summer of 2022, an estimated 68,000 people died due to heat. Health, welfare and emergency systems must respond to those needing help.
Less direct harms include losses in agriculture. In the UK, the British Retail Consortium has blamed reduced crop yields, due to hot weather, for rising food price inflation. Wildfires – such as the one in Chios, Greece, last week – menace buildings, landscapes and wildlife as well as human lives.
Last year, the UK government faced strong criticism from the advisory Climate Change Committee for inadequate adaptation plans. Apart from an increase in spending on flood defences, Labour has so far done little to rectify this. The current heatwave ought to change that. With a heat dome that draws in and traps warm air affecting almost all of France, as well as countries further south, the need to prepare is obvious.
Good information enables sensible planning; this includes reliable forecasting as well as attribution studies that explain how global heating makes destructive weather more likely. Recent extreme weather in the US, as well as in Europe, highlights the folly of Donald Trump's cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
By withdrawing from the Paris agreement, Mr Trump has made the US a global outlier. But while the EU remains committed to net zero by 2050 – and states are due to discuss an interim target for 2040 this week – support for net zero policies has been eroded in some European countries too over the last few years, particularly where far-right populist leaders have targeted them.
Could the current dangerous heat help to refocus minds? Portugal and Spain both recorded new records at the weekend, with temperatures over 46C. This week, scientists at a conference in Exeter are gathering to discuss climate tipping points. Generally this term refers to the passing of dangerous limits – such as melted ice sheets – after which catastrophe becomes much harder to prevent. But Prof Timothy Lenton points out that it can also be used positively. Two examples are the accelerating uptake of solar power and electric vehicles.
As well as supporting people to cope with the heat, and promoting adaptations of various kinds (for example, in building and urban design), European leaders should use current conditions to remind the public how much is at stake, and reinforce the importance of ambitious, achievable targets. Climate despair is deadly, but the anxiety produced by recognition of the risks can be harnessed to positive effect. As well as a problem to be dealt with, the heatwave could be viewed as a teachable moment – when the public becomes more receptive to the pressing case for change.
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