European governments now confront an estimated €180 billion in damage and a human toll of roughly 35,000 deaths after a summer of unprecedented heat pushed crops, forests and infrastructure to breaking point. Rail tracks buckled, roads softened and wildfires swept large areas, leaving leaders with immediate repair needs and rising political pressure to change course.
The Story in Pictures
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called the season a turning point in her state of the union address, saying, "These were the hottest summer months ever, but probably the coolest of the years to come. Science is clear. Europe is warming at double the global rate. Europe can, must and will stay the course on its climate targets." Her remarks framed the heatwave as both an economic burden and a test of policy resolve.
The extreme conditions did not stop at European borders. The United States saw heat records that in some measures exceeded the 1930s dust bowl, with drought affecting 60% of the country from spring. Across Asia, heavy rains triggered flash floods and typhoons that displaced hundreds of thousands and damaged harvests. In the UK, more than two-thirds of the country reached drought conditions and reservoir levels fell sharply.
Political reactions have been inconsistent. Some governments accelerated decarbonisation: the Netherlands published a roadmap away from fossil fuels, France pushed on with electrification, India said it would target 500GW of renewables by 2030 from about 260GW today and also reported it had already met a 2030 goal of 50% of installed capacity from renewables. Thailand announced it will stop building new gas-fired power stations, and Indonesia unveiled a three-year plan to expand solar and cut oil imports.
Campaigners cautioned that moves were uneven. Greenpeace EU programme director Magda Stoczkiewicz said, "It was the hottest of summers, it was the meekest of responses." She accused EU institutions of planning cuts to green funding, continuing support for gas, and accelerating permits for environmentally harmful projects. At the same time, some governments are pursuing fossil fuel projects: Germany is commissioning new gas-fired plants, the UK is weighing new oil and gas fields, and France is described as lagging on emissions reductions.
Global summit politics mirror these contradictions. Australia approved an expansion of a coal mine scheduled to operate until 2055, Turkey has not set a coal phaseout date, and in the United States the Trump administration has moved to repeal an EPA rule limiting emissions from power plants while pursuing policies that promote coal and roll back renewable measures. Populist and far-right politicians have often framed adaptation as expanded air conditioning or tougher immigration controls rather than prioritising emissions cuts or development support.
The immediate test is practical and political: convert visible losses into enforceable policy ahead of the November COP31 talks, or accept escalating repair bills, higher food inflation from depleted harvests, and mounting public pressure as extreme events compound.
