Summer 2026, Heatwave in Europe
To be honest, I think there is something potentially positive in the fact that Europe was hit by the heatwave this summer: it can help raise much more awareness of climate change. If a small country or a less influential society is hit by a disaster, most of the world doesn’t notice and doesn’t really care. Those affected often have little voice and little reach.
But European countries are rich, have good infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of heatwaves, and, most importantly, the EU has a strong, far-reaching voice in the world.
I really hope that being affected ourselves this summer in Europe — all the suffering and struggle — helps us see the reality more clearly and reallocate our attention to the most pressing and severe issue of our time.
Because we are nowhere near on track. Human-induced warming is already around 1.4°C, the world is currently warming at around 0.27°C per decade, and greenhouse gas emissions remain extremely high. If the current warming trajectory continues, we are heading towards 1.5°C around 2030 and 2°C around 2050.
Our attention must go into relentless work to reduce human-induced greenhouse gas emissions as fast as possible and reach net zero. Every additional fraction of a degree of warming matters. Net zero by 2050 is not a success if we continue on a trajectory that takes us close to 2°C by then.
To stop warming around 1.7 °C we have to reduce emissions EVERY YEAR by 1.6 Gigatonnes of CO2 (or 2.1 Gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent) and reach net zero in 24 years, by 2050.
Climate Change Tracker
Disclosure: I co-founded Climate Change Tracker in 2021. It is now operated by the nonprofit Data for Action Foundation.