More than 10,000 deaths were reported in European countries during the late-June heatwave, according to the European Mortality Monitoring Activity (EuroMOMO). From Bristol to Budapest and from Marseille to Malmö, the scorching heat across Europe disrupted daily life. A fierce political debate is raging over one of the most severe heatwaves in the continent's modern history.
The politics of fossil fuels
Despite ambitious renewable energy targets, the heatwave has exposed Europe’s continued dependence on fossil fuels. In Germany, the coalition government of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) has once again allowed the installation of new oil and gas heating systems, changing the earlier legal mandate of at least 65% renewable energy for new heating systems. While this indicates a greater priority for energy security over emission targets, the Greens in Germany have accused the government of ‘watering down climate protection laws.’
In the UK, the Rosebank field in the North Sea is the centre of debate over the proposed oil drilling. Reform UK has called for extracting “every last barrel, every last drop” from the North Sea. Labour Party MPs have opposed the project, and Conservatives support the drilling as well as clean energy, but denounced Net-Zero targets if they harm economic growth. These developments indicate that heatwave or not, Europe is not ready to move much beyond fossil fuels.
The politics of air-conditioners
The heatwave has turned air conditioners into a political issue with France as its centre. Rassemblement National (RN), the traditional right-wing party, led by Marine Le Pen, has promised to install more air-conditioners if it comes to power. The Green Party and the Left in opposition have opposed this stance, arguing that it treats symptoms, not the underlying cause of the heatwave: climate change. The Green Party even filed an unsuccessful No-Confidence motion against the government over the handling of the heatwave. The political divide in France signals a broader debate about adaptation and mitigation.
The politics of federalism
The heatwave has renewed the age-old debate about the division of powers within Europe. In Belgium, the Flemish government of Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region in the North, has treated climate as a regional competence and not a federal one. It rejected the federal government’s attempt to get all three regions to agree upon a common climate action plan. However, Jean-Luc Crucke, federal climate minister of Belgium, wants to abandon regional jurisdiction over climate and present one climate action plan to the European Union.
In Germany, political parties have locked horns over the sharing of responsibilities during the heatwave. The environment minister from the SPD has blamed municipalities and state governments. The Socialist Left and the Green Party have criticised the federal government for ignoring the gravity of the situation and have demanded a more proactive approach to protect the vulnerable population.
The politics of supranationalism
The EU, widely claiming to be a ‘world leader’ in the fight against climate change, has scrambled under the heatwave. The climate deniers have amplified their voice. The perception that this is ‘just another summer’ has gained traction in some sections of the European political right and on social media. An Austrian MEP from Patriots of Europe, a right-wing populist political group in the EU Parliament, argued that ‘Turn on the AC if you are hot or turn on the heater if you are cold.” However, the EU Vice President, Teresa Ribera, who looks after climate policy, has blamed this camp for ‘ideologically driven falsehoods’. In another development, The Greens in the EU Parliament have asked the top 5 fossil fuel companies to pay the cost of cooling down.
What lies ahead?
The heatwave not only cracked asphalt on the roads but also made cracks more visible within the European discourse over climate change. The heatwave serves as a warning that the impacts of climate change can get more brutal. As the fastest-warming continent, Europe requires a rehaul of its cooling infrastructure, energy grids, and even housing patterns. The dominance of climate sceptics in many European countries can justify the status quo as reflected in Britain’s response to North Sea drilling.
The challenge is to find the balance between opposites: climate denial versus climate action, heatwave preparedness versus cooling requirements, adaptation versus mitigation. Building a political consensus across the European landscape can offer light at the end of the tunnel. Yet far more political leaders appear willing to drill another oil field than to drill a tunnel towards consensus.
The author is a PhD scholar at the Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
