The heatwave that has hit parts of Europe, including France and Britain, in recent days represents a “stark reminder” of the devastating consequences of climate change, the UN climate chief said, stressing the urgent need to accelerate the transition to clean energy.
“This latest heat wave in Europe is a stark reminder of the spiralling consequences of the climate crisis, both in human and economic terms. The main culprit is the planet’s dependence on burning coal, oil and gas, as well as deforestation,” Simon Steele told Agence France-Presse.
“Many other parts of the world are also seriously affected, such as India and other parts of Asia. The science is clear: man-made climate change is making these heat waves more frequent and more extreme,” he added.
Under the influence of a persistent “heat dome”, France is experiencing unprecedented high temperatures for this time of year. The meteorological service Météo-France recorded a new monthly temperature record for the country today, with a countrywide average of 24.8 degrees Celsius.
Météo-France yesterday called it a “rare, historic and unprecedented” episode of early heatwave. The heat could reach unseasonably high temperatures of “38 degrees or even 39 degrees Celsius” in places in the country in the coming days.
The UK today also broke a new record for the hottest day ever recorded in the month of May, the fifth day of an unusual heatwave, the British Met Office said.
In India, the heat wave persists, with the mercury reaching 47.4 degrees Celsius today in Banda, a city in northern Uttar Pradesh, with the government asking people to conserve water.
Simon Steele said the war in the Middle East also illustrates “the exorbitant cost of dependence on fossil fuel imports”, while “the solutions are equally clear: a faster transition to clean energy.”
The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reiterated the call for a “much faster transition away from fossil fuel dependence” and “more investment in building resilience to climate impacts.”
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