350.org urges windfall taxes on fossil fuel firms to cover Europe's mounting heat-related health costs
As Europe experiences an unprecedented June heatwave, climate advocacy group climate campaign group, 350.org has called on governments to impose permanent windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies to help cover the mounting health costs caused by climate change-induced extreme heat.
In a press statement, 350.org says that the call follows a rapid attribution study by World Weather Attribution (WWA), which found that climate change is unequivocally the driving force behind the record-breaking heatwave gripping much of Western, Central and Northern Europe.
According to the study, the extreme June temperatures would have been virtually impossible to occur at this time of year just 50 years ago. Scientists found that a similar heatwave in the climate of 1976 would have been around 3.5°C cooler.
The analysis found that overnight temperatures, which prevent the human body from cooling down and significantly increase health risks, are now about 100 times more likely than they were during the 2003 European heatwave. Daytime peak temperatures are around 10 times more likely due to human-induced climate change.
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The study also found that nearly 45 pc of the 854 cities analysed across 30 European countries have already broken, or are expected to break, their highest-ever Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) levels for late June. WBGT is a measure of heat stress that combines temperature and humidity, making it an important indicator of the body’s ability to cool itself through sweating.
The record heat has caused widespread disruption to schools, hospitals, transport systems and workplaces across Europe. Campaigners warned that the health impacts are likely to be severe, noting that heatwaves already claim more lives in Europe than all other natural hazards combined. During the extreme summer of 2022, more than 60,000 heat-related deaths were recorded across the continent.
The WWA study found that the current heatwave is being driven by a persistent high-pressure system, or ‘heat dome’, which traps hot air over Europe while drawing in warm air from the Sahara. Scientists also ruled out any significant role of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), concluding that human-induced climate change is the primary factor behind the event.
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Lisa Rose
350.org says fossil fuel companies must be held financially responsible for the worsening impacts of climate change through permanent windfall taxes, with the revenue directed towards meeting the growing health costs and strengthening climate resilience.
“It is time to turn the heat on the fossil fuel giants that caused this heatwave but are doing nothing to cover the costs. Both science and the law are clear, polluters must answer for climate damage. Now it is up to our leaders to make them pay. This week, a French court ruled that TotalEnergies has failed its climate vigilance duties and that the company must take measures to reduce emissions from its oil and gas products. Forcing fossil fuel companies to cut emissions and pay their fair share is the only effective lasting response. Half-measures would not cool this crisis, only a faster shift to renewables can,” says Lisa Rose, Campaigner, 350.org.
