Record heat, record costs: Europe’s summer of 2026 has pushed cities to their limit, where temperatures can reach up to 9°C hotter than surrounding areas, disproportionately affecting elderly, low-income, and marginalized communities. Whilst all this may sound dramatic, in this issue we shine a spotlight on the good news. Heat prevention plans are already cutting heat-related deaths by a quarter; rooftop solar could offset half of the extra electricity demand for cooling on the grid; and cities are mapping exactly where — and for whom — adaptation is needed most. The real test now isn’t whether cities can find solutions to extreme heat, but whether they can do it fairly.
Extreme high temperatures are not just a source of discomfort, they are the main cause of weather-related mortality and hence one of the most deadly impacts associated with climate change. Urban environments, where technology-based solutions such as air conditioning abound, are not immune to these impacts. In fact, compact urban settings, with their dependency on infrastructural systems and high population density, make cities particularly vulnerable to health risks due to heat.
In Europe alone exposure to heatwaves jumped by 57% in just one decade. Without urgent adaptation measures this could lead annual fatalities to rise from today’s 2,700 people per annum to as many as 50,000 by 2050, just as over 2.4 billion workers are exposed to dangerous levels of heat on the job each year – with outdoor and physically demanding sectors such as agriculture and construction at the greatest risk. The consequences are far-reaching: lost working hours, rising rates of heat-related illness and death, and sharp economic losses.
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