Heatwave kills over 1,300 in Europe as renewable energy share rises

A heatwave across Europe has killed more than 1,300 people, according to the World Health Organisation. The same period also saw record temperatures in nearly half of the continent's 850 largest cities. The World Weather Attribution consortium reported that daytime temperatures in recent days would have been impossible during the 1976 European heatwave.

Scientists attributed the severity to the long-term rise in global greenhouse-gas concentrations. Infrastructure damage included buckled rail lines, ruptured highway surfaces in Germany, and the shutdown of several nuclear plants that could not draw sufficient river water for cooling.

Renewable generation share Renewable sources supplied one-third of global electricity in 2025, overtaking coal-fired generation for the first time. When nuclear power is included, non-fossil sources reached 42 percent. Solar capacity grew 30 percent last year, the largest annual increase recorded for any electricity source.

Battery storage capacity rose 66 percent over the same period. In the European Union, solar and wind together provided about 30 percent of electricity in 2025, up from 19 percent in 2021. Fossil fuels fell to 29 percent of total generation.

Policy responses Pakistan increased solar capacity more than tenfold in four years after grid electricity prices rose sharply. The government cancelled scheduled liquefied-natural-gas imports for the current financial year. India's Delhi government announced that new licence plates for fossil-fuel small trucks and three-wheelers will be banned from 2027, with scooters and motorcycles restricted from 2028.

Ethiopia has already prohibited imports of new fossil-fuel passenger cars. China is expected to sell two-thirds of its passenger cars and at least 25 percent of heavy vehicles as electric models this year. Global emissions have not yet begun to decline.