Extreme heat is becoming a major threat to Europe’s economy, disrupting industries that rely on outdoor work and exposing gaps in worker protection.
“Excessive heat is a major risk for health and the economy in Europe, and it has significant macroeconomic and even fiscal implications,” Hans Martin Füssel, climate adaptation expert at the European Environment Agency (EEA), told EUobserver.
As wildfires continue to devastate parts of France and Spain, burning more than 42,000 and 80,000 hectares respectively, forcing more than 300,000 people to evacuate their homes, according to AFP, concerns are growing over the scale of the economic damage that heatwaves can inflict.
Europe’s latest heatwave has already pushed temperatures above 40°C in several countries, such as France or Spain, while strained healthcare systems contributed to thousands of excess deaths across Europe.
“Heat stress is often called the silent killer,”said World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a post on X.
