German cities ask for billions for climate adaptation, while heat deaths hit record high

Federal and state governments must provide “billions” more in funding for climate adaptation in urban areas, the chief executive of the German Association of Cities, Christian Schuchardt told news service Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). The call comes after many cities were once again hit by extreme heat this week. “We’re talking about billions across the country that need to be invested,” Schuchardt said, adding local authorities faced a “dire financial situation”, leading to “a lack of investment funds for local climate adaptation measures.” The demand comes as new estimates from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) show that excess heat deaths have already hit a new yearly record of 9,800 this year, up until 19 July. More than 5,000 of the heat-related deaths can be attributed to hot days at the end of June, when many parts of Germany recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. The previous peak for heat deaths was in 2018, when 9,000 were recorded for the entire year. According to RKI’s data, more than half of this year’s recorded heat deaths were among people over 85, for whom extreme heat can exacerbate pre-existing health conditions, meaning that heat is rarely cited as the cause of death. Europe is warming faster than the global average, and heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of climate change. Heat records were broken across much of Europe in the last week of June, with a new German national high of 41.8°C recorded in the state of Sachsen-Anhalt on 28 June. A total of 252 weather monitoring stations in Germany recorded all-time high temperatures, the highest number observed. The record temperatures in June also reignited a debate over climate adaptation funding in Germany. Municipality representatives called for the introduction of a so-called “joint task” for climate adaptation to be enshrined in Germany's constitution, which would ensure the federal government and states contribute to financing for the task on a permanent basis.The German weather monitoring service, DWD, confirmed that July was the fifth consecutive month with lower than average rainfall across the country, with the exception of Berlin.

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