Reading a statement in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, U. von der Leyen said that Europe’s future depends on how it handles two challenges – climate change and artificial intelligence.
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“This summer cannot be repeated. Therefore, we will soon present the European heatwave plan,” said the EC President to lawmakers in the annual State of the EU address.
“We need better early warning systems and better preparedness in healthcare. We need to adapt cities and cool them down. And we must support the most vulnerable people,” she said.
Several heatwaves in Europe caused by climate change, one after another, resulted in more than 30,000 excess deaths and drought covering large areas.
Since mid-June, more than a thousand forest fires in the EU have destroyed about 540,000 hectares of land – more than twice the size of Luxembourg. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people, especially in Spain and France, were forced to leave their homes.
Temperature records were recorded across the continent, and the heat caused dangerous fires even in areas that are usually cool and wet, such as Belgium and Scotland.
