The fight against climate change to protect the green planet remains arduous.
According to research by scientists at Imperial College London, climate change caused by humans was responsible for about 16,500 deaths during abnormal heatwaves in Europe this summer. The Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) also released a report showing that as many as 181,000 deaths were related to heatwaves have occurred in Europe over the past three summers.
According to ISGlobal, in the summer of 2024 alone — considered the “hottest on record” in Europe — there were 62,775 heat-related deaths between June and September. Research of 854 cities revealed that global warming increased the average temperature by 2.2°C during June–August 2025, leading to 24,400 more deaths than normal. Nearly 70% of these (equivalent to 16,500 cases) are considered to be directly related to climate change. This means that heat-related mortality tripled compared with normal climatic conditions.
Faced with such unexpected statistics, scientists warn that a further rise of just 2–4°C could claim thousands more lives. Meanwhile, some nations in the world are still neglected in the fight against climate change. According to the “Production Gap Report 2025”, conducted by over 50 international researchers, many countries in the world are still planning to expand fossil fuel exploitation, even as their signatures on pledges to combat global warming are barely dry.
Derik Broekhoff, an expert from the Stockholm Environment Institute, emphasised that there is a significant gap between climate ambition and fossil fuel exploitation. According to the Paris Agreement on climate change, countries in the world pledged to limit the global average temperature rise to below 2°C compared with pre-industrial period, and to strive for the target of 1.5°C. However, research by scientists shows that compared to the allowable level to achieve the goal of keeping global temperature increase at 1.5°C, the expected output of coal, oil, and gas in 2030 will likely be 120% higher, and even the target of increasing at 2°C will be exceeded by 77%.
According to the report, 17 out of the 20 nations exploiting largest fossil-fuel output in the world, is planning to increase their output from now to 2030. Parties joining the Paris Agreement on climate change plan to submit updated climate targets and detailed plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions before COP30 will take place in Brazil in November. Therefore, scientists are urging nations to commit to reversing the current situation of fossil fuel production — the leading factor of global warming.
The European Union (EU) is one of the few bright spots in efforts to achieve climate targets. At a recent meeting in Brussels, environment ministers of EU member states pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 66.25–72.5% compared with the levels in 1990, reaffirming the bloc’s leadership role in the fight against global climate change.
The EU ranks behind China, the US, and India in greenhouse gas emissions, but it has put forward the strongest commitments to prevent global warming. Environmental experts hope that, in addition to the EU, all nations worldwide will show their climate pledges through actions and responsibility toward the green planet.
