Published

8 months ago

July 14, 2025

Alice Rush

Dr. Niall McLoughlin is co-director at Climate Barometer.

Throughout recent weeks, Europe has yet again experienced the deadly effects of record-breaking extreme heat. Hundreds of heat alerts were put in place across the continent, as temperatures soared to 46C in some regions – with school closures and outdoor working bans in some nations.

Here in the UK, England may have just experienced its hottest June on record, with close to 600 people estimated to have died during the hottest period. Droughts have been declared in the North West of England and Yorkshire following the driest spring in 132 years; and wildfires recently scorched the earth across Scotland, Dartmoor and the Peak District. The land area burnt so far this year is already the highest in over a decade.

On Monday, the latest State of the UK Climate report showed that the number of days with temperatures 5C above the 1961-1990 average has doubled since that period for the most recent decade from 2015-2024. According to the Met Office, the hottest days experienced in the UK have dramatically increased in frequency in just a few decades, while the last three years have been in the country’s top five warmest on record.

Not prepared for extreme weather

Government statistics show there were more than 10,000 heat-related deaths in the UK alone between 2020 and 2024. Close to 3,000 people died amidst the record-breaking 2022 heatwaves, when UK temperatures exceeded 40C for the first time.

Despite this, the UK remains unprepared for extreme heat. In April this year, stark warnings were issued by the national government’s official climate adviser, the Climate Change Committee (CCC): The country is “not prepared” for climate impacts, progress has been “inadequate”, “too slow”, or has “stalled”. Encompassing heat risks, the CCC reported that not a single outcome of UK climate adaptation shows signs of ‘good’ delivery.

Scientists hail rapid estimate of climate change’s role in heat deaths as a first

The British public agrees the nation isn’t ready. Climate Barometer polling finds that more than three quarters (78%) believe the UK is ‘not prepared’ to deal with climate impacts, including extreme weather. Just 16% say there has been ‘good progress’ when it comes to climate adaptation.

In 2023, over two-thirds of the public said both national and local governments in the UK are not prepared for extreme heat events. Alarmingly, this sentiment is shared by paramedics, fire fighters, decision makers and community leaders who worked on the frontline of the 2022 heatwave response.

A disjointed landscape of heat communication

With most heat-related deaths being preventable, the way we communicate plays a pivotal role in reducing impacts. But we urgently need to improve the landscape of heat risk communication.

In the UK, while updated heat warning systems have been welcomed, aspects of the public-facing communication may be inadequate or unclear in terms of encouraging action. More widely, media portrayals of heatwaves continue to show people having ‘fun in the sun’, despite research showing this undermines the severity of heat risks.

Comment: Early warnings for heatwaves can save lives – and we need them now

Across Europe, in the absence of strong leadership on heat, political narratives are quickly forming around the moral need for air conditioning rollouts – despite AC units being costly, energy intensive, and making urban heat worse.

This all has knock-on consequences. Recently published UK-wide survey research shows that less than half of respondents (46%) said they felt ‘well-informed’ about heat risks. Very few felt that national (27%) and local governments (18%) were doing a ‘good job’ of communicating heat risks, and 20% said they lacked confidence in the accuracy of media coverage (37% were unsure).

Communicating better about heat

To help improve this disjointed landscape, here are three key suggestions:

1 – Heat communications must draw on social research. Studies show a very wide range of factors influence our actions and vulnerabilities when it comes to heat. From our belief about the risks, to where we live, to our cultural heritage, and the actions of our friends and family – these factors all play a role in shaping heat-related behaviour. Taking stock of these influences, alongside an awareness of the unequal impacts of heat, is necessary to inform better communication approaches. Social research also highlights the need for active, inclusive engagement that goes beyond one-way messaging (e.g. locally-led projects to increase tree cover, or community decision making about heat-resilient neighbourhoods).

2 – A focus on advance preparation is sorely needed. Preparation for heat should occur “all year round”, but typically UK risks aren’t treated in this way, with media coverage spiking as the heat takes hold. A review of heatwave research found an overwhelming focus on ‘protective actions’ (e.g. using a fan or drinking water to stay cool during heatwaves), rather than ‘preparative actions’ (e.g. installing shutters and blinds, or improving shading). This is despite the latter typically bringing benefits for more than one person, by reducing household vulnerability. Instead of an overemphasis on short-term coping, we need to build longer-term heat resilience.

3 – Effort is needed to address heat perception gaps. There are well known vulnerability gaps when it comes to climate impacts. Research by the British Red Cross found that “those most vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather often have the lowest awareness of their risk and the least knowledge of how to prepare”. Similar ‘perception gaps’ have been found in relation to heat impacts. For instance, people tend to believe they are less vulnerable to heat impacts than others in their community. Many in the UK look forward to heatwaves, despite the risks. And more than a third think heatwaves will only be a problem for the UK in the future. Tackling perception gaps like these could help unlock community preparedness.

Better communication alone is not enough. This must go hand-in-hand with policy changes, regulation, planning, and coordination. But with extreme heat a “new normal”, the way governments, community leaders and the media communicate about extreme heat matters now more than ever.

The more that social research insights are taken onboard, ultimately the more lives could be saved.

The post To help people prepare for extreme heat, we must communicate better appeared first on Climate Home News.

To help people prepare for extreme heat, we must communicate better

Climate Change

A Tiny Caribbean Island Sued the Netherlands Over Climate Change, and Won

Published

8 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Alice Rush

The case shows that climate change is a fundamental human rights violation—and the victory of Bonaire, a Dutch territory, could open the door for similar lawsuits globally.

Interview by Paloma Beltran, Living on Earth

From our collaborating partner Living on Earth, public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by Paloma Beltran with Greenpeace Netherlands campaigner Eefje de Kroon.

A Tiny Caribbean Island Sued the Netherlands Over Climate Change, and Won

Climate Change

Greenpeace organisations to appeal USD $345 million court judgment in Energy Transfer’s intimidation lawsuit

Published

13 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Alice Rush

SYDNEY, Saturday 28 February 2026 — Greenpeace International and Greenpeace organisations in the US announce they will seek a new trial and, if necessary, appeal the decision with the North Dakota Supreme Court following a North Dakota District Court judgment today awarding Energy Transfer (ET) USD $345 million.

ET’s SLAPP suit remains a blatant attempt to silence free speech, erase Indigenous leadership of the Standing Rock movement, and punish solidarity with peaceful resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Greenpeace International will also continue to seek damages for ET’s bullying lawsuits under EU anti-SLAPP legislation in the Netherlands.

Mads Christensen, Greenpeace International Executive Director said: “Energy Transfer’s attempts to silence us are failing. Greenpeace International will continue to resist intimidation tactics. We will not be silenced. We will only get louder, joining our voices to those of our allies all around the world against the corporate polluters and billionaire oligarchs who prioritise profits over people and the planet.

“With hard-won freedoms under threat and the climate crisis accelerating, the stakes of this legal fight couldn’t be higher. Through appeals in the US and Greenpeace International’s groundbreaking anti-SLAPP case in the Netherlands, we are exploring every option to hold Energy Transfer accountable for multiple abusive lawsuits and show all power-hungry bullies that their attacks will only result in a stronger people-powered movement.”

The Court’s final judgment today rejects some of the jury verdict delivered in March 2025, but still awards hundreds of millions of dollars to ET without a sound basis in law. The Greenpeace defendants will continue to press their arguments that the US Constitution does not allow liability here, that ET did not present evidence to support its claims, that the Court admitted inflammatory and irrelevant evidence at trial and excluded other evidence supporting the defense, and that the jury pool in Mandan could not be impartial.[1][2]

ET’s back-to-back lawsuits against Greenpeace International and the US organisations Greenpeace USA (Greenpeace Inc.) and Greenpeace Fund are clear-cut examples of SLAPPs — lawsuits attempting to bury nonprofits and activists in legal fees, push them towards bankruptcy and ultimately silence dissent.[3] Greenpeace International, which is based in the Netherlands, is pursuing justice in Europe, with a suit against ET under Dutch law and the European Union’s new anti-SLAPP directive, a landmark test of the new legislation which could help set a powerful precedent against corporate bullying.[4]

Kate Smolski, Program Director at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “This is part of a worrying trend globally: fossil fuel corporations are increasingly using litigation to attack and silence ordinary people and groups using the law to challenge their polluting operations — and we’re not immune to these tactics here in Australia.

“Rulings like this have a chilling effect on democracy and public interest litigation — we must unite against these silencing tactics as bad for Australians and bad for our democracy. Our movement is stronger than any corporate bully, and grows even stronger when under attack.”

Energy Transfer’s SLAPPs are part of a wave of abusive lawsuits filed by Big Oil companies like Shell, Total, and ENI against Greenpeace entities in recent years.[3] A couple of these cases have been successfully stopped in their tracks. This includes Greenpeace France successfully defeating TotalEnergies’ SLAPP on 28 March 2024, and Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International forcing Shell to back down from its SLAPP on 10 December 2024.

-ENDS-

Images available in Greenpeace Media Library

Notes:

[1] The judgment entered by North Dakota District Court Judge Gion follows a jury verdict finding Greenpeace entities liable for more than US$660 million on March 19, 2025. Judge Gion subsequently threw out several items from the jury’s verdict, reducing the total damages to approximately US$345 million.

[2] Public statements from the independent Trial Monitoring Committee

[3] Energy Transfer’s first lawsuit was filed in federal court in 2017 under the RICO Act – the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a US federal statute designed to prosecute mob activity. The case was dismissed in 2019, with the judge stating the evidence fell “far short” of what was needed to establish a RICO enterprise. The federal court did not decide on Energy Transfer’s claims based on state law, so Energy Transfer promptly filed a new case in a North Dakota state court with these and other state law claims.

[4] Greenpeace International sent a Notice of Liability to Energy Transfer on 23 July 2024, informing the pipeline giant of Greenpeace International’s intention to bring an anti-SLAPP lawsuit against the company in a Dutch Court. After Energy Transfer declined to accept liability on multiple occasions (September 2024, December 2024), Greenpeace International initiated the first test of the European Union’s anti-SLAPP Directive on 11 February 2025 by filing a lawsuit in Dutch court against Energy Transfer. The case was officially registered in the docket of the Court of Amsterdam on 2 July, 2025. Greenpeace International seeks to recover all damages and costs it has suffered as a result of Energy Transfers’s back-to-back, abusive lawsuits demanding hundreds of millions of dollars from Greenpeace International and the Greenpeace organisations in the US. The next hearing in the Court of Amsterdam is scheduled for 16 April, 2026.

Media contact:

Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace organisations to appeal USD $345 million court judgment in Energy Transfer’s intimidation lawsuit

Climate Change

Former EPA Staff Detail Expanding Pollution Risks Under Trump

Published

13 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Alice Rush

The Trump administration’s relentless rollback of public health and environmental protections has allowed widespread toxic exposures to flourish, warn experts who helped implement safeguards now under assault.

By Liza Gross

In a new report that outlines a dozen high-risk pollutants given new life thanks to weakened, delayed or rescinded regulations, the Environmental Protection Network, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of hundreds of former Environmental Protection Agency staff, warns that the EPA under President Donald Trump has abandoned the agency’s core mission of protecting people and the environment from preventable toxic exposures.