Le Monde: Summer 2026 was hottest on record in Western Europe, yet still no political awakening

In their report on the Copernicus Summer Review 2026, Le Monde notes the EU’s inability to act on climate, in spite of EU Commision President Ursula von der Leyen acknowledgment that “On climate change, this summer was the summer of truth.”

“One of the defining characteristics of summer this year is that it was not a single record; it was multiple records,” said Samantha Burgess, climate strategy lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. “We’ve seen these compound impacts of climate change where we’ve seen record heat, record dryness, record wildfire risk.”

But at the EU’s political level, nothing, other than an absence of any real shock.

“There was no reaction; the climate issue is not among the priorities,” said Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, head of the energy center at the Institut Jacques Delors.

Link.