Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for the clean, just and competitive transition, has condemned political cowardice for stalling climate action as a record-breaking heatwave sweeps across Europe. In an interview with the Guardian, she said that while the effects of the climate emergency are becoming increasingly obvious, they are still not translating into proper action.
“When you see the map of Europe, it’s dreadful,” said Ribera, noting temperatures of 46C in Spain and 38C in eastern Europe. She warned that the extreme heat, which hit 46C in Huelva on Saturday, has “a very serious impact on ecosystems, on the economy and on health”. She stressed that there has not yet been a shift from headlines about extreme weather to preparing people for what needs to be done.
Ribera criticised political parties that “continue to insist, quite vehemently, that climate change does not exist” or that adaptation is too expensive. “Sorry, but it’ll be much more expensive if we don’t act,” she said, warning that inaction fuels public distrust. She highlighted last October’s deadly floods in Valencia, which killed 229 people, as an example of abnormal events that are becoming more frequent.
The EU commissioner for environment, Jessika Roswall, was also in Spain to visit the Doñana wetlands, a threatened carbon sink. Roswall said water must be seen as a vital strategic resource as temperatures rise. Ribera pointed to a €1.4bn deal to protect Doñana as proof that political consensus is possible, contrasting it with far-right parties like Spain’s Vox, which seek to repeal climate laws.
