LONDON: Climate change experts urged the UK to set maximum temperature rules for workplaces and adapt hospitals and schools to a warming planet in a report published Wednesday. The report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which advises the government on adapting to global warming, said Britain should set &quot;measurable&quot; targets to reduce the effects of climate change. Experts identified the key climate change threats facing the UK as heat, flooding and drought, with 92% of homes &quot;likely to overheat&quot; by 2050 and acute water supply shortfalls without urgent government action. &quot;The UK was built for a climate that no longer exists today and will be increasingly distant in years to come,&quot; the CCC report notes, following concerns in recent heatwaves that the UK&#39;s infrastructure is not prepared for higher temperatures. The country, which recorded its hottest year on record in 2025, has seen extreme weather events intensify in recent years, with unprecedented heat waves, floods that have caused significant damage, and long spells of drought. Four of the UK&#39;s last five years now appear in the top five warmest years since 1884, and all of the top 10 hottest years will now have taken place in the last two decades. &#39;Increased ambition&#39; In its fourth report advising the government, the CCC noted that efforts to limit global warming to below 2C should not prevent the UK from &quot;preparing&quot; for the consequences of global warming. Countries agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to limit global warming to &quot;well below&quot; 2C, and aim for a 1.5C cap, which scientists warn is increasingly unattainable as human-driven climate change accelerates. The CCC report urges setting &quot;maximum working temperature regulations&quot; to protect workers, installing cooling infrastructure like air conditioners and heat pumps, building flood defenses and investing in reservoirs, among other recommendations. It did not recommend what the maximum temperature should be set at. Britain does not have any rules for maximum temperatures yet, and the CCC pointed to examples of countries like Spain, where the maximum legal indoor working temperature is 27C. It advises the government to have &quot;increased ambition&quot; and estimates that investment of around &pound;11 billion ($14.7 billion) a year from the public and private sector is needed. The country has set a target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels and is aiming to be carbon neutral by the middle of the century.

Europe

The Climate Change Committee urges the UK to set strict maximum workplace temperatures and prepare critical infrastructure for intensifying heat, flooding and drought with an estimated £11 billion annual investment.

UK climate advisers urge setting maximum working temperature

PARIS: The Turkish COP31 president-designate said Thursday the clean energy transition will be a top issue at the climate summit but simply telling nations to phase out fossil fuels &quot;is not realistic.&quot; Murat Kurum, who is also Turkey&#39;s climate minister, spoke to AFP as the war in the Middle East has fuelled calls for the world to speed up the deployment of renewable energy. Last year&#39;s COP30 climate conference in Brazil produced a watered-down final text that lacked any explicit mention of a fossil-fuel transition. Instead, Brazil offered to create a voluntary &quot;roadmap&quot; on transitioning away from fossil fuels. Speaking on the sidelines of a high-level meeting on the energy transition at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, Kurum said that COP31 would &quot;continue to implement&quot; the roadmap initiated by Brazil. But when pressed on whether the words &quot;fossil fuels&quot; could appear in a COP31 final decision, Kurum said: &quot;It&#39;s not about putting some words in a text.&quot; Nearly 200 countries agreed at COP28 in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels in a landmark deal, but efforts to turn that pledge into action have stalled. Nearly 60 nations hailed progress in the fight to exit fossil fuels on Wednesday at a conference in Colombia that gained new urgency after the COP30 failure to spell out the goal. An urban planner by training who ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor of Istanbul in 2024, Kurum took a diplomatic tone when talking about issues that are major sources of tension at climate summits. &quot;Each and every country is dependent on fossil fuels. So just telling them to phase out of fossil fuels is not realistic,&quot; he said through an interpreter. &quot;What should happen is that countries work on clean energy, renewable energy as soon as possible so that they can reduce their dependency on fossil fuels,&quot; he said. &quot;We need to do this not only by writing something, writing a statement on paper, but we need to make sure that people actually see that reality,&quot; Kurum added. On another divisive issue that will top the COP 31 agenda -- climate finance -- he said pledges &nbsp;by developed countries to provide money to developing nations have not reached &quot;the desired level&quot;. &quot;On the one hand, we are aware of the expectations of developing countries, but we are also aware of the concerns of the developed countries,&quot; he said.<h2 style="line-height: 2;"> </h2><h2 style="line-height: 2;">No surprises in Antalya</h2>Under a compromise deal following a battle over hosting COP31, Australia will lead the negotiations at COP31 while Turkey will preside over the summit in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya. When asked if he would have a role in the negotiations, Kurum said: &quot;Turkey will play a role anywhere, everywhere, because Turkey is the COP31 president.&quot; Australia will lead the negotiations &quot;in coordination&quot; with the COP31 presidency, he said, adding: &quot;At end of the day, the decisions will be taken by the COP31 presidency.&quot; Kurum said he was working in &quot;great harmony and great coordination&quot; with Australia&#39;s Climate Minister Chris Bowen, who is steering the COP31 negotiations. He said the goal of COP31 can be summed up in one word: sincerity. &quot;We want sincerity at COP31. We want promises kept at COP31,&quot; Kurum said. &quot;At the end of the day, we want a result-oriented, implementation-oriented COP.&quot; Kurum sounded optimistic that COP31 would run smoothly -- a pledge some of his predecessors have also made but struggled to deliver as climate summits notoriously run into overtime due to tense negotiations. &quot;At COP31 in Antalya in November there will be no surprises,&quot; he said. &quot;Everything will be planned, decided and implemented ahead of time.&quot;

Climate

COP 31 President Murat Kurum says the clean energy transition will be central at COP31 but warns phasing out fossil fuels outright is “not realistic,” urging gradual shifts toward renewable energy.

Just telling nations to quit fossil fuels 'not realistic': COP31 chief

Reuters

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Demand for rooftop solar systems in Europe has surged since the start of the Iran war, as households seek ways to cut electricity bills and shield themselves from another energy shock, Reuters reported on Thursday.&nbsp; The conflict has driven up oil, gas and power prices, renewing interest in home solar across several countries. The report said companies in Germany, Britain and the Netherlands have seen demand from homeowners more than double since the war began in late February.&nbsp; The rebound is striking because Europe&rsquo;s solar market weakened last year, with residential rooftop systems accounting for just 14% of new installations in 2025, about half their share in 2021. In Germany, solar wholesaler Solarhandel24 said its net sales more than tripled in March from a year earlier to nearly 70 million euros.&nbsp; The company expects another strong month in April and plans to hire about 85 more workers as orders continue to grow. To keep up, it has built stockpiles of around 500,000 solar panels. Company executives said the move was expensive, but justified by expectations of much higher demand this year. German energy firm Enpal also reported strong growth.&nbsp; Its orders rose 30% year-on-year in March to 130 million euros, while April was tracking for a 33% increase to about 120 million euros, driven mainly by rooftop systems. Batteries includedThe boom is spreading beyond solar panels alone.&nbsp; More households are now buying full systems that include batteries and electric-vehicle wallboxes, allowing them to store excess electricity and use it later, which is lifting demand for storage technology as well.&nbsp; Dutch industry group Holland Solar said demand for storage has climbed by 40% to 50%. There is also a major contradiction in Europe&rsquo;s energy transition.&nbsp; While homeowners are turning to solar to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels, almost 90% of the solar panels used in these systems still come from China. Even so, some executives told Reuters this looks like more than a temporary spike.&nbsp; They said repeated geopolitical crises are making rooftop solar increasingly attractive not only as a way to lower bills, but also as a tool for energy security.

The conflict has driven up oil, gas and power prices, renewing interest in home solar across several countries.

Articles tagged with "Fossil Fuels"

UK climate advisers urge setting maximum working temperature

Just telling nations to quit fossil fuels 'not realistic': COP31 chief

Europe rooftop solar demand surges amid Iran war fallout

UK climate advisers urge setting maximum working temperature