Thousands of people are estimated to have lost their lives, according to a first-of-its-kind rapid analysis study.
A team of researchers, led by Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, looked at 10 days of extreme heat between June 23 and July 2 across 12 European cities, including London, Paris, Athens, Madrid and Rome.
They used historical weather data to calculate how intense the heat would have been if humans had not burned fossil fuels and warmed the world by 1.3 degrees Celsius. They found climate change made Europe's heat wave 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (1.8 to 7.2 Fahrenheit) hotter. The scientists then used research on the relationship between heat and daily deaths to estimate how many people lost their lives.
They found approximately 2,300 people died during ten days of heat across the 12 cities, around 1,500 more than would have died in a world without climate change. In other words, global heating was responsible for 65% of the total death toll.
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The UK Government’s decision to triple domestic heat pump manufacturing funding to £90 million marks a significant step toward advancing net zero carbon buildings and sustainable construction. The investment, part of the Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition, supports a shift from fossil-fuel heating systems toward low carbon design alternatives. This strategy strengthens the UK’s capacity to measure and manage embodied carbon and whole life carbon across the built environment, setting a pathway for a new generation of energy-efficient buildings aligned with a circular economy in construction.
The funding increase is expected to boost supply chains for low embodied carbon materials, encouraging manufacturers to undertake whole life carbon assessment and lifecycle assessment processes when scaling production. By integrating life cycle cost considerations into both product development and procurement, construction firms can enhance environmental sustainability in construction and drive improvements in sustainable building practices that are measurable, verifiable, and fully compliant with BREEAM and BREEAM v7 certification frameworks.
Heat pumps are being positioned as a cornerstone of low carbon building performance, essential to reducing the carbon footprint of construction projects while improving renewable energy use in the housing sector. This transition links closely to sustainable building design and eco-design for buildings, where life cycle thinking in construction ensures long-term energy efficiency, resource efficiency in construction, and end-of-life reuse in construction. It forms part of a broader shift toward carbon neutral construction that aligns industry performance with national climate targets under the Clean Heat Mechanism.
The Government’s emphasis on green infrastructure and off-grid electric vehicle charging further supports sustainable urban development and decarbonising the built environment. Investment in renewable building materials and green building products underpins a new generation of low carbon construction materials built for the circular economy. These measures encourage stakeholders to consider embodied carbon in materials and carbon footprint reduction strategies, setting new benchmarks for sustainable design and environmental product declarations (EPDs).
Grassroots initiatives like the Dorset COP showcase how sustainable building practices can emerge from local engagement. By connecting policy ambition with practical delivery, such forums demonstrate the role of community-led sustainable architecture and eco-friendly construction in achieving net zero whole life carbon goals. This balanced approach to sustainable construction links technology, funding, and local action, forming the structural backbone of a low-impact construction future. Through collaboration and evidence-based standards, the UK’s construction sector continues to lay the foundations for a built environment defined by resilience, circular construction strategies, and enduring environmental stewardship.
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