Germany heat deaths near 14,000 as Merz pledges action

Germany has recorded around 14,000 heat-related deaths this year, official data shows, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the country must do more to curb climate change and adapt to its effects.

Merz spoke on August 25 at the start of a two-day cabinet retreat outside Berlin after a summer of heatwaves, drought, wildfires, damaged harvests and low river levels that restricted key shipping routes.

“We have to further curb climate change and at the same time better adapt to the consequences,” Merz said. He said Germany had to learn long-term lessons from the summer's extreme heat and had suffered “significant damage” in recent months.

A heatwave in late June broke Germany's all-time temperature record three days in a row, topping 42 degrees Celsius.

Merz's centre-right CDU/CSU alliance has emphasised balancing climate action with efforts to revive Germany's economy. His coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats faces criticism from the Greens and environmental activists, who say the government is not acting urgently enough.

Greens party leader Felix Banaszak said Merz's government would be credible only if it “fundamentally change course”, particularly on the green energy transition.

An expert commission forecast in May that Germany would miss its legally anchored 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets. Greenpeace estimated this week that the economic costs of the extreme summer of 2026 in Germany, including productivity losses, health costs, poor harvests and restricted river traffic, amount to at least 36 billion euros.