Paris Court to Rule on Landmark Climate Case as Europe Swelters Under Extreme Heat and Red Alerts

Court ruling comes as heat grips Europe

A court in Paris, France, is set to rule Thursday on a landmark climate change case, one day after France hit record high temperatures during a severe early-season heatwave.

The ruling could force energy giant TotalEnergies to reduce its oil and gas production. The lawsuit was brought by a group of NGOs and the city of Paris, which argue that the French corporation is violating a 2017 law requiring companies to prevent human rights abuses and environmental risks.

It is the first time France’s corporate duty of vigilance law is being applied to climate change.

Outside the courtroom, the heat has become part of the wider setting. Europe is under a blistering heatwave, with red alerts in parts of the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Italy. Temperatures have climbed above 40 degrees Celsius in several European cities, reaching levels more often associated with parts of the Middle East.

NGOs seek cuts in oil and gas production

Environmental groups Notre Affaire à Tous, Sherpa, ZEA and France Nature Environnement launched the proceedings in 2020.

They claim TotalEnergies is one of the largest historical emitters of greenhouse gases. The lawsuit asks the court to require the company to reduce oil production by 37 percent and gas production by 25 percent by 2030.

The case also asks for a halt to all new fossil fuel projects.

The court decision will add to a growing series of climate rulings. Last year, the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice, said countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change. In 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change.

In 2019, the Netherlands’ Supreme Court handed down the first major legal win for climate activists, ruling that protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change was a human right and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens.

Red alerts as temperatures pass 40 degrees

The decision comes while Europe is in the middle of a brutal heatwave. Punishing temperatures have extended into the United Kingdom and Spain, where weather agencies issued red alerts, as France did, warning tens of millions of people about the risks of extreme heat.

Authorities have warned of health risks, wildfires and travel disruption.

The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum have been forced to restrict visiting hours. School schedules and transportation have also been interrupted across the continent.

In Madrid, Spain, where temperatures reached 39 degrees Celsius, a World Cup fan zone screening was cancelled. In parts of France under red alert, officials introduced a localised alcohol ban. Germany issued nationwide heat warnings.

The heat has moved from forecast maps into daily life.

Paris hotter than Mecca in an unusual heat pattern

Paris, France, and other European cities have experienced temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, reaching levels normally seen across the Middle East.

The comparison has been stark. Paris has been hotter than Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during the heatwave, while western Europe remains locked under a persistent zone of extreme warmth.

The heat is not only sharp. It is sustained.

Authorities across affected countries have warned that prolonged high temperatures can increase pressure on health systems, transport networks and public spaces, especially where buildings and infrastructure were not designed for repeated extreme heat.

What is driving the heatwave

A persistent area of high pressure, known as a heat dome, has trapped hot air over western Europe. The pattern has brought clear skies, weak winds and prolonged sunshine.

Hot air moving north from North Africa has added to the extreme temperatures.

Unusually warm seas around the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and the western Mediterranean have also helped keep coastal areas hot, especially at night. Coastal waters around Spain have reached record warm levels, according to Spain’s port authority.

In the worst-affected areas, including western France, England and Wales, daily average temperatures have risen more than 12 degrees Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 baseline, according to Copernicus data.

Europe’s buildings add to vulnerability

Europe is particularly vulnerable to prolonged extreme heat because much of its housing and infrastructure was not built for it. Only about 20 percent of European homes have air conditioning.

That makes hot nights more dangerous. When temperatures remain high after sunset, buildings release stored heat slowly, and the body has less time to recover before the next day’s heat builds again.

The air stays heavy. Streets hold the warmth. Homes cool slowly.

This is why the same air temperature can produce different levels of danger from one region to another, depending on humidity, night-time cooling, building design and access to cooling.

Why the forecast can feel cooler than reality

Air temperature alone does not always match how hot conditions feel to the body. Forecasts often include a “feels like" temperature, which adjusts the air temperature based on humidity, wind speed and sun exposure.

Temperature measurements shown in forecasts rely on weather stations placed around the world. For accurate readings, these stations typically use specialist platinum resistance thermometers inside shaded instruments known as a Stevenson screen.

Measurements are taken at a standard height of 1.25 to 2 metres above the ground. This provides a reading that reflects the air temperature people actually experience.

Two widely known scales are used to measure temperature: Celsius and Fahrenheit. Only a few countries, including the United States, use Fahrenheit as their official scale. Most of the world uses Celsius, named after Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, who invented the 0 to 100 degree freezing and boiling point scale, although originally inverted, in 1742.

Climate change and Europe’s rapid warming

Human-caused climate change is tied to increasingly extreme weather. Projections from the United Nations climate agency say the next five years are likely to break more heat records.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, temperatures have increased twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s.

Copernicus data also shows Europe has warmed by about 0.56 degrees Celsius per decade since the mid-1990s, more than double the global average.

Climate change is making heatwaves more frequent, more intense and more likely to occur earlier and later in the year.

Heat deaths underline the scale of risk

Over the last four years, more than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes, according to the World Health Organization’s Europe office. Most of those deaths were preventable.

The health risks rise when heat persists over several days, especially when nights remain warm. Extreme heat can lead to heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and it can worsen existing health conditions.

The Paris court ruling will land during that wider climate and public health context: a legal challenge over fossil fuel production, a fast-warming continent, and an early-season heatwave testing cities, transport, schools and public spaces across Europe