World must reject climate culture wars or face economic ruin, says UN’s Stiell

Stiell warned of a ‘permanent climate nightmare’ if fossil fuel pollution continued at current levels. Photograph: Oliver Berg/AFP/ View image in fullscreen Stiell warned of a ‘permanent climate nightmare’ if fossil fuel pollution continued at current levels. Photograph: Oliver Berg/AFP/ World must reject climate culture wars or face economic ruin, says UN’s Stiell Warning 2026 was joint hottest month ever Attempts to stoke a climate crisis culture war must be rejected or the world will face economic disaster, the UN’s climate chief has warned. Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, warned that this year’s “hot as hell” summer had killed tens of thousands of people in Europe alone and “hammered” infrastructure, businesses and economics, costing a likely €180bn (£155bn), as well as leading to forced migration around the world. Climate ‘feedback loops’ could worsen global warming by 30%, study finds “The climate crisis is now a continent-wide economic security emergency,” he told a committee of the European parliament on Thursday morning. “We’ve seen mass evacuations. The fossil fuel crisis is also pushing up the costs of government borrowing, meaning less fiscal space to deliver vital services that populations need and expect.” View image in fullscreen Simon Stiell: ‘If humanity doesn’t cut the fossil fuel pollution … this summer’s brutal heat, fires and droughts will seem mild compared to the permanent climate nightmare that will follow.’ Photograph: Rajat Gupta/EPAStiell’s warnings came as the EU’s climate monitoring service released data showing August 2026 was the joint hottest month ever recorded around the world. Global temperatures reached 1.65C above preindustrial levels, scientists said on Thursday, amid warnings of further heating. Last month tied with July 2023 for the hottest on record, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Sea surface temperatures also soared to their highest levels on record for August. These temperatures were recorded before the coming El Niño weather system had made much of an impact. El Niño is a naturally recurrent phenomenon whereby wind changes over the Pacific lead to rising ocean temperatures and the transfer of huge amounts of heat to the atmosphere, with the consequences felt around the world in floods, droughts and heatwaves. This year’s system, likely to reach its full strength towards the end of the year, is forecast to be potentially the most intense on record, as it is now supercharged .