Germany it is not sanitary prepared to deal with heatwaves, the federal health minister, Karl Lauterbach, admitted and promised that the government would draw up a plan to deal with the immediate consequences of climate change.

“We have to realize that in Germany we are not well prepared to deal with deaths from heat,” said the minister and called the event “unacceptable” that every year 5000 to 20000 Germans die because of high temperatures. “If we do nothing, we will lose thousands of lives every year for no reason. And this is only the tip of the iceberg”, he added and explained that the relevant consultations must be carried out quickly so that the measures can be implemented as early as this year.

In 2022, Germany faced unprecedented temperatures, prolonged periods of sunshine and drought. According to the Federal Environment Agency, last year was the warmest since records began – not only in Germany, but in Europe as a whole.

The health minister’s plan is based on the French model, which provides for a classification of the severity of the heat and corresponding measures for each case, such as the operation of air-conditioned areas and the provision of free drinking water. Last year, the federal government said it did not see a need for a national plan, leaving the states responsible for taking action, but as Deutsche Welle’s English-language service points out, few areas have a high temperature protection planwhile, correspondingly, many hospitals do not have a strategy to deal with a possible heat crisis.