{
  "id": 2963970,
  "title": "Extreme Trockenheit: Greenpeace: Hitzefolgen kosten Wirtschaft 36 Milliarden Euro",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/extreme-trockenheit-greenpeace-hitzefolgen-kosten-wirtschaft-36",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-24T06:20:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/extreme-trockenheit-greenpeace-hitzefolgen-kosten-wirtschaft-36-milliarden-euro/100249215.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Extreme heat and prolonged drought have caused economic damages of at least 36 billion euros in Germany, according to estimates from Greenpeace. The environmental organization estimated the economic losses due to crop failures, forest fires, health costs, productivity losses, and educational costs resulting from the heat. \"A further step like this we cannot afford,\" said Greenpeace financial expert Mauricio Vargas. \"This heatwave and drought was a catastrophe - for millions of people and the economy.\" Vargas urged the federal government to respond with the necessary seriousness to the climate crisis during a cabinet meeting. \"The figures are unequivocal: A further step like this we simply cannot afford to take any longer.\" These calculations were estimates, Greenpeace emphasized, due to incomplete information and certain uncertainties in quantifying. However, the organization felt that not accounting for these uncertainties would create significant knowledge gaps and massively underestimate the scale of the natural disaster. The investigation looked at the economic impact of the drought, including crop failures, forest fires, health costs, productivity losses, and educational costs due to the heat. Industries reliant on large amounts of raw materials and intermediate products, such as chemicals, steel, and oil, were particularly affected. The drought led to lower crop yields in several German regions. Binnenboden traffic was also disrupted due to extremely low water levels. Hundreds of thousands of labor hours were lost due to heat, with heat-related productivity losses and failures amounting to an estimated 10.8 billion euros. Forest damage is estimated at 5 to 7.5 billion euros, and health-related losses amount to 6.9 billion euros. Agriculture, inland waterways, and education were also significantly impacted. Greenpeace stressed that some severe consequences were still not calculated, including effects on the energy system due to a lack of cooling water or increased ozone and fine dust pollution caused by heat. \"The true costs of extreme weather events like this heatwave far exceed our calculations,\" said Greenpeace expert Vargas. \"Ambitious climate protection investments are then reduced to a ridiculous level.\"",
  "summary": "Ernteausfälle und gestoppte Binnenschifffahrt sorgen für enorme Schäden. Greenpeace warnt, die wahren Kosten des trockenen Sommers seien noch höher.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}