Europe turns to Africa for heat‑wave adaptation strategies

European nations are experiencing increasingly frequent and dangerous heatwaves that are overwhelming hospitals, halting transport and turning ordinary public spaces into health hazards. Countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and several Balkan states are now confronting extreme heat as a persistent part of climate change.

African communities have been coping with high temperatures, erratic rain, drought and water stress for decades. Their low‑tech, low‑energy solutions—including reflective roofing, thick locally‑sourced walls, passive ventilation, and large‑scale urban greening projects like Sierra Leone’s “Freetown the Tree Town” tree‑planting programme—offer practical lessons for European cities built on ageing housing stock and strained energy grids. Experts caution that any African model must be adapted to local building codes, geography and governance before it can be applied in cities such as Marseille or Madrid.