Europe is in meltdown. A heatwave spread across the continent this week, thermometers soared past 40C as temperatures broke new records. Schools close to Paris were forced to close; Germany introduced speed restrictions on its autobahns; and a Spanish meteorologist tweeted a map of the country’s weather forecast with the caption: “Hell is coming.”

Temperatures are likewise running high in the climate change debate ahead of the G20 meeting in Osaka. Japan is set to omit references to “global warming” and “decarbonisation” from a G20 communiqué in a bid to please the US. This comes just days after four central European states — Estonia, Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria— stopped the EU from committing to a 2050 net zero carbon emissions target last week. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is helping to prevent publication of a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Last week Republican senators in Oregon fled the state to block the passage of a landmark bill that would commit the state, like neighbouring California, to ambitious reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. School strikes by teenagers and direct action, such as that by Extinction Rebellion, who demand governments “tell the truth”, have become a regular occurrence in recent months. At the same time, so have protests by France’s gilets jaunes, who oppose increases in fuel taxes.