India, July 3 -- Human-driven climate change made the meteorological conditions behind the June 2026 western European heatwave up to 2.5degC warmer than they would have been during 1950 to 1987, exposing about 327 million people and nearly $15.6 trillion worth of economic activity to intensified heat, according to a new analysis, while governments across Asia and the Pacific have adopted a regional roadmap to jointly tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, amid rising heat, more frequent extreme weather events and mounting environmental pressures across the region.

The roadmap, adopted under the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), reflects growing recognition that climate change...