Two climate-themed movies are playing simultaneously across the globe: a slow-burning horror story and a feelgood summer hit. Both are worth watching, though one might make you want to hide under a blanket.

Let's start with the horror. The World Health Organisation says the extreme heatwave blanketing Europe has killed more than 1,300 people - but everyone knows that number will end up a dramatic understatement. In summer 2022, the final estimate of heat-related deaths on the continent was over 60,000, and the past 10 days have been significantly hotter. Scientists from the World Weather Attribution consortium found nearly half of Europe's 850 biggest cities have been enduring their worst heat stress in recorded history, with temperatures consistently 5°C to 12°C above seasonal averages. The heatwave has ruptured Germany's Autobahn, buckled train lines, degraded power lines, crippled medical equipment, and forced nuclear plants to close because rivers used for cooling got too warm. Basically, it's the kind of disaster that doesn't get a dramatic rescue montage.

Meanwhile, the feelgood movie has an accidental hero: Donald J Trump. His inept attack on Iran alongside Israel, and the resulting blockade in the Strait of Hormuz of about 20% of the world's oil and gas supply, has triggered fresh consideration of how countries can ditch fossil fuels. For the first time, renewable energy - solar, wind and hydro - overtook coal-fired power as the leading source of electricity last year, providing a third of the global total. Add nuclear, and non-fossil generation hit 42%. Solar energy grew 30% in 2025 - the single largest annual increase of any electricity source in history. Battery storage grew 66%. The reasons aren't complicated: solar is cheap, consumer-friendly, and doesn't rely on fuel shipped from somewhere else. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres noted the cost of solar and batteries has fallen 90% and 95% respectively over 15 years, while wind costs are down 70%. He called renewables a 'clean way out' of the energy crisis.

In Pakistan, solar capacity has increased more than tenfold in four years, topping 25% of electricity and prompting the government to cancel LNG imports. In the EU, solar and wind provided about 30% of electricity in 2025, up from 19% in 2021, and renewables now make up 48% of generation. Even in the US, where Trump and Republicans have undermined renewables, solar and batteries provided 91% of new generation capacity in the first quarter this year. May was the first time solar beat coal in the US. China, as always, is doing its own thing: coal has fallen from 80% to about 50% of its power, and two-thirds of cars and at least 25% of heavy vehicles sold there this year are expected to be EVs. Globally, EVs are likely to be 27% of sales, up from 9% five years ago. India's Delhi government just announced a ban on new fossil-powered small trucks and three-wheelers from next year, and scooters and motorbikes in two years. Ethiopia has already banned new fossil fuel car imports.

None of this means the task is done - global emissions haven't even started falling. Much new clean energy powers expanding demand, not replacing coal or gas. And fossil fuel interests remain formidable villains. But the shift under way has spawned a new buzzword: electrification. The idea is simple: electricity can already meet about 75% of the world's energy needs using existing tech, it's more efficient and healthier than burning fuel, and it will increasingly come from clean sources because they're cheapest. It's reason for qualified optimism - and perhaps the basis for a whole franchise about some much-needed progress.