Wildfires, Lahbib: “No EU country can tackle climate change on its own”

“This year, 700,000 hectares have gone up in smoke,” Lahbib emphasised. This is “higher than the average for previous years,” meaning that many “pilots and firefighters lost their lives” while on duty. According to the Commissioner, three reasons made the just-ended summer season exceptional. The first: compared with other years, “the fires started earlier than usual”, with the Netherlands and the Czech Republic among the first to be affected. Second, “they moved northwards” across the continent; on this point, Lahbib highlighted Scotland, Belgium, and Greenland as among those affected. The final point is that this year the fires have threatened not only forests, but also towns and cities. “France saw the largest evacuation since the end of the Second World War,” Lahbib noted.

With forests ablaze across Europe, the European Commission has deployed a record number of firefighters, aircraft, and emergency experts as part of the civil protection mechanism, the framework through which EU Member States and participating countries cooperate on disaster prevention, preparedness and response. “800 firefighters from 14 countries have been deployed to three high-risk countries,” the Commissioner stated. A number “three times higher than that deployed in 2022.” It has been “activated ten times both within and outside the Union,” with “40 aircraft and 18 teams” to assist neighbouring states as well. “Solidarity did not stop at our borders; it reached Venezuela, Colombia, and Nepal,” she added.

“Europe is now getting hotter and hotter, and this is a reality we must face,” she said, adding that “this summer’s hell is only the beginning.” The four heatwaves and temperatures exceeding 40 degrees in western and central Europe “have caused damage that goes beyond the flames.” For this reason, the Commissioner believes that negotiations are needed to secure more funding within the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028–2034—the EU’s long-term spending programme for the period 2021–2027—because “prevention costs money, but there are other costs, such as human lives,” she concluded.