Climate, energy, Green Deal, ESG
With blazes contained near Athens and evacuations under way in Spain, Europe faces another season of compounding climate emergencies — wildfires, drought and deadly heatwaves converging across the continent.
Greece’s outdated electricity distribution network, with ageing cables running through fire-prone forests, is increasingly identified as a key ignition source behind the country’s recurring and catastrophic wildfire seasons.
Wildfires are sweeping across multiple European regions amid record heat, underscoring the continent’s status as the world’s fastest-warming landmass and raising urgent questions about long-term climate resilience.
After years of record-breaking fire seasons overwhelmed Europe’s emergency response systems, the EU is redirecting billions toward preventing catastrophic wildfires rather than simply fighting them — a fundamental shift in how the bloc manages one of climate change’s most visible threats.
Iceland has expelled 21 anti-whaling activists and banned them from re-entering the country, police confirmed, in one of the most significant enforcement actions against protesters in recent years in one of the world’s last remaining commercial whaling nations.
The EU has deployed its largest-ever joint firefighting force to combat wildfires sweeping southern Europe. But the record mobilisation is raising pointed questions about whether emergency response is crowding out the prevention strategies the continent urgently needs.
Critically low water levels on the Danube are forcing central European governments into emergency mode, as a punishing heatwave compounds what analysts say is a worsening long-term drought trend across the region.
The EU’s emergency firefighting architecture has grown substantially, but experts warn that response capacity is racing ahead of the prevention work needed to reduce Europe’s escalating wildfire risk.
A revision of the EU’s Emissions Trading System could redirect carbon revenues into ports, alternative fuels and clean technologies, with the maritime sector watching closely to see whether the reform delivers competitive as well as environmental gains.
Displaced residents are returning home after wildfires in Spain and France showed signs of stabilisation, but authorities warn that an ongoing heatwave keeps the risk of further outbreaks dangerously high.