EU climate action urged as France and Spain fight wildfires
Hadja Lahbib says the EU needs more funding, education and forest management as France and Spain brace for heat that could worsen wildfires.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
The EU’s crisis management commissioner, Hadja Lahbib, called for stronger EU climate action as wildfires in France and Spain force mass evacuations and threaten to worsen in another heatwave. Her warning matters because officials in both countries are preparing for conditions that can accelerate fires already burning and spark new ones.
Lahbib told Reuters that the European Union should put more money into climate response, improve public education about fire danger and give more attention to managing forests. She said the bloc’s climate plans must keep pace with conditions on the ground as global warming advances faster than earlier scientific projections suggested.
“Climate change is accelerating. So our response must evolve just as quickly,” Lahbib told Reuters. She also said authorities should prepare for hazards before disasters occur rather than respond only after damage is done.
Why is the EU calling for stronger climate action now?
Wildfires are burning across parts of France and Spain during a period of extreme heat, and officials say the next round of weather could make firefighting harder. Hot, dry and windy conditions can dry vegetation and help flames spread, raising the risk that active fires expand or new ones ignite.
Authorities have ordered or overseen evacuations affecting 330,000 people across the two countries, according to Al Jazeera, Reuters and The Associated Press. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said France has “very likely” carried out its largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.
About 220,000 people have been evacuated in France, while more than 110,000 people in Spain have left their homes, according to the same reporting. The scale of the displacement has put pressure on emergency services as temperatures rise again.
What is happening in France?
France’s southwestern Gironde region is the hardest-hit area in the country. Local authorities said firefighters managed to keep the fires there under control overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday, but the blazes have not been contained.
More than 42,000 hectares have burned in Gironde, an area about four times the size of Paris, officials said. Gironde Prefect Sophie Brocas said temperatures could reach 42C, or 108F, on Wednesday, with dry winds expected to feed the fires.
The forecast has heightened concern among officials and residents despite signs that the fires slowed overnight. A contained fire is surrounded and no longer expected to spread; officials have not said the Gironde fires have reached that point.
What is happening in Spain?
Spain is also dealing with several wildfires, although authorities have made enough progress in some areas to allow thousands of people to go home. Spain’s national weather agency warned that wildfire risk would be “very high or extreme in most of the country.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez linked the fires to the broader climate emergency on Tuesday. He said climate denialism was “the worst of fuels” as governments confront rising risks.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, according to Al Jazeera, Reuters and The Associated Press. The annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change has found that Europe is poorly prepared for the health effects of global warming, underscoring the pressure on governments to adapt as heat and fire risks rise.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.