News & Events

The risk of wildfires is increasing at an alarming rate in Europe, prompting experts to call for urgent action. The European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) is urging the EU to fundamentally change its wildfire policy: from reactive fire suppression to proactive, risk-based land management. Already today, wildfires burn an average of half a million hectares annually in the EU – nearly twice the size of Luxembourg.

EASAC’s report Changing Wildfires in Europe highlights the complex factors driving the surge in wildfire risk. These include climate change, rural depopulation, and land-use changes. Droughts and declining summer precipitation are predicted to double fire risk by 2100. Meanwhile, the abandonment of farmland and unchecked vegetation growth have created vast areas of highly flammable biomass across Europe.