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Europe and Africa face Mounting Costs from 2025 wildfires as Climate change Attention Wanes
As global focus drifts from climate change discussions, Europe and Africa are experiencing the escalating financial, environmental, and human consequences of wildfires in 2025. These blazes underscore the urgent need to address what many believe is a diminishing priority.
Southern Europe is enduring its most severe wildfire season on record, with over 1 million hectares burned across the EU, according to the European Forest Fire Details System (EFFIS). Record-breaking heatwaves and prolonged drought in countries like Spain and portugal have transformed forests and farmland into highly flammable landscapes.
Across Africa, the damage is both broader in scope and less prominently reported internationally. A Global Wildfire Information System report indicates that approximately 7.3% of Africa’s landmass burned in 2024, a stark contrast to the 0.6% in Europe and the US.
These fires result in devastating losses - homes and livelihoods destroyed, agricultural yields reduced, ecosystems damaged, and increased vulnerability to climate-related disasters.
Despite the severity of the situation, political and media attention has shifted, with climate change receiving less coverage even as scientific assessments predict worsening fire risks due to continued warming trends.
Europe faces longer fire seasons driven by hotter summers and changing weather patterns.Africa struggles with inadequate early warning systems and overtaxed firefighting resources, making risk management significantly more challenging.
“There’s been an increase in fires in tropical forests like the Congo Basin, which historically have not burnt before,” explains james MacCarthy, a research associate at Global Forest Watch. ”A lot of the plant species here don’t have adaptations to fire, making it harder to recover than in the Savannah.”
Europe has already incurred significant financial losses, with an EU study estimating €43 billion in short-term costs this summer due to infrastructure damage, tourism disruptions, firefighting expenses, and agricultural losses.
While the full extent of the damage in Africa remains uncalculated, it is indeed expected to be disproportionately high relative to economic capacity and largely unreported globally.
Experts warn that extending wildfire seasons are beginning earlier and lasting longer. Preventing this escalating crisis requires more than just firefighting; it demands improved land management practices, more dependable early warning systems, and increased international support for adaptation in fire-prone regions.
