Europe โand Africaโฃ face โMounting Costs from 2025 wildfires as Climate change โคAttentionโค Wanes
As global focus drifts from climate โคchange discussions, Europe and Africa are experiencing โขthe escalating financial, environmental, and human consequences of wildfires in 2025.โ These blazes underscore the urgentโข need to address โคwhat many believeโ is aโฃ diminishing priority.
Southern Europe is enduring its most severe wildfire โคseason on record, withโ over 1 million โhectares burnedโข across the EU,โ according to the European Forest Fire Details System (EFFIS).โข 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 Wildfireโ Information System โreport indicates that approximately 7.3% of โAfrica’sโฃ landmass burned in 2024, aโ stark contrast โคto the 0.6% in Europe and the US.
These fires result โinโ devastating losses -โค homes andโ livelihoods destroyed, agricultural yields reduced, ecosystems damaged, and increasedโฃ vulnerability โฃto climate-related disasters.
Despite the severityโข of the situation, political and media attention has โขshifted, withโ climate change receiving less coverage even as scientific assessmentsโข predict worsening fire risks due to continued warming trends.
Europe faces longer fire seasons driven by hotter summers and โคchanging weather โฃpatterns.Africa struggles with โinadequate early warning systems and overtaxed firefightingโ resources, making โขrisk managementโข significantly more โchallenging.
“There’s been an increase in fires in tropical forests like the Congo Basin, which historically have not burnt โคbefore,” explains james MacCarthy, a research โassociate at Global Forest Watch. โ”Aโ lot of the plant species here โคdon’t have adaptations toโ fire, making it harder toโ recover than inโข the Savannah.”
Europeโ has already incurred significant โfinancial losses, with an EU study estimating โฌ43 billion in โฃshort-term costs this โsummer due to infrastructure damage, tourism disruptions, firefighting expenses, and agricultural losses.
While the full โคextentโข of the damage in Africa remains uncalculated, it is indeed expected to be disproportionately high relative to economic capacity โฃand largelyโฃ unreportedโฃ globally.
Expertsโ warnโฃ that extending wildfire seasons are beginningโ earlier andโฃ lasting longer. Preventingโ this escalating crisis requires more โthan just firefighting;โ it demands improved land management practices, more dependable early warning โsystems, andโข increased international support forโข adaptation in fire-prone โคregions.