Europe on Fire: Record wildfires burn over one million hectares
By Winona Kamphausen
Europe is literally burning. This summer, wildfires have destroyed more land than ever before since records began, covering an area of more than 1 million hectares, which is larger than the island of Cyprus. Spain and Portugal have been hit the hardest, with entire villages evacuated, transport lines shut down, and at least eight lives lost.
According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), this is already the worst wildfire season since monitoring began in 2006. The previous record, set in 2017, has now been surpassed, and the season is not even over.
Spain and Portugal at the epicentre
The Iberian Peninsula has faced repeated heatwaves with temperatures up to 45°C, fanning the flames and drying out already parched landscapes. Spain alone has seen more than 150,000 hectares burn since July, forcing thousands of residents to flee and prompting the government to declare several regions as disaster zones.
In Portugal, one fire in Piodão raged for nearly two weeks and consumed over 60,000 hectares, making it the largest in the country’s history. According to The Guardian, firefighters described the conditions as ‘uncontrollable’ during the peak of the August heatwave.
Critical infrastructure has also been hit: highways were closed, and rail links between Madrid and Galicia were suspended. Among the dead are at least two firefighters, underscoring the risks for those battling the blazes on the frontlines.
A climate feedback loop in action
Beyond the destruction on the ground, the blazes have unleashed record CO₂ emissions of around 38 million tonnes so far. That’s more than a country like Sweden emits in a year.
‘In fighting climate change, every effort counts – and of course, increasing emissions from forest fires is not good news’
said Paolo Laj, head of the Global Atmosphere Watch team at the World Meteorological Organisation.
Scientists warn of a dangerous feedback. Those fires then release massive amounts of stored carbon from trees and soils, which accelerates warming even further.
Globally, the impact is rising. In 2023 and 2024, wildfires from the Amazon to Canada released more greenhouse gases than India does in a year, according to the World Resources Institute. The share of emissions caused by fires is expected to continue rising as extreme events become more frequent.
What the EU is doing already
The EU has built up an arsenal of tools to deal with forest fires, including:
Early detection & data: The Copernicus Emergency Management System and EFFIS provide real-time fire monitoring across Europe.
Shared firefighting capacity: Through the Civil Protection Mechanism and rescEU, member states can call on a pooled fleet of planes, helicopters, and rapid-response teams.
Forest resilience strategies: The EU Forest Strategy for 2030 and the new Nature Restoration Law aim to restore ecosystems and enhance the resilience of forests to fire.
On-the-ground projects: EU-funded LIFE initiatives are testing prevention methods, from using grazing animals to clear dry vegetation to biotech solutions that stabilise soil after fires.
Financial support: Programmes like the EU Solidarity Fund aid countries in recovering and rebuilding after major disasters.
These steps demonstrate that Europe is not unprepared; however, the scale of the 2025 fire season raises questions about whether the current system is sufficient.
Firing the climate targets
Forests are supposed to be Europe’s carbon sink, absorbing emissions to balance out pollution from other sectors. But if megafires continue to wipe them out, that role is at risk.
‘Will the EU get the sink that they planned for? I doubt it’
said Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics. He warned that Brussels may need to demand deeper cuts from transport, energy, and industry if forests can no longer deliver.
For now, wildfire emissions are mostly excluded from national greenhouse gas inventories, as they are treated as ‘natural disturbances.’ However, as fires become larger, hotter, and more difficult to recover from, many experts argue that this accounting loophole no longer accurately reflects reality.
Opinion: Time to get ahead of the flames
The EU deserves credit for building a strong emergency response system. However, Europe is still stuck in a reactive mode. If fires are now the ‘new normal,’ then prevention, adaptation, and bold climate action must take precedence on the agenda.
That means redesigning land management to reduce risks, investing in mixed and resilient forests instead of monocultures, and ensuring that carbon targets don’t lean unrealistically on ecosystems that are increasingly vulnerable.
Wildfires may be natural, but megafires like those seen this summer are not. They’re a warning signal. Europe has the tools, money, and science to adapt. The real question is whether it can act quickly enough to break the cycle.
