The European Union needs to spend more to move away from hydrocarbons because Europe is the fastest-warming continent, the bloc’s climate advisory body has warned.
The increased frequency of extreme weather events such as floods and droughts is among the signs of climate change that should prompt better mitigation measures, Reuters reported, citing the World Meteorological Organization. That information makes the basis for advice dispensed by the European Union’s Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change.
The board itself reported that “Weather- and climate-related extreme events are already causing severe losses across Europe. Extreme heat alone has resulted in tens of thousands of premature deaths in recent years, including an estimated 24,000 in summer 2025.”
The advisory body also said that the cost of economic damage caused by these events has increased to 45 billion euros annually, or over $53 billion. This is five times as much as what the EU incurred in weather-related damage to the economies of its members back in the 80s, when the EU was smaller than it is now.
“This could increasingly weaken Europe’s competitiveness, strain public budgets, and increase security risks. Without adequate adaptation, impacts will compound, eroding and destabilising Europe’s economic and social foundations. Despite this, adaptation efforts to date remain insufficient to prevent avoidable impacts and to manage escalating climate risks,” the Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change also said in its new report.
The European Union spends billions on energy transition initiatives, focusing on forcing emission reduction investments on European companies and reducing its reliance on oil, gas, and coal. However, progress has proved to be challenging despite record-breaking wind and solar power installation rates in the past few years.
The weather over Europe remains variable, prompting surges in the use of hydrocarbons as recently evidence by the seasonally normal January cold spell that caused a sharp increase in the use of natural gas for power generation and heating.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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