Lead centre-right MEP suggests softening emissions-trading to help ‘suffering’ industries
The lead MEP on Emissions Trading Scheme reform has set out plans to soften the EU Commission’s draft and give industries more time to adjust.
Climate
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Finland’s first licence to mine a Natura 2000 site would set a deadly precedent for EU nature protection
The Viiankiaapa peat bog in Finland faces permanent destruction for a short-term mining project. Even more worryingly, this could be a dangerous test case for the interests of mining for minerals overriding the public interest to preserve nature.
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€10.9bn in free EU carbon permits for airlines fuels row over emissions trading reform
Six European airlines received €10.9bn in free emissions allowances under the EU’s emissions trading scheme, according to new research, as aviation is set to be one of the main battlegrounds in a proposed reform to the system.
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Chocolate giant Mondelez ramps up lobbying to delay EU deforestation law, after previously backing it
It is a remarkable U-turn by Mondelez, whose brands include Toblerone, Milka and Cadbury, and was publicly supportive of the deforestation law during the early stages of its drafting and adoption by the EU institutions.
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EU net‑zero target ‘not politically credible’, warns Belgian ECB policymaker
Belgium’s central bank chief Pierre Wunsch said that pretending the EU will reach net zero by 2050 is destroying the credibility of its own climate policy.
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UN warns of ‘irreversible damage’, even if global warming peaks at 1.5C
The damages of climate change are being compounded by inaction; yet even if global warming slows, the harm is permanent. A new UN report highlights the dangers the world can expect if our governments in and out of the EU keep on this path
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Europe’s summer of wildfires puts spotlight on economic cost of climate inaction
As Europe keeps spending far more on fighting wildfires than preventing them new economic strategies have to be thought over.
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Carbon capture and storage is a costly white elephant – so why is the EU pushing it?
As the EU Commission prepares new rules for carbon dioxide transport infrastructure, Europe risks locking taxpayers into costly carbon capture projects – despite the technology’s track record of failure.
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As Europe burns, member states are actually slashing the number of fire-fighters – thanks to EU deficit rules
New EU data shows that in the worst year on record for wildfires, the number of professional firefighters in Europe fell by 18,000. That included a reduction of over 4,000 in France alone.
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Europe’s climate-elephant in the room: What to do with left-over emissions when we get to net zero?
As Brussels hails its 2040 climate target, officials quietly admit that without a clear plan for the “leftover” emissions from farming, industry, and aviation, Europe’s promise of climate neutrality risks becoming a statistics charade.
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Europe’s 2026 wildfires show the cost of ignoring prevention
Europe keeps spending far more on fighting wildfires than preventing them, even as fires in France, Greece and Spain show the need to shift resources toward prevention.
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World’s oceans also boiling, as Europe burns in heatwaves and wildfires
Europe’s heatwaves have come together with a record spike in marine temperatures, causing biodiversity loss, food insecurity, and risks of mass immigration.
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10 EUobserver investigations from 2026 so far you shouldn’t miss
From secret deportations and European-funded projects destroyed in Gaza to EU recovery funds and mining lobbying, these ten investigations expose the widening gap between Europe’s rhetoric and the realities of its policies and actions.
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Europe’s wildfires surge 57% as France and Spain call in EU help
The EU has reached record highs in a blazing, deadly summer that’s nowhere near cooling. France and Spain are now using the EU’s solidarity mechanism to curb uncontrollable flames, and the EU plans to buy its own fleet in preparation for the crisis worsening in future.
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Europe’s heatwave deaths are not ‘natural disasters’ — they are housing policy choices
Nearly 75 percent of the EU’s building stock is energy inefficient and most homes were never designed to cope with the increasingly hot summers Europe now faces.
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[Interview] Belgian climate minister Crucke: ‘there will be a revolution’ if Europe doesn’t take urgent climate action
Belgian minister for the climate, Jean-Luc Crucke believes in simplification and the initiative of companies to collaborate with federal sustainability measures. Despite unequal footing with international partners and a slow pace of EU reforms, the minister is “not a pessimist”
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German politicians duped into thinking a new subsidy scheme only benefits Chinese electric vehiclesA previous German electric vehicle subsidy scheme massively benefited Volkswagen, which had invested heavily in expensive cars that only the rich could afford. Now it’s set to cut 100,000 jobs and close four factories in Germany.
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Europe’s €70bn annual climate adaptation bill soars as wildfires rage and heatwave deaths climb
Behind empty Strasbourg benches, a fight over whether polluting oil giants or national treasuries should pay for Europe’s €70bn-a-year adaptation is stalling any serious protection plan.
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EU ministers plan further climate policy rollbacks during historic heatwave
Replacing combustion engines with electric cars and switching industrial heat from fossil fuels to electricity are among the most impactful ways to decarbonise. Yet, in exactly in these areas Europe is weakening its policies.
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THIS WEEK: ECB set to hike rates, as capital markets union and climate top the EU agendaThis week, the European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates amid inflation and energy-price pressures. EU finance ministers will discuss capital markets integration and energy investment rules. The EU Commission will present the 2027 EU budget, while climate talks, transport and telecom meetings, and an EU–South Korea summit also take place.
