Wildfires - Photo © European Union 2026

As catastrophic wildfires sweep across Southern Europe, WWF warns that the EU is sleepwalking into a permanent wildfire crisis while simultaneously weakening key environmental protections that help safeguard people, economies and nature from climate impacts.

European Council - Photo © European Union 2026

During yesterday’s European Council, EU leaders met to discuss the new energy shock hitting Europe, with some of them looking towards deregulation measures and major changes to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) as possible solutions.

Pollution - Image by ivabalk from Pixabay

Ahead of this week’s European Council meeting, five of Europe’s leading environmental organisations have urged EU Heads of State and Government to halt the accelerating deregulation agenda, warning that current political pressure to “cut red tape” risks weakening the foundations of the Single Market and undermining Europe’s long‑term competitiveness, security and public health.

Bioeconomy - farmer ploughing field - Photo by Frank Molter © European Union 2017

The EU’s new bioeconomy strategy, adopted buy EU states, aims for a sustainable bioeconomy by 2040 and promotes the use of bio-based solutions across all relevant sectors as fossil-free alternatives.