00:002025 is one of the most destructive wildfire seasons on record in Europe.
00:20The EU has strengthened its firefighting capabilities, including through cooperation coordination
00:28by the bloc's civil protection mechanism.
00:31However, many argue that more investment and policies should be directed towards prevention.
00:38EU Decode discusses how to best manage this natural and economic catastrophe.
00:45More than one million hectares of forest had burned this year through the end of August.
00:49According to data provided by the Copernicus satellite used for Earth observation, this
00:54is almost five times larger than the area affected by forest fires in the EU the previous year.
01:00The most affected member states were Portugal, with three percent of territory burned, Cyprus
01:04with 2.3 and Spain with 0.8 percent.
01:09Air quality has deteriorated in these areas as greenhouse gas emissions have risen to nearly
01:1439 million tons.
01:16This is nearly four times the approximately 11 million tons of CO2 emitted in the same period
01:22in 2024.
01:24The member states can increasingly count on solidarity for extinguishing the fires.
01:29but, as it all comes down to more technical means, we asked Europeans about the EU's role to
01:36deal with this challenge.
01:38In the summer, with the heat that they do in Spain, it is very important for the
01:43policies of prevention, much more than then to stop them.
01:47We have to preserve the nature and I suppose they would also have to help the countries.
01:53The EU's report on the EU's region of the EU's region has been a very small number of the
02:11Ja, auch auf die Wurzeln, auf die Pläne zu sein.
02:20Euronews Reporter Alice Taidi hat sich auf die EU's action in dieser Bereich.
02:26Seit 2022, die Europäische Kommission hat sich vorbeigeht die sogenannte Reitungs-Tämpfe.
02:33Sie sind durch den Emergency Response Coordination Center gestalten, um die Mitgliedstaaten zu helfen.
02:38How does this fit into management of wildfires
02:41that are becoming a widespread problem in the block?
02:44The goal here is to ensure faster response time
02:47but also enable valuable on the ground knowledge sharing,
02:52which is particularly relevant because of climate change,
02:55wildfires are increasingly spreading to areas of Europe
02:58where they didn't happen so much such as northern and eastern Europe.
03:01So for instance, this year among the countries that provided firefighters
03:06to France, Spain, Portugal and Greece.
03:08You had Romania, Bulgaria,
03:10Czechia, Estonia, Latvia
03:12and Germany.
03:13The EU budget also allocates some funds
03:16for forest fires prevention
03:18within the rural development
03:20of funds.
03:22But there was some criticism
03:24by the European Court of Auditors.
03:26Why?
03:26Yes, so the ECA found in its review
03:29that a lot of the allocated EU funds
03:30do not actually target areas
03:32most prone to natural disasters.
03:34So it flagged, for instance,
03:36that a lot of these decisions
03:37are made using widely out-of-date data.
03:41So Greece, for instance,
03:42which is traditionally very impacted
03:43by wildfire,
03:44the list of areas prone to wildfire
03:47is 45 years old.
03:49But the ECA did, however,
03:51welcome the fact that more and more money
03:53is now being spent on prevention
03:54rather than just response.
03:56Environmental activists and scientists
03:58said that the recently approved
04:00nature restoration law
04:02could play an important role.
04:03if there was more political will
04:06to implement it,
04:07what are governments
04:08being asked for in this area?
04:11So the aim of the law
04:12is to restore degraded natural habitats
04:15like forest, of course,
04:17but also wetlands and peatlands
04:19in order to improve carbon storage
04:21but also boost biodiversity
04:22and water retention.
04:24So member states have got to submit
04:26a plan outlining the steps
04:28that they will take
04:29in order to achieve that goal.
04:30Increased water retention,
04:32increased biodiversity and soil health
04:34as well as better forest management
04:35can actually help curtail
04:37the spread of wildfire
04:39as well as boost climate change adaptation
04:42towards extreme weather events.
04:44In 2025,
04:46the EU organized a pool of 22 planes
04:49and 650 firefighters
04:50that were made available
04:52by 14 member states.
04:53Most of them were sent
04:54to the higher risk countries
04:56France, Greece, Portugal and Spain.
04:59Some teams also arrived at Croatia,
05:01Cyprus, Czechia, Italy,
05:03Slovakia and Sweden.
05:05Between 2026 and 2029,
05:08the new fleet of 12 planes
05:09and five helicopters
05:11financed by the commission
05:12will be permanently deployed
05:14in France, Greece, Portugal,
05:16Spain, Italy and Croatia.
05:18A nossa convidada
05:20é a eurodeputada portuguesa
05:22Catarina Martins
05:23do Grupo Político à Esquerda
05:25e membro da Comissão de Ambiente
05:27do Parlamento Europeu.
05:28O mecanismo de proteção civil
05:30da União Europeia
05:31é suficiente para fazer face
05:33aos incêndios florestais
05:34que se vêm agravando
05:35por toda a União Europeia.
05:37Se nós não fizermos nada
05:38para proteger o território
05:39para responder às alterações climáticas,
05:41bem, não vai haver meios
05:43de proteção civil
05:44que cheguem
05:44e vamos precisar
05:45de um mecanismo cada vez maior,
05:46cada vez maior,
05:47porque o desastre vai ser cada vez maior.
05:49E a verdade é que
05:50o investimento nesta área
05:52precisa de crescer.
05:54Precisamos de ter mais rápidos
05:55a agir,
05:56a proteger as populações,
05:57a proteger o território
05:58e nos mecanismos de solidariedade.
06:00A Comissão Europeia
06:01financia vários projetos
06:02até de prevenção,
06:03de criação de resiliência
06:05aos florestais.
06:06Há até um plano de ação
06:07que foi criado em 2022.
06:09Mas os cientistas,
06:11os ambientalistas,
06:12dizem que a prevenção
06:14não é ainda
06:15uma prioridade
06:16para os governos.
06:17Não, a verdade é que
06:18não há investimento no território.
06:19A verdade é que nós
06:20devemos ter que alterar
06:21a forma como organizamos
06:22o território
06:22e até os modos de produção
06:24e nada disso
06:25está a ser feito.
06:26Não está a ser feito
06:27nem uma adaptação
06:28da agricultura,
06:29nem uma adaptação
06:30da política florestal,
06:31nem uma coesão territorial.
06:32E o que está a ser decidido
06:34sobre os próximos
06:35quadros financeiros
06:36da União Europeia
06:36tende a piorar
06:37esta situação.
06:39Quando aquilo que
06:39a segurança das populações
06:41mais necessitava
06:42era, por exemplo,
06:42de proteção civil
06:43e de intervenção
06:45no território
06:46para ele ser mais seguro,
06:48nós estamos a gastar
06:49e a prometer
06:50gastar milhares de milhões
06:52em indústria de defesa
06:53que, na verdade,
06:55não vai defender
06:56as populações europeias.
06:57Considera que a União Europeia
06:58está a reduzir
06:59as suas ambições
06:59no combate
07:00às alterações climáticas
07:01que aumentam
07:03o aquecimento global
07:03e que são um fator
07:04muito sério
07:06do agravamento
07:06dos incêndios florestais?
07:08Há neste momento
07:08um discurso muito perigoso
07:09que é achar
07:10que não vale a pena.
07:11Ou seja,
07:11que as questões climáticas
07:12não valem a pena
07:13que agora vamos fazer
07:13uma competitividade
07:15baseada em qualquer outra coisa
07:17que não tenha
07:17critérios ambientais.
07:19Lembrar que a Europa
07:20é o continente
07:20que está a aquecer
07:21mais depressa.
07:22Isto não é uma coisa
07:22lá longe,
07:23isto é aqui.
07:24Os riscos são aqui.
07:26Teremos inundações
07:27novamente,
07:28teremos fogos
07:28novamente,
07:29teremos este susto
07:30outra vez
07:31e portanto
07:31a política climática
07:32não pode mesmo
07:33ser abandonada.
07:34Forest fires
07:35don't just consume
07:36trees and biodiversity
07:37they are costing lives
07:39putting health at risk
07:41due to poor air quality
07:43destroying homes
07:45and businesses.
07:46With a risky season
07:47extending almost
07:49year round
07:50and encompassing
07:51more regions
07:52of the EU
07:53urgent action
07:54and strong policies
07:55are needed.
07:57disting
08:04o
08:05que
08:06vi
08:07o
08:07vi
08:07o
08:08o
08:08que vi
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