240,000 Europeans Killed by Climate Disasters

Europe has made major strides in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, but the continent remains dangerously exposed to the escalating impacts of climate change, according to a new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The agency warned that despite a 37% drop in emissions since 1990, driven by reduced reliance on fossil fuels and a surge in renewable energy, Europe’s natural environment is still in steep decline.

The report, which analyses data from 38 European countries, revealed that 81% of protected habitats are in poor or inadequate condition, 60–70% of soils are degraded, and 62% of surface waters remain in poor ecological status.

Water scarcity is worsening, the report said, even though better management and innovation could save up to 40% of supplies.

The human toll is severe. Climate and weather-related extremes, including heatwaves, floods, and wildfires, have killed more than 240,000 people across the EU between 1980 and 2023. 

The economic burden is also rising sharply, with annual losses between 2020 and 2023 averaging 2.5 times higher than in the previous decade. In Slovenia, floods in 2023 alone cost the equivalent of 16% of the country’s GDP.

The EEA highlighted that Europe’s built environment is poorly adapted to rising temperatures. Nearly one in five Europeans cannot maintain a comfortable indoor temperature during extreme heat, and only 21 out of 38 countries surveyed have health action plans to tackle deadly heatwaves.

Katherine Ganzleben, head of Sustainable and Just Transitions at the EEA, stressed that sustainability is not optional but urgent. She warned that delaying action will make adaptation more difficult and costly.

While Europe has recorded a 45% drop in deaths linked to fine particulate pollution between 2005 and 2022, demonstrating the benefits of effective policy, the EEA urged the EU to accelerate the full implementation of its Green Deal. The report called for transformative social and economic changes, insisting that the survival of humanity depends on the health of nature.