Climate and meteorological institutions have declared Europe the fastest warming continent, with 2024 the warmest year on record.
The new European State of the Climate 2024 report, released by the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization, paints a stark picture.
It says 2024 saw a record 335 climate-related deaths due to storms and flooding, with at least 413,000 people affected by storms and floods, and an additional 42,000 people affected by wildfires.
Nearly a third of Europe’s river network exceeded high flood thresholds. Heat stress days were the second highest on record, and glacier loss in Scandinavia hit unprecedented levels.
The European Green Party has seized on the report to call on conservative leaders to stop their dramatic roll back of climate action and stand by the environmental and climate agreements that were made to protect communities across Europe.
The Green say that “instead of strengthening climate protections, political forces on the centre right and far right, led by the European People’s Party (EPP), are actively dismantling Green Deal legislation in a dangerous deregulation drive.”
“These omnibus legislative packages risk undoing crucial progress.”
Vula Tsetsi, co-chair of the European Green Party, added: “If climate action is done right, it brings many benefits: cleaner air, lower energy bills, quality housing, good jobs.”
“We can see the renewable energy revolution already spreading across Europe — this report confirms that wind and sun energy already generated 45% of Europe’s electricity. We have seen huge strides forward in the last decade; now is not the time to backtrack. Now is the time to move forward with strong climate policy in Europe.”
Meanwhile, the European Renewable Energies Federation has co-signed a letter alongside other leading EU renewable energy and storage associations to the European Commission.
This aims to ensure that the upcoming Clean Tech for Climate call under Horizon Europe (2026–2027) is clearly focused on renewable energy and storage technologies.
With a planned budget of €600 million, the Clean Tech for Climate call is expected to support scale-up and market-ready projects.
EREF said it welcomes this initiative to strengthen Europe’s industrial base, expand manufacturing capacity and enhance energy sovereignty.
But it notes with concern that the current structure risks diverting support to technologies not fully aligned with the EU’s climate, energy security and clean industrial objectives.
Prof. Dr. Dörte Fouquet, Director of EREF, commented: “Europe cannot afford another funding programme where the most central solutions for decarbonisation – renewable energy and storage – are underfunded.”
“Horizon Europe must reinforce European sectors that are already delivering. This is about recognising what is needed to build a resilient, renewable-based energy system – and what should come first.”
