Europe Wildfire Ordnance
A firefighter sprays down an area as smoke rises from a landscape scorched by wildfires in Waimes, Belgium, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says a scorching summer has shown the EU needs new tools to tackle climate change. During her State of the European Union address on Wednesday, von der Leyen proposed a European Heatwave Plan and the establishment of a firefighting fleet. She also highlighted that heatwaves across Europe have led to over 35,000 additional deaths and that rivers like the Danube and Rhine were drying up. A study by the World Weather Attribution group links these extreme conditions to climate change. She has commended emergency responders and urged them to design new capabilities to address climate instability.
