top of page
  • Black Instagram Icon
  • LinkedIn
  • Black Facebook Icon

Europe is paying twice for its fossil fuel dependence

  • 8 hours ago
  • 6 min read

As Europe faces a particularly challenging summer of record-breaking heat, drought and wildfires, Climate Reality Project Europe has joined over 200 organisations across the continent calling on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to make ending fossil fuel dependence a central priority of her 2026 State of the Union address.



Europe is paying twice for its fossil fuel dependence this summer.


The first bill arrives in energy payments. Continued reliance on imported oil and gas leaves European households, businesses and economies exposed to geopolitical tensions and volatile energy prices. The second bill is arriving in a far more devastating form: record-breaking heat, prolonged drought, wildfires, water shortages impacting energy production and agriculture, and damage to local economies.


Across Europe, the impacts of a hotter and drier climate are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Rivers have reached exceptionally low levels, crops are suffering from water stress and communities are facing growing pressure from extreme heat and wildfires. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has reported severe drought impacts across countries including France, Italy, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and western Romania, with summer-crop yield forecasts falling significantly below recent averages in some regions.


These two bills are often treated as separate problems. They are not.


They stem from the same structural weakness: Europe’s continued dependence on fossil fuels.


For years, debates around climate action, energy security, competitiveness and resilience have too often been treated as separate policy agendas. But Europe’s experience over the past few years has shown how closely they are connected. Dependence on imported fossil fuels makes Europe vulnerable to international price shocks and geopolitical instability, while burning those same fuels continues to drive the climate change that is making extreme weather more severe.


The fastest route to more affordable and reliable energy, greater industrial resilience and stronger European energy security is therefore also the route that cuts emissions: ending Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels.


This is the argument behind a new open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of her State of the European Union address in September.


Climate Reality Project Europe is one of the organisations that has signed the letter, joining over 200 European, regional and national organisations, and voices in calling for a more strategic approach to the continent’s fossil fuel dependence.


The letter calls on the European Commission to launch an independent, science-based assessment of what it would take to make this Europe’s last fossil fuel crisis.


That means first understanding the true cost of fossil fuel dependence - not only the billions spent importing energy, but also the economic, health and environmental costs of continued reliance on fossil fuels and the growing impacts of climate change.


It also means identifying the fastest and fairest pathway out: scaling up renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrification, stronger grids and energy storage, while ensuring European industry has the investment, skills and supply chains needed to deliver the transition.


And importantly, it means making sure public money works towards the same goal.


Every major public investment should be tested against a simple question: does it reduce Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels, or does it prolong it?


“Italy’s summer of 2026 is already showing measurable impacts on health and agriculture. Significant excess mortality was detected in seven major cities during the may-june heatwaves, particularly among older people. Tropical nights have become persistent: Rome had already recorded 55 such nights by early August, 56 in Bologna and 76 in Milan by mid-August. Meanwhile, drought has affected around 60% of farmland, while heat, water shortages, hailstorms, violent storms and wildfires have pushed agricultural losses above €3 billion, with milk production down 20% and rice yields falling by up to 40%” Giorgio Vacchiano, Climate Reality Leader based in Italy. Assistant Professor, Forest Management, University of Milan*

From European policy to local resilience


For Climate Reality Project Europe, this is not only a question of energy policy. It is also about how European climate policy translates into the places where people live.


Our City Climate Action programme focuses on helping communities understand their local climate risks and identify practical solutions -  from more resilient urban planning and energy-efficient buildings to clean transport, green spaces and better management of water and other resources.


This matters because climate resilience is ultimately built locally.


A European climate strategy cannot stop at emissions targets. It needs to help cities and communities prepare for the heat, drought, flooding and other impacts that are already affecting people across the continent.


Urban trees and green spaces can help cool neighbourhoods during heatwaves. Healthy soils and wetlands can retain water and reduce the risks associated with both drought and flooding. Efficient buildings can reduce energy bills while protecting people from extreme temperatures. Clean public transport can reduce emissions while making cities less dependent on fossil fuels.


These solutions connect climate mitigation, that is, reducing the emissions that cause climate change, with adaptation, which means preparing communities for the impacts that can no longer be avoided.


A European transition that people can get behind


The letter also makes an important point about how Europe manages the transition.


Moving away from fossil fuels cannot simply mean asking households, workers, farmers and regions to absorb the costs of change. The people and communities at the centre of Europe’s economy must also be at the centre of designing its solutions.


This is particularly important as governments across Europe face concerns about energy affordability, energy security, industrial competitiveness and the cost of the transition.


Climate action will be stronger - and more politically durable - when people can see how it improves their lives: through lower energy bills, more stable energy systems, cleaner air, more resilient communities, new economic opportunities and greater protection from the shocks that fossil fuel dependence and climate change bring.


This is also where Climate Reality Europe’s work on European policy and climate diplomacy connects with our community-based programmes. European decisions on energy, climate and investment shape what is possible at national and local level. At the same time, the experiences of communities across Europe can help demonstrate what a fair and effective transition should look like in practice.


“This summer in Hungary has made the need for a more diversified and resilient energy system very tangible. Extreme heat and drought put enormous pressure on our energy system, while our continued dependence on Russian fossil fuels remains a serious economic, geopolitical and energy security vulnerability. At the same time, we can also see the direction in which the solution lies: Hungary has built significant solar capacity, and on sunny days solar power has become one of the dominant sources of our domestic electricity generation. After years of stagnation, we are finally seeing new momentum behind wind energy as well.

In my work, I increasingly see that people understand that climate change, energy security and affordability are not separate challenges. Diversifying our energy system and accelerating the transition towards renewables is therefore not only a climate imperative, but a question of resilience and security. For Europe, phasing out fossil fuels as quickly as possible while building a diverse, flexible and reliable clean energy system is indispensable if we want to protect our societies and economies from future shocks.” Lorina Buda, Climate Reality Leader based in Hungary, Budapest Climate Hub Lead 

Europe has a choice


Europe cannot prevent every geopolitical shock or every heatwave. But it can decide how vulnerable it wants to be to them.


It can continue spending billions on imported fossil fuels while locking itself into fossil fuel dependence through new infrastructure and projects - from LNG terminals and gas exploration to developments such as Rosebank and Jackdaw in the UK, Neptun Deep in Romania, and Brunsbüttel in Germany, to many other projects scattered across the continent -  all while facing the growing economic and human costs of a changing climate. 


Or it can use this moment to accelerate the transition towards an energy system that is affordable, renewable, secure and increasingly homegrown - while investing in communities that are resilient enough to face the impacts of a warming climate.


The State of the European Union address is an opportunity for President von der Leyen and the European Commission to connect these priorities and set out a clear strategic direction for Europe.


For Climate Reality Project Europe, the message is clear: climate action is not separate from Europe’s energy security, competitiveness or resilience. It is part of the solution to all three.


Europe has the tools to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. What is needed now is the political will to deploy them at the speed and scale the moment demands.


This could be Europe’s last fossil fuel crisis. The choice is whether European leaders will make it so.


*Sources of data quoted:


 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page