🔥EUROPE BOILING OVER

We hope you’re enjoying the summer so far and taking a well-earned break!  

The ongoing heatwave in Europe has claimed the lives of eight people. On the world’s fastest-heating continent, scorching temperatures have left much of Europe like a tinderbox ready to ignite, with wildfires now tearing through hundreds of hectares of bone-dry farmland and forests, and forcing people to evacuate their homes. If ever policymakers needed a sign that action was needed, it is now. 

Fresh data shows what Europeans think about the state of our climate – and what they demand from our policymakers. The stats speak for themselves. Almost 9 out of 10 consider climate change to be a serious problem. Just under 40% feel personally exposed to climate-related risks. And nearly 90% are calling for urgent action at every level of government – EU, national and regional/local. 

So how can we cool down? For a start, we need EU leadership to U-turn on their current crusade against environmental protections and climate goals. The urgency and popular appetite to protect our planet is there: time for serious policies to be implemented and enforced. In addition, we need authorities at all levels to start rolling out adaptation plans that ensure nature plays a central role in our rural and urban environments. Nature has the solutions – and somehow we still need to point this out: our survival depends on it.  

Grab a cold one and enjoy the read. And as ever, don’t hesitate to reach out – we’d love to hear from you! 

🧭 EU PRESIDENCY: NEW CAPTAIN

POLAND DISEMBARKS – As Denmark takes over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, the EEB has published its official assessment of the outgoing Polish Presidency – and the findings are sobering. Despite some welcome efforts on disinformation and progress on soil and waste legislation, the Polish Presidency largely failed to counter the growing rollback of the EU’s Green Deal. At a time of escalating climate impacts and rising public concern, more leadership was needed – and expected. 

DENMARK AT THE HELM – The Danish Presidency now inherits a crowded and complex agenda: five ongoing “omnibus” packages threatening environmental protections, and major upcoming files on chemicals, agriculture (more of this below), energy, and the next EU budget. With the triple crisis deepening – and disinformation surging – Denmark has a pivotal opportunity to steer the EU toward environmental leadership and democratic resilience. Its two stated priorities, a “secure” and “green” Europe, must go hand in hand. 

TEN GREEN TESTS – To help chart the course, the EEB has set out Ten Green Tests – developed with input from over 190 member organisations – outlining what success looks like in this critical term. From defending EU environmental law to delivering a fair, well-financed Green Deal and advancing key files like REACH, the Danish Presidency must show bold, science-based leadership. Europe can – and must – lead with a progressive, people-first environmental agenda. 

👉 Read our full Assessment of the Polish Presidency 

👉 Read our Memorandum for the Danish Presidency 

👩‍🌾 HAPPY FARMERS, HEALTHY FOOD, THRIVING NATURE 

TIME TO SHINE – With Denmark inheriting the baton of the EU Presidency, which for the record is a role that rotates every half-year to a new EU Member State, offering each the chance to sit at the head of the table of this EU institution and shape the agenda and policy priorities of the bloc. Denmark has shown strong leadership in recent months, attracting attention particularly around agriculture and food, and the clear links between this sector and climate. Here’s the Danish programme. 

PLANT-BASED FOOD – The first country to announce a tax on agricultural emissions (still a major source of EU greenhouse gas emissions) and publish a national action plan for plant-based food, Denmark may well be inspiring others too, with positive examples being picked up and rolled out elsewhere in Europe! Following our recent successful event in Copenhagen, we’re excited to work with the Danish Presidency in promoting healthy and sustainable food across Europe! 

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT – Europe must embrace a sustainable food system transition – on both supply and demand sides – to ensure the resilience of Europe’s food system. At the start of the year, 130 organisations called for an EU Action Plan for Plant-based Foods by 2026. This must include strong support for farmers and funding for organic, agroecological production.  

PUBLIC MONEY FOR PUBLIC GOOD – We know that farmers’ livelihoods, people’s health, and natural ecosystems can thrive together. This week, the EEB joined CEJA, Europe’s Young Farmers’ group, to explore how public EU money could be better used in the EU’s farming sector to support decent incomes, healthy food and thriving nature all at the same time! Check out how this can happen! 

🌍 NEXT STOP: 2040 CLIMATE TARGET 

CLIMATE MIRAGE – Just as Europe swelters through record-breaking heat, the EU Commission finally released its long-awaited 2040 climate target. The headline? A net 90% emissions reduction, keeping the bloc formally on track for climate neutrality by mid-century. The fine print? A tangle of accounting tricks: countries can meet part of the target through carbon offsets abroad and blend actual emissions cuts with carbon removals. Read our full reaction to the proposal here.  

THE SHOW IS OVER – The EEB warns that these loopholes risk turning climate action into a zero-sum game, delaying vital investments at home and eroding the EU’s credibility. “The climate crisis doesn’t wait, and it certainly doesn’t care for accounting tricks,” said the EEB’s Mathieu Mal. With a decisive decade ahead, NGOs are urging EU lawmakers to listen to their own scientists and tighten the rules: separate domestic targets for cuts and removals, no international offsets. Our reaction was covered by El Pais, Deutsche Welle, La Stampa and Ouest France.

💶 THE €86 BILLION QUESTION 

WHERE ARE THE SOCIAL CLIMATE PLANS? Most EU countries have missed the deadline to submit their Social Climate Plans – vital strategies to protect vulnerable citizens from rising costs under the EU’s new carbon pricing system (ETS2). Public participation has been weak or absent in many cases, risking the exclusion of those most affected by energy and transport poverty. With €86 billion on the line through the Social Climate Fund, governments must urgently finalise inclusive plans, and the Commission should require redrafts where needed. Climate action must also deliver social justice – here are the ten measures we need to see governments take! 

🐘 BILLIONAIRE WEALTH: THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM 

TIME TO PAY A FAIR SHARE – At the UN’s Financing for Development conference in Seville this week, Brazil and Spain pushed for a tax on the super-rich. Billionaires now hold $16 trillion worldwide, with EU billionaires controlling about €2.2 trillion across 440 individuals. In 2024 alone, billionaire wealth in the EU shot up by nearly €400 million per day – creating a new billionaire every week… Meanwhile, the top 10% own over 67% of Europe’s wealth, while the bottom 50% have just 1.2%. Over 93 million people in the EU (21%) face poverty or social exclusion, and 5.6 million suffer severe material deprivation. 

TAX WEALTH, NOT WORK – The billionaire class is growing richer – often through inheritance, monopolies, or loopholes – while regular people and families struggle. Even a modest wealth tax could fund social safety nets and climate solutions without burdening workers. The recent billionaire renting Venice for a wedding, with 90 private jets emitting thousands of tons of CO₂, highlights the absurdity of it all. Amid overlapping crises, taxing extreme wealth, not labour, is the smart, fair choice policymakers must finally be ready to make. Here’s the EEB’s case for a wealth tax. 

💪 UNITED AGAINST CORPORATE INTIMIDATION 

GOLAITH SLAPPing DAVID – While the rich get richer (corporations included), they’re also getting more brazen in their disdain for democracy. ‘SLAPPs’ (strategic lawsuits against public participation) – abusive lawsuits meant to silence critics – are on the rise. This week, Greenpeace International challenged one such case in a Dutch court, taking on US oil giant Energy Transfer over its lawsuit tied to the Standing Rock protests, a grotesque miscarriage of justice which led to a $660 million bill for Greenpeace. This is the first major test of the EU’s new anti-SLAPP law. Over 40 organisations across 15 countries are calling on European governments to urgently enshrine this law nationally. Hands off our speech! We stand with Greenpeace! 

🧠 DOPAMINE HIT  

Your weekly dose of hope: 

– Cities worldwide are cutting emissions, greening streets, and adapting to climate threats faster than national governments, according to a new international report. Read more here. 

– New passive cooling paint sweats off heat to deliver 10x cooling and 30% energy savings. Read more here. 

– How a global network of grassroots leaders is getting cities to ride more bikes. Read more here.  

– Giant Mystical Eagle thought to be extinct in Mexico reappears. Read more here. 

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By: Ben Snelson. Special thanks to the EEB’s editorial team: Alberto Vela, Ruby Silk and Roi Gomez. Editor: Christian Skrivervik