'No country is able to cope alone': EU Commissioner for Crisis Management

"We have never before experienced so many crises in such a short time, and many of them are the consequence of climate change," said Lenarčič, a Slovenian diplomat who has served since 2019 in the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen.

Nearly 300 million people in 72 countries will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2024, according to UN figures.

Last year alone, Europe was battered by extreme weather events that ranged from devastating flooding in Slovenia that killed at least six people, to deadly wildfires in Greece and scorching drought in Spain.

Adding to the concerns, last August the so-called EU Civil Protection Mechanism – which coordinates the response to natural and man-made disasters at the 27-member EU level – took an unprecedented step when it was activated twice in a single day for the first time, in response to flooding across two-thirds of Slovenia and wildfires in Cyprus.

The climate change-related events are competing for EU humanitarian aid with health crises, natural hazards, the burgeoning needs of migrants and refugees, and wars and conflicts from Ukraine and Gaza, to Sudan, Myanmar and Yemen.

"So far, we have been able to cope," said Lenarčič, referring to the climate-induced emergencies.

"But the fact is that when we look at the future, we need to understand that this is a new normal. This requires that we adapt, that we pool our resources, because one lesson we have learned over these years of perpetual and constant crisis is that no country on its own is able to cope."

Lenarčič added that fire seasons are starting earlier, and ending later, as well as spreading to areas that in the past were not known for wildfires, such as Central and Northern Europe.

He acknowledged that