Report confirms heat records in Europe and Arctic, but war-fuelled energy crisis boosts renewables and embattled climate

As the European State of the Climate Report confirms Europe is the fastest-warming continent and the Arctic the fastest warming place on Earth, the US-Israeli war on Iran has shown the danger of dependency on fossil fuels while a “coalition of the willing”conference in Colombia is pushing the green energy transition ahead.

We are not hearing nearly enough about climate change right now, with war and its economic fallout dominating the headlines. But the European State of the Climate (ESOTC) 2025 report just published by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), brings us a stark reminder of what climate warming is doing to the planet we live on. “Record heatwaves from the Mediterranean to the Arctic, while glaciers shrink and snow cover declines” is the title of this latest assessment by around 100 scientific contributors. The comprehensive overview of key changes in climate indicators for the world’s fastest warming continent, including the cold high north of the planet, is not happy reading:

“Rapid warming in Europe is reducing snow and ice cover, while dangerously high air temperatures, drought, heatwaves and record ocean temperatures are affecting regions from the Arctic to the Mediterranean”, the authors tell us.

Florian Pappenberger, Director-General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) said: “Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and the impacts are already severe. Almost the whole region has seen above-average annual temperatures. In 2025, sub-Arctic Norway, Sweden and Finland recorded their worst heatwave on record with 21 straight days and temperatures exceeding 30°C within the Arctic Circle itself.”

Glaciers in all European regions saw a net mass loss, with Iceland recording its second-largest glacier loss on record; snow cover was 31% below average; the Greenland Ice Sheet lost a staggering 139 gigatonnes (139 billion tonnes) of ice. That is around 1.5 times the volume stored in all glaciers in the European Alps. This ice loss contributes to rising global sea levels, with every centimetre increase exposing an additional 6 million people to coastal flooding.

The report shows a continuing trend of rapid warming across Europe’s coldest regions –including in the Arctic and the Alps, where snow and ice play a critical role in slowing climate change by reflecting sunlight back into space.

The report concentrates on Europe, which is warming fastest. The International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) provides global context in a white paper on glacier protection and the need for enhanced mitigation and adaptation funding, published on April 22, 2026:

“Globally, glaciers, snowpack and mountain permafrost are losing ice due to the continued pumping of carbon into Earth’s atmosphere. With continued emissions and unambitious transition policies, the world is on track for at least +2.7°C of warming, leading to more than twice as much glacier loss as keeping temperatures below +1.5°C. This warming is already driving extensive loss and damage in mountain and downstream communities around the world, with loss of infrastructure, food and water security.”

So how are we doing on speeding up that transition towards green energy? The US war on Iran and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz have done a better job at raising awareness of the dangers of fossil fuel dependency than a library of papers on the subject. Ironically, amidst all the death and destruction he has wreaked, the “drill baby, drill” President may have done the green energy revolution a big favour.

The closure of the key fossil energy transport corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, provoked by the US war on Iran, has thrown world energy markets (and much more) into chaos. Countries relying on oil and gas from the Gulf region have been left high and dry. While some turn to dirty fossil fuel coal for a short-term solution, clearly the key message is that renewable energy, produced close to home, is the way to go.

In an interview with the Guardian, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), argues that “the oil crisis triggered by the Iran war has changed the fossil fuel industry for ever, turning countries away from fossil fuels to secure energy supplies”.

The man widely considered the world’s leading energy economist said a key effect of the US-Israel war on Iran was that countries would lose trust in fossil fuels and demand for them would decline.

“Their perception of risk and reliability will change. Governments will review their energy strategies. There will be a significant boost to renewables and nuclear power and a further shift towards a more electrified future,” he said in the exclusive interview. “And this will cut into the main markets for oil.”

The IEA chief is convinced there is no going back: “The vase is broken, the damage is done – it will be very difficult to put the pieces back together. This will have permanent consequences for the global energy markets for years to come.”

That could be a chink of light in a world darkened by unjustified wars and aggression and increasingly hit by emissions-fuelled weather extremes.

At this very moment, a new “coalition of the renewables-willing” is meeting in Colombia, a “small developing country with a large fossil fuel sector”. Colombia, the largest coal and fourth-biggest oil exporter in the Americas, alongside the Netherlands, with support from more than 50 countries, is hosting the first “Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels” conference in Santa Marta.

The initiative was born out of frustration with the UN climate talks, which are regularly hijacked by fossil fuel giants.

Governments first agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels” at the Cop28 UN climate summit in Dubai in 2023, (already an unbelievably late date in the scheme of things), but have not taken any steps to go about it. Last year’s COP30 in Belem, Brazil, ended without fossil fuels even being mentioned in the final outcome.

The fact that this first installment of a new series of implementation-oriented meetings it is taking place against the background of the US war-induced fuel crisis makes it more relevant than ever. “We, of course, didn’t know that war was going to break out, but we knew the challenges of a dependency on fossil fuels,” said Irene Vélez Torres, Colombia’s environment minister, who will preside over the talks. “This conference comes in the best possible moment.”

The organisers stress the forum is not designed to replace the UNFCCC climate progress or to run formal negotiations. It sees itself as a “sustained political platform for countries ready to deliver implementation-driven action toward an orderly phase-out of fossil fuels.” It wants to be “an innovative, horizontal dialogue that deepens democratic climate governance through meaningful and influential participation by countries and subnational governments, civil society, and other stakeholders.”.