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Imagine if Europe chose to spend a half a trillion a year on a dependency that benefits regimes which wish it harm. We don’t have to imagine it. We are doing it right now.
By Ariel Brunner, Regional Director, BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, Chiara Martinelli, Director, Climate Action Network Europe, Ester Asin, Director, WWF EU, Patrick Ten Brink, Secretary General, European Environmental Bureau, and William Todts, Executive Director, Transport & Environment.
Every year, Europe spends around €430 billion on imported fossil fuels. Instead of investing in a resilient, renewables-based and homegrown energy system, we are paying a massive annual premium for our dependency on fossil fuels. The money funds some of the worst regimes on earth; several of which are actively working to undermine Europe’s security and democracy.
The resulting pollution continues to heat the climate year by year with devastating effects. Air pollution from European industry costs society up to €428 billion a year through damage to people’s health and the environment. In 2024, that was equal to 2% of EU GDP, with fossil-fuel power plants the biggest source of harm.
