00:02The European Commission wants to shift the focus from disaster's response to prevention
00:07by strengthening preparedness and anticipation.
00:10After Europe was hit by an exceptionally early wildfire season,
00:15European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Center in Brussels.
00:22This crisis also paints a bigger picture.
00:26The risks around us are changing.
00:30They're becoming more frequent, more complex, more severe.
00:34We see changing global climate patterns that are adding to this volatility.
00:40Around the world, we see higher temperatures and disrupted rainfall.
00:45The EU's civil protection mechanism has been activated 10 times for wildfires in eight different countries since April,
00:53von der Leyen said.
00:54Nearly 800 firefighters were prepositioned in high-risk areas,
01:00while teams from 25 countries were deployed during the summer.
01:03In addition, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Labib
01:07said 300,000 people have been evacuated this summer due to the wildfires.
01:12In the face of floods, wildfires and other extreme weather events,
01:16the EU's approach to civil protection is increasingly shifting from preparing for isolated disasters
01:22to planning for multiple crises unfolding simultaneously.
