The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, brought to the COP29 climate summit the example of the tragedy in Valencia due to the recent DANA appeals to the conscience of the international community in order to respond to evidence that “Climate change kills”stop “dragging your feet” and fight the deniers.
Sánchez recalled, both in his speech at the plenary session of the summit held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, and during various events organized within the framework of this summit, the effects of this DANA which has already caused 222 dead, the vast majority in Valencia.
In front of the rest of the leaders present, the Chief Executive proclaimed that he was present at the summit to warn “a terrible truth that science has been emphasizing for too long and yet, there are many who continue to despise: climate change kills.
More than 300,000 people, he recalled, were victims of climate change last year, while the death toll in Spain from the recent DANA, which said it was the the largest natural disaster in the country’s historycurrently stands at 222 while there are still people missing and hundreds of houses covered in mud.
He stressed that this disaster, according to the first investigations, would have been less likely and less intense without the effect of climate change. “That’s why I’m here, because right now there is only one thing as important as helping the victims of this terrible tragedy: prevent this from happening again; “prevent – he insisted – that natural disasters are repeated and multiplied”.
According to him, the planet is giving increasingly clear signs that If we don’t act, there will be more droughts, heatwaves, torrential rains, fires and disease. and many economic sectors will collapse, while hundreds of cities and towns will become uninhabitable due to rising seas and thermometers.
It is, he assured, a “existential threat” in the face of which he regretted that many governments were hesitant and slow down, deny the obvious and even return to oil, thermal vehicles and deregulation “just so the rich keep getting richer” while knowing that they are heading towards disaster for everyone. “We cannot allow it”“, he said, before asserting that we know what the problem is and how to solve it without the need for drastic measures or a return “to the stone age”, because it is not a question of decrease, but to grow more responsibly.
The solution, he commented, goes through innovate, decarbonize, use new materials and processes and adapt cities, areas and infrastructure so that they are more resilient to new climatic realities. Although he admitted that it was not easy, he guaranteed that it was possible and gave the example of what Spain is doing by reducing its emissions and consumption of natural resources while it is the fastest growing economy in the OECD.
This is why he asked not to listen to those who say that the ecological transition is incompatible with the well-being of nations or bad for the middle and working classes, because the reality is the opposite: If sustainability is not achieved, welfare levels will fall.
Sánchez ratified the commitment that In 2050, Spain will be a carbon neutral society respecting environmental limitsbut he stressed that it would be of no use if all countries did not do the same. “That’s why I’m calling on you, as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change in the world, to act. Let’s stop dragging our feet. Let’s stop denying science (…) Let’s save the lives of our fellow citizens. Let’s save their savings. And -he added- Let’s save the planet.”
What happened in Valencia was also present in the three interventions by Sánchez in as many events organized as part of the summit: one of them on fundinganother on the effects of climate change on health and a third on the solidarity necessary to face this global challenge.
In each of them he insisted on giving an example of what happened with the recent Dana to show that climate change kills and Sánchez demanded in the one on financing that the Baku summit be remembered as the moment when words turned into facts and figures.
He warned during the second of these events, promoted by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, that climate change is very unfair because Even if it harms everyone, its impact is not the same and it primarily affects the most vulnerable..
Sánchez took advantage of his intervention during the solidarity event to warn that If fossil fuels are not sufficiently registered, they are subsidized indirectly.
This is why he defended the principle according to which “He who pollutes pays” and asked to focus on sectors which, according to him, are not registered, such as maritime transport, air transport or diesel.
