Pedro Sanchez avoided talking about the government’s management of DANA who devastated the Valencian Community. During one of his appearances at the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference – known as COP29– The leader of the Executive attributed this tragedy which cost the lives of more than 200 people in Spain to climate change. “Climate change kills. What happened in Valencia is not an isolated event, it happens every day in every corner of the planet, we cannot look away, we must act,” Sánchez said.
Likewise, the President of the Government took advantage of his intervention to publicize the policies of his 2030 agenda “Spain has more than achieved the objectives it had set for itself in financial matters. In 2023, two years ahead of schedule, we exceeded our objective by mobilizing 1.4 billion euros for climate finance”, added Sánchez. “We need an international objective capable of providing more financing under better conditions”, he affirmed, recalling that “sustainable development and the fight against change climate change are two sides of the same coin.
Thus, Sánchez used the tragedy to urge other leaders to take immediate action against global warming, including developing countries, which face greater challenges in achieving certain goals, and developed countries that resist reducing their emissions in the past. “We need better funding. This COP must be a platform to achieve this. Funding in developing countries is not enough. We must innovate in our financing system, integrate the private sector more and better, seek new sources of financing for the big fortunes,” he insisted, referring to the introduction of new taxes to raise funds against climate change.
However, even though Sánchez directly points to climate change and boasts of his government’s green policy, as the days go by, more and more information is known about the handling of this tragedy. When Valence It was already devastated by DANA, Pedro Sanchez contacted the Valencian regional president, Carlos Mazonthrough a simple WhatsApp. This message was only sent by Sánchez 10:50 p.m. Tuesday October 29that is to say, when the tragedy was already a reality. The socialist leader took advantage of a technical stopover in Oman during his flight from India to contact the President of the Generalitat, while Valencia had been suffering for several hours. one of the worst tragedies in its history. Sánchez avoided canceling his India agenda, even though he knew about the red alert from 1 p.m. before board the Airbus with which he returned to Madrid after his tour in this Asian country.
Close ranks with Ribera
Pedro Sanchez did not recognize any errors in the management of the Minister of Ecological Transition, Therese Riberain response to the crisis DANA. That same Monday, the President of the Government affirmed that he firmly supported Ribera’s actions in this crisis. “The world, Europe and Spain need more Therese Ribera and fewer climate change deniers,” he assured.
Support that comes after the lack of information from the Júcar Hydrographic Conferencedepending on Ribera, on the situation of the Poyo ravine, the overflowing of which caused the majority of deaths. Sanchez He avoided talking about resignations and taking a position on the management of the Valencian Generalitat because, he said, “the Government is where it should be”, in the reconstruction of the affected areas and the relaunch of the activity. “Later there will be a political debate on the things we need to improve in the face of the climate emergency and on taking political responsibilities, which will obviously have to be justified in the Cortes Generales and the Valencian Parliament“, he said.
