Spain has launched a new public awareness campaign and unveiled an 80-point climate strategy, as US President Donald Trump withdrew from key global climate forums.
“We are the last generation that still has real room for manoeuvre to act and limit the effects of climate change,” Environment Minister Sara Aagesen said on Thursday at the campaign launch. A government video released alongside the initiative describes climate change as the greatest challenge of our time.
The timing did not go unnoticed. The announcement came amid widespread global inaction and on the same day Trump – having already torn up America’s copy of the Paris Agreement – pulled the US out of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UNFCCC and IPCC).
“Spain is once again leading the way while Trump breaks with international cooperation on climate change,” said Spanish Socialist MEP Cesar Luena.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez – who unlike EU his peers has openly criticised Trump’s oil grab in Venezuela – also expressed regret that climate change was no longer central to political leaders’ decision-making .
Speaking at an annual ambassadors’ conference in Madrid, the socialist leader said Spain would focus its efforts on a just transition to a low-carbon economy and climate justice, alongside other foreign policy priorities.
80 measures to tackle the climate crisis
Sanchez had earlier presented a state pact comprising 80 measures to tackle the climate emergency, including the creation of a national panel of climate change scientists.
The plan, unveiled in mid-December, is built around four pillars: protecting lives in the face of climate emergencies, resilient water management, preserving rural areas and the countryside, and science-based decision-making.
In practical terms, this includes building desalination plants, creating green jobs in rural areas, and financing municipal flood and wildfire prevention.
One of the key measures is the creation of a national network of climate shelters ahead of next summer, as heatwaves become “the new normal” in Spain. Public buildings would be made available across the country, particularly in neighbourhoods most vulnerable to extreme heat.
The measures still require approval by the Spanish parliament.
(rh, aw)