Greenpeace calls for urgent climate action to prevent intensification and frequency of weather disasters

While human and material losses are still being counted as a result of the extreme storm that has swept through several provinces, with particular virulence in Valencia, Albacete and Cuenca, Greenpeace deeply regrets what happened and demands serious and ambitious measures in the face of the climate emergency to prevent the loss of more lives.

«We do not have enough words to express our deepest condolences. When we talk about climate change or climate emergency it is often perceived as an abstract concept far removed from our daily reality. Unfortunately, this is what climate change is: the intensification of extreme weather events like the one that occurred tonight, with an ever-increasing level of destruction. Ignoring it causes deaths that we cannot afford,» said Eva Saldaña, executive director of Greenpeace Spain.

What is happening?

The extreme storm (isolated depression at high altitudes known as DANA in Spanish) that is sweeping through southeastern Spain, and which is now moving towards Andalusia, has causes and also culprits, Greenpeace explains. Preliminary data suggest that the DANA that has hit several provinces could be among the worst in the last century in the Valencian Community. Climate change is not only warming the atmosphere, but also the seas. The excessive temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea, above average since April 2022, form a terrifying cocktail, acting as a reservoir of energy and moisture to feed these storms and make them more intense and severe, with more rainfall.

Added to this is the reality of hydrological management throughout the State: fragmented riverbeds with many obstacles, excessively channelized, and urbanized flood zones (more than one million homes in Spain are built in flood zones) aggravate the impacts of torrential rains. Even in areas where it has not rained, the overflowing of rivers and their evacuation to the sea has caused great damage.

Faced with this reality of change in meteorological events, it is necessary to implement ambitious measures to reduce emissions and slow the advance of climate change. These extreme episodes show us that the lack of climate ambition, the insufficient reduction of emissions in the recently approved plans, have deadly consequences.

How much do climate catastrophes cost?

The data are well known: 71% of compensation payments are for floods and, after high temperatures, they are the atmospheric phenomenon that causes the most deaths in Spain. One of the big debates at the next climate summit, COP29, will be who has to pay the costs of the losses and damages caused by climate change. For Greenpeace it is very clear that those responsible should pay: the fossil fuel corporations. It is they, and not society, who must face these costs, in addition to those of adaptation (to prevent further damage from climate change already underway) and mitigation (to halt the process of global warming and prevent it from exceeding the dangerous threshold of 1.5 ºC set in the Paris Agreement).

In addition, in the face of already irreversible changes, adaptation measures must also be taken to protect people and increase the resilience of territories. Impervious surfaces, whether dry fields, eroded riverbeds or asphalted surfaces, increase the speed of water and the impacts of its passage. Restore the natural flow of the hydrological cycle, regenerating vital ecosystems that absorb water and slow down its course, such as riparian zones, floodplains, wetlands and coastal ecosystems, both in urban and peri-urban areas, and improve the permeability and responsiveness of urban surfaces to torrential rains.

Who are the culprits?

While society suffers the dramatic consequences of the climate emergency, the companies that base their business on fossil fuels (the main cause of the climate crisis) continue to profit and continue to lobby against climate ambition and to evade their responsibility. Greenpeace demands that they pay the consequences of the damage that climate change is causing to society. The upcoming Climate Summit (COP29), to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11-22, is key to deciding who will pay for the consequences of the intensification of extreme weather events.

The loss of biodiversity, both the victim and the solution to this crisis, is also behind what is happening. Restoring nature is the key to protecting ourselves from extreme events as well as a transformative opportunity for resilient and healthy environments for biodiversity and people. This requires action from the local to the global level.

In Cali (Colombia) the COP16 on biodiversity is taking place, where the implementation of the Agreement to protect 30% of the global land area and 30% of the global marine area is being negotiated . This would have repercussions at the national level, in the restoration of degraded ecosystems that could protect us from floods. For the implementation of this agreement, funding is essential, something that governments are failing to deliver. Money for nature-damaging activities must be redirected to protective measures, and urgent progress must be made in implementing the goals and targets agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Investing in restoring biodiversity is investing in people’s health and protection.