Global warming threatens to reduce world agriculture by 30% by 2050. These data, taken from the “Climate emergency, food production and Fair Trade” report presented on the occasion of the Climate Summit held in Egypt last November, underline the consequences of climate change. It has a say in agriculture and food production in the world. The province of Alicante is no stranger to this problem either.
To address this issue, the Municipal Forum 2022 held a roundtable entitled “Climate change and agricultural municipalities”, which included the participation of the mayors of Daya Vieja, Almoradí, Busot, Mutxamel, Bigastro, Monóvar and Cox. All participants agree that human activity and global warming are causing more rapid changes in climate, leading to greater environmental and socioeconomic impacts in the form of more extreme weather events (heavy rains and droughts in the same geography). alteration of natural systems or decreased productivity of agriculture and forestry.
According to the Aon Spain Foundation, these meteorological events are present in the province, particularly in the Vega Baja region, where a DANA occurred in 2019 that devastated the entire region and became one of the largest natural disasters costing more than 1,300 million euros.
To be exact, the mayors of this region took part in the roundtable meeting held at the Información TV studios, describing the measures taken in recent years to minimize the effects of climate change and its impact on agriculture. They claimed to have invested in hydraulic infrastructures and reuse policies to successfully confront the climate situation and extreme events.
In Almoradi, María Gómez emphasized that approximately twelve million euros have been invested in the renovation of the sewage system, which accounts for 30% of the entire population. “Our system was from the 1960s and was outdated, so this work, 50% of which is with City Council and Government funding, will be very important and will allow us to be better prepared for potential flooding.” He also highlighted that they have developed a collector for rainwater and are working on the construction of a new drinking water intake to complement the existing one that deteriorated in 2019.
José Vicente Fernández from Daya Vieja pointed out that they have invested 3 million euros in recent years, where they have realized “large-scale projects such as agricultural drainage”. Likewise, he defended the defense of this economic sector so affected by climate change and reminded that 2019 DANA canceled 100% of the seasonal planting of the entire municipality. To do this, Vega argued that Baja municipalities must “think globally.”
Teresa Belmonte at Bigastro highlighted the action project at CV-95 to minimize damage in heavy rains, noting that floodplain parks are designed to “allow us to save water” and collectors that will allow us to reuse water in agriculture. .
Cox’s Antonio Bernabeu thought that the studies carried out in recent years aimed to “cure rather than control”, while he predicted that it is possible for events similar to those experienced in 2019 to occur again. “We are making progress, but even today we are not ready because both drought and precipitation are accelerating with climate change. It is therefore necessary to advocate and help as “farmers who suffer the most from the effects of climate change, but also who are most helpful in preventing it.” argued.
Outside of the Vega Baja region, Busot mayor Alejandro Morant emphasized the need to invest in agriculture to address the fight against climate change and its positive impact on the landscape. «We are betting on the implementation of agriculture with the extraction well and the bonus of 50% of the water to those who own more than half a hectare, which allowed us to plant more than 12,000 almond trees on the abandoned land and olive trees in addition to improving the image of the municipality and creating natural barriers against fires. We also process,” Morant emphasized.
On the other hand, he included in the discussion the necessity of establishing a balance between the establishment of photovoltaic plants in the field and agricultural lands. We received 7 power plant proposals in a 33-square-kilometer municipality, and we accepted only two of them.”
Sebastián Cañadas from Mutxamel stated that in line with maintaining this harmony, they are suspending licenses for the arrival of photovoltaic installations in his own municipality until the Generalitat Valenciana lays the definitive foundations. Despite this, he reminded that renewable energy sources are more necessary than ever, and he estimated that “in recent years we have reduced our emissions of 75,000 tons of CO2 by roughly 40%” at Mutxamel.
The roundtable attendees therefore welcomed Consell’s decision to limit the common undeveloped land that can be used for photovoltaic plant installations to 3%.
On the other hand, Sebastián Cañadas highlighted his commitment to restore the medium-large scale cultivation of the traditional Mutxamel tomato and the impetus given to the recovery of vacant plantations thanks to the arrival of companies.
In Medio Vinalopó, the mayor of Monóvar, Alejandro García, lamented that the problem existing in his municipality is destroying the vineyard, while insisting once again that solar panels must strike a balance between electricity production and agriculture. «We lost 40% of the surface in Monovar and 30% in the province. Twenty years ago the state had twice as many hectares of vineyards as La Rioja and now we only have 20%. We can’t lose any more,” he argued.
Regarding their future strategies, all speakers stated that municipalities should seek and promote sustainability, mobility, consumption and responsible water treatment policies to create resilient localities. That’s why the majority has chosen or is considering renovating public lighting for a more efficient LED, installing solar panels on public buildings, introducing energy communities… adding new initiatives to decarbonize their municipalities, both in terms of mobility and waste. . Regarding this last point, Daya Vieja has a selective door-to-door waste collection system.