Greenpeace calls on the Spanish government to take stronger action against climate change. The non-governmental organization responds to the energy-saving and forest-fire measures presented by the Council of Ministers, demanding a national firefighting strategy and decisive steps to end fossil fuel use. The emphasis is on an energy system that prioritizes savings and efficiency across the board.
With heat waves intensifying and droughts lengthening, climate change is driving fire activity. Greenpeace urges non-seasonal fire prevention policies and stresses the need for year-round forest management by dedicated professionals who work in the sector continually.
According to Greenpeace, the rise in heat and droughts explains how fires evolve, but their root causes must be addressed. Fire prevention hinges on tackling ignition sources and improving forest health, not just weather patterns, the group notes (Greenpeace). The organization highlights landscape management as a rare strategic advantage for preventing mega-fires, stating that while weather and terrain cannot be changed, fuel conditions can. Revitalizing rural areas and encouraging sustainable livelihoods in towns is seen as essential for maintaining landscape resilience against major wildfires (Greenpeace Spain).
Forest masses, authentic powder kegs
Massive wildfires are framed as a national security and environmental issue. The government must ensure the proper management of ecosystems, including forest masses that have grown due to neglect. These neglected forests are described as authentic powder kegs (Mónica Parrilla, Greenpeace Spain bushfire campaign spokesperson, quoted in Greenpeace materials).
Forest fire imagery is illustrated in reports from Losacio in Zamora, captured by local photographers and noted in the campaign materials. The NGO aims to strengthen area management and reduce fire risk, while improving coordination and boosting firefighting capabilities.
The campaign applauds measures and resources allocated to affected areas but cautions that more is required. A national strategy for forest-mass management must allocate resources and guarantee basic preventive capabilities at the regional level to reduce high-intensity fires.
Reduce ignitions is described as a priority. Forest fires are a social problem, with about 95 percent caused by human activity. Expanding resources for investigation, prosecution, and punishment of arson, and addressing rural debates about traditional fire use, are seen as essential components (Greenpeace).
Reduce the risk of spread by enforcing forest management and fire-planning regulations. The government has proposed updating the Forest Code, but current law reportedly falls short of requiring preventive plans or mandatory emergency plans in high-risk areas. It is claimed that nearly 80 percent of mountains lack local contingency plans and that preventive ones are often only references (Greenpeace).
Parrilla concludes that forests burn when there is friction between centralized state authority and autonomous communities, calling for a national strategy to manage forest masses and reduce vulnerability to fire (Greenpeace Spain).
Tie story
Energy-saving measures are deemed absolutely necessary and should have been adopted long ago. Greenpeace asserts that energy conservation is the best path to avoid unnecessary gas consumption and notes that Russia’s war in Ukraine also fuels the climate emergency (Greenpeace).
The solar image caption and additional visuals accompany the discussion of energy savings and its role in reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The campaign argues that the government’s energy-saving plan should be far more ambitious, as reducing fossil gas consumption by a small percentage is not enough. The need to regulate temperature settings in buildings and to consider broader efficiency measures is highlighted as part of a basic precaution (Greenpeace).
There is criticism that the savings plan has been described in a way that implies it is an obligation on citizens, rather than a comprehensive strategy for energy efficiency, quality of life improvements, and waste avoidance (Greenpeace). Jose Luis Garcia Ortega, who leads Climate, Energy and Mobility at Greenpeace Spain, stresses that commitment should not obscure the call for more ambitious savings and efficiency targets (Greenpeace).
The call remains for more ambitious measures to end dependence on fossil fuels and to address the root causes of the energy-price crisis and climate emergency (Greenpeace).
Promote energy self-consumption
Greenpeace advocates several measures, including building insulation, replacing gas boilers with heat pumps rather than merely overhauling systems, and enabling self-consumption so that buildings can reach near-zero energy consumption. This aligns with Europe’s mandate for near-zero energy buildings and encourages efficiency and the use of renewable energy across industry (Greenpeace).
The campaign also argues that the detailed provisions of savings measures should enable practical self-consumption without undue complexity, allowing distribution among different users (Greenpeace).
Beyond these steps, Greenpeace calls for substantial reductions in gas and oil use across all sectors. They urge ending fossil-fuel subsidies, accelerating the deployment of renewables, promoting energy communities, banning short flights, supporting rail alternatives, and enforcing Low Emission Zones with vehicle-emission labeling reforms. They caution that temporary subsidies for public transport should not be the sole solution and should be accompanied by lasting improvements in service and accessibility (Greenpeace).
Overall, Greenpeace emphasizes energy-saving policies that genuinely improve efficiency and the quality of life, urging authorities to commit to durable changes rather than quick, superficial measures (Greenpeace).