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The councilor of this formation, Gloria Martin, warned of the special vulnerability of Lorca in the face of desertification and extreme drought, for which she asked the City Council to prepare a diagnosis that assesses the climatic impacts due to the historical accumulation of greenhouse gases , as well as climate prediction until the year 2100, in order to plan strategies to address them, of which we must involve citizens and companies

The councilor of Izquierda Unida-Verdes, Gloria Martin, has today requested by letter to the Mayor of Lorca, Fulgencio Gil, to lead a pact against Desertification and Drought in the south-east of Spain, by calling a board of councilors to address these problems and their solution.

Martin explained that the unsustainable exploitation of water resources, chemical pollution, or loss of vegetation, are some of the causes that cause these phenomena that threaten to "destroy the way of life we ​​know", by "the rebound effect against the human being when the Earth is mistreated ".

The mayor of IU-Verdes assured that the Spanish southeast is the most punished territory of our country due to the advances of desertification and that, for that reason, the rulers of towns and cities from Valencia to Almeria should become "spearhead" of the policy against climate change.

"We need cities committed to the preservation of our environment, away from short-termism and with an eye on the territory that we want to leave as a legacy to future generations," he said.

For Martin, it is "essential" to act quickly and put in place the necessary measures to prevent the advance of a threat of "first order".

"The City Council can not wash its conscience in the fight against desertification by giving away a handful of pine saplings on Tree Day," said Martín, who urged local authorities to recover large degraded areas through an ambitious reforestation plan, linked also to the generation of employment, or to guarantee the efficient use of water and nutrients in outdoor crops.

The councilor of Izquierda Unida-Verdes recalled that "we are facing, more and more often, extreme weather effects in our municipality" so "we need local and regional strategies to fight against this great challenge that is global warming" and " become an example for others. "

Martín warned of the "special situation of vulnerability" in which the municipality is located and therefore asked the City Council to prepare a diagnosis to assess the climate impacts that are already occurring due to the historical accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere , as well as climate prediction through last generation algorithms, "that define the characteristics that the future climate in Lorca will have, up to the year 2100".

All this "in order to plan strategies to address them", and of which we must share "to citizens and companies".

No data on the emission of greenhouse gases since 2014

Martin has also asked Gil to "take seriously" the "Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy" signed in 2011 by his predecessor Francisco Jódar and from which no new data have been published since 2014.

This pact, which has been joined by 1,676 municipal councilors throughout Spain since 2008, is the main European movement that involves local and regional authorities in a common commitment to improve the quality of life of its citizens through the implementation of policies sustainable energy sources and the fight against climate change.

Lorca signed the accession on March 4, 2011, thus showing the political commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its territory by at least 20% by 2020. In doing so, it acquired two important commitments.

The first was the development and implementation of a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) that contains an inventory of energy and greenhouse gas emissions (BEI) of the municipality in the reference year 2008, as well as the set of strategic lines and actions that local authorities plan to carry out to achieve the objectives.

And, the second, the realization of a monitoring of the evolution of energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases in its territory, as well as inform the Commission about the implementation of the SEAP every two years since its remission.

Lorca has not published a monitored inventory of GHG emissions since 2014, which shows that it has barely reached 32% of the targets set for 2020.

Therefore, Martin lamented that the signing of the 'Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy' has been only "a symbolic act" to "take a picture" and "appear in the listings", and that this has not been used time, for example, to implement renewable energy in buildings and municipal facilities and develop energy audits in these.

Martín explained that transportation is the sector that contributes the most GEI, with 61%.

But the City Council is showing itself incapable of carrying out actions in terms of public awareness and awareness to change the habits and customs of citizens, so that emissions are reduced.

And, the municipal administration has not even been able to "set an example" by creating a complete and efficient public transport network or by incorporating electric vehicles into the municipal fleet.

The mayor of IU-Greens also assured that the residential sector represents approximately 20.88% of the GHG emissions of the Municipality, for which she censured that the reconstruction of the city after the earthquakes has not been used to implement a new model of more sustainable urban construction that increases energy efficiency and decreases carbon dioxide emissions.

And he recalled that, on the other hand, the tertiary sector represents approximately 16% of the GHG emissions of the Municipality without also developing awareness and awareness actions, action agreements and advice on aid programs and subsidies by the regional and national administration to limit these emissions.

Source: IU-verdes Lorca