The Director General of the Spanish Office for Climate Change (OECC), Valvanera Ulargui, analysed today in a meeting with journalists the main results of the evaluation of the first National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PNACC), within the framework of the LIFE SHARA project.

The Director General of the Spanish Office for Climate Change (OECC), Valvanera Ulargui, today analysed in a meeting with journalists the main results of the evaluation that has been carried out of the first National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PNACC), while outlining the steps to be taken for its update (PNACC-2), as the next plan must cover the 2021-2030 time horizon.

The evaluation process of the current PNACC has been carried out within the framework of the LIFE SHARA project ‘Awareness and knowledge for adaptation to climate change’, which aims to collaborate in the construction of a society better adapted to climate change, cooperating with all the actors involved, generating knowledge and increasing social awareness. A project that seeks to strengthen the governance of adaptation to climate change and  increase resilience to climate change in Spain and Portugal.

The project is coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation, of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and co-financed at 57% through the LIFE programme, the European Union’s financial instrument for the environment, and has as partners the Spanish Office for Climate Change, the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), the Autonomous Agency of National Parks through the National Centre for Environmental Education (CENEAM) and the Portuguese Agency for the Environment Environment.

The PNACC, adopted in 2006, was a pioneer in Europe, as it was the second adaptation planning document at the national level, following the Finnish Adaptation Strategy (2005). The evaluation process of this plan formally began in February 2018, with the constitution of an advisory group, made up of experts from different fields: European institutions, the General State Administration, autonomous communities, the academic sector and the non-governmental sector. This advisory group has contributed with its assessments and proposals to guide the evaluation process.

The evaluation exercise, which has had the support of an external evaluator, has been fed by complementary sources, including the opinions and suggestions of people who carry out their professional activity in the field of adaptation in Spain, collected through a survey, completed by more than 300 people, and a series of in-depth interviews with key actors in the field of adaptation in Spain. Among the results of this survey, it should be noted that most of the people surveyed consider it urgent to act against the risks arising from climate change, with an urgency index of 8.7 on a scale of 10.

PNACC-2 will also pay attention to emerging aspects in the field of adaptation to climate change, including the influence of social and demographic factors on vulnerability to climate change; the consideration of the risks in Spain that derive from the effects of climate change beyond our borders, or the role of lifestyles in building resilience to climate change, among others.

Based on the evaluation work, 38 recommendations are specified for the development of a future National Adaptation Plan, ranging from general issues, necessary resources, structure of the plan, new topics and work approaches, regulations and public policies, generation of knowledge, mobilization of actors, participation and governance or evaluation and monitoring.

The evaluation identifies some important achievements of the Plan, highlighting that it has made it possible to place adaptation on the agendas of institutions, both at the state level and at the regional and local levels. In addition, it has helped to channel economic and technical resources towards adaptation, making it possible to advance in the generation of knowledge, the mobilisation of actors, the awareness of society and the progressive awareness of the need to adapt the different sectors and geographical territories to the climate crisis.

On the other hand, the Plan has contributed to the mobilization of relevant actors on adaptation, incorporating them into the public debate on the subject and opening spaces for reflection, mutual learning and joint work, in addition to facilitating regionalised climate change projections for the twenty-first century, corresponding to different emission scenarios, accessible to anyone interested through the climate change scenario viewer, the result of the work of the Spanish Office for Climate Change, the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Biodiversity Foundation and which can be accessed at this link.

The full PNACC evaluation document can be found here.

If you want to know more about the LIFE SHARA project on this website you have all the information.