More than 2.5 million euros for nearly 60 projects to combat climate change

The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment maintains its commitment to the fight against climate change thanks to the nearly 60 projects that it has co-financed since 2012 and whose theme focuses on this line of work.
 
In total, the Ministry, through the Biodiversity Foundation, has invested more than 2.5 million euros in these projects, 53% of which belong to the empleaverde Programme while the rest are part of the call for grants or its own projects such as the Global Change Monitoring Network in National Parks or the Climate Change Adaptation Platform (AdapteCCa). 
 
Currently, of these nearly 60 projects, 18 are in execution, and have a contribution from the Ministry of more than 500,000 euros.
 
One of the beneficiary initiatives of this year’s call has been the “Earth Hour Cities Challenge”. An international WWF project that, through a competition among cities around the world, aims to mobilise the actions and support of cities to reduce their emissions in order to promote the transition to a sustainable future.
 
On the other hand, projects such as “Food, Climate Change and Agriculture” seek to promote adaptation to climate change in productive areas that, such as agriculture, may see their economic and environmental viability altered due to its effects.
 
The aim of this project in particular is to provide different audiences (farmers, political decision-makers, technicians in the sector and the general public) with real solutions that allow them to influence the situation that occurs in their crops as a result of climate change. However, among its objectives is also to raise awareness of the contribution that the agro-industrial system can make with respect to climate change mitigation.
 
PROJECTS TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
The Biodiversity Foundation has its own projects aimed at improving the response to climate change. One of its five lines of work is specifically dedicated to adaptation to climate change and environmental quality. Two of the most relevant actions included in this line are the AdapteCCa Platform and the Global Change Monitoring Network Programme in National Parks.
 
AdapteCCa is a web platform (www.adaptecca.es) aimed at the exchange and consultation of information on adaptation to climate change. It is a project in constant growth and updating. During this year, maximum synergy with the European Climate-Adapt platform has been sought, so a new template has been created and the inclusion of more informative and visual content, as well as the generation of a specific area for practical cases and the incorporation of an English version.
 
For its part, with the Global Change Monitoring Network Program in National Parks, the collection, storage and processing of data in situ is carried out to generate knowledge of the effects of global change in said Network. This programme was launched in 2008 and is in continuous development as reflected in the inclusion in 2014 of two new national parks to the Network: the Ordesa y Monte perdido National Park and the Atlantic Islands Maritime-Terrestrial National Park.
 
This series of own actions has also included the Support for Spanish participation in the preparation of the Fifth Report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). This project has also contributed to the dissemination and communication of its results through the preparation of informative guides.
 
More recently, the Biodiversity Foundation has shown its commitment to reducing greenhouse gases by calculating its carbon footprint for 2013. Using the tool made available by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, a calculation has been extracted that will serve as a starting point to establish as many measures as necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.