Preparing for extreme temperatures and also for periods of drought or torrential rains. The Barcelona Climate Plan includes measures to adapt to climate change in six areas and includes the imminent drafting of a specific plan to address heatwaves, such as expanding climate refuges, leisure spaces with water, installing new pergolas for shade, air conditioning in schools - already underway - and in other facilities, like nursing homes for the elderly. The plan incorporates, and in some cases accelerates, actions planned in various municipal areas and new measures that amount to an investment of 1.8 billion euros by 2030.
The Climate Plan -following the example of the Address Plan, the Neighborhood Plan, or the Living Plan- has been designed as a government measure. “It responds to an objective reality, as we have seen dramatically in Valencia, cities are the most responsible for emissions into the atmosphere; we must work to reduce them and also to protect citizens from climate change,” argued Jaume Collboni, this morning during the plan's presentation.
The measures are grouped into six areas: Energy transition, mobility, the Climate Neighborhood Plan, Resilience, and the Heat Plan. In the energy transition section, the municipal government plans to multiply municipal photovoltaic generation by five and expand sustainable energy systems. In terms of mobility, the plan includes continuing to electrify the fleet, expanding the charging network, and consolidating sustainable mobility. The Climate Neighborhood Plan includes the incorporation of 40 hectares of green areas during this term with actions such as Can Batlló. As for resilience, it includes works on rainwater deposits and the management of groundwater.
“We are not starting from a blank page; what is relevant is the change in philosophy. For the first time, we have defined and quantified the actions; we had to take action and translate it into a series of cross-cutting measures and allocated funds,” stated the first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet. With the planned actions – including the low emissions zone policy – the City Council expects to reduce one million tons of CO2 over the next five years.
