The dana of last October, one of the biggest catastrophes of recent times for the Spanish countryside, demonstrated in 2024 that countries still have a lot to do to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The storm especially hit the Valencian Community and left million-dollar losses in agriculture, with persimmons, citrus fruits and vegetables among the most affected crops, in addition to extensive damage to plots, infrastructure and machinery.
The Government allocated a package of more than 444 million euros for the agricultural sector, including 200 million in direct aid from which some 7,240 farms will be able to benefit for the moment.
The intention is support almost 50,000 producers and recover 70,000 hectares, without counting the compensation that farmers with agricultural insurance will receive, which for now total almost 33 million euros.
More than one million agricultural hectares in Spain already suffered losses due to drought, storms, frost and other phenomena in the first half of the year, according to Agroseguro, which It then paid more than 400 million euros, half as much as in the same period in 2023.
Last year, records were broken for agricultural insurance claims that reached 1,241 million euros, especially due to the drought, a sign of Spain’s vulnerability to climate change.
More prevention
The director of Sustainability of Agri-Food Cooperatives of Spain, Juan Sagarna, regrets that these types of extreme episodes have to come to accept that the climate is changing and the sector must adapt.
He assures Efeagro that policies must begin to be perceived as “a potential help to reduce future climate risks.”
Meanwhile, the technical services of the cooperatives are helping their members make decisions regarding the problems that some crops are already facing due to climate change.
The use of more resistant varieties, refrigeration systems for animals in livestock farming and agricultural insurance reform are some alternatives.
Farmers demand investments, incentives and planning based on each scenario to transform food systems, which also have the challenge of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.
International commitments
Despite being on the front line of the impact of climate change, producers are the ones receiving the least attention in climate negotiations and the last to receive aid.
At the last Baku Climate Summit, rich countries committed to paying $300 billion annually to the developing world to fund climate action, up from the previous goal of $100 billion.
The Slow Food movement criticizes that the agreed amount represents only a minimal part of the 1.3 trillion dollars that are needed to support the most vulnerable.
In addition, the COP29 presidency presented a program that aims to strengthen cooperation and financing in agriculture with the participation of private banks.
The project coordinator of the Women for Climate Justice (Gender CC) network, Ndivile Mokoena, believes that the so-called “Harmoniya Initiative” will facilitate assistance to rural communities and women producers with a view to improving productivity and food security in the world.
In Azerbaijan, however, there was a lack of greater debate on the joint work of Sharm el Sheikh for the application of climate measures in agriculture, approved two years earlier at the COP in Egypt.
World Bank expert Bill Sutton points out that only the 4% of funds to combat climate change are allocated to reducing emissions and improve adaptation in the agri-food sector, which needs $260 billion annually to cut its emissions in half by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
This organism, which has increased its annual investment in agriculture to almost 3 billion dollars climate smartrecommends greater support from rich countries, removing subsidies for environmentally harmful practices and promoting carbon credits, among other measures.
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