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Sustainability in climate change mitigation
and adaptation: a Spanish perspective
Domingo Jiménez Beltrán, Adviser to the Spanish Observatory on Sustainability and
Former Executive Director of the European Environment Agency
C
limate change obliges humankind to alter its unsustain-
able development patterns at all levels and in particular
in relation to energy. Developed countries must begin
a process of reducing resource use, while uniting in efforts to
share said resources with the developing world.
This process of rethinking the whole climate change approach
to account for sustainability will require mass global coopera-
tion. Existing knowledge in the fields of meteorology and climate
sciences will need to be shared as much as possible and efforts must
be renewed to develop joint research and development programmes
aimed at extending the use of science beyond its immediate scope
to the planning and decision making process. This, in turn, will
hopefully allow us to build up more sustainable medium- and long-
term scenarios.
Spain has introduced research and development
programmes on climate change adaptation and mitiga-
tion as a priority, as well as having developed advanced
networks to survey trends in climate change and in back-
ground atmospheric composition at national, regional
and global levels – particularly in the Mediterranean
area. These programmes could and should be used for
extended knowledge sharing and development coop-
eration efforts, especially considering Spain lacks a
high level of application for meteorological and climate
sciences.
The observable effects of climate change clearly
signify that humankind must reorient its approach to
development to place a greater emphasis on sustain-
ability. The developed world must reduce its use of
G
overnance
and
P
olicy
Retreat of glaciers in the Pyrenees Mountains is one of the most important signs of climatic change in Spain
Image: E. Viñuales. CENEAM-O.A.P.N.-MARM- Spain