The Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez revealed this Friday from COP28 in Dubai that Barcelona will be the epicentre of an international summit to face the phenomenon of drought in September 2024. The event in the Catalan capital will carry out high-level analysis of national policies promoted by the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA). Around 60 countries along with numerous international organizations from the UN down, as well as NGOs, have adhered to this alliance, promoted a year ago by Senegal and Spain at COP27 in Egypt. The announcement took place during a meeting on the IDRA initiative in the framework of the 28th UN Climate Summit (COP28) in Dubai, where Sánchez highlighted the importance of this international alliance against drought and claimed the need for international cooperation, taking as an example the severe drought that Catalonia is suffering.
The Spanish leader emphasized that Catalonia is not alone in this struggle in the Iberian peninsula, since Andalusia, for example, is also facing a drought that threatens the Doñana National Park, among other high-value natural spaces in danger. The vision that Sánchez presented at COP28 was clear: the need to address drought as a global phenomenon that requires collective action, a mission for which the Alliance between Senegal and Spain was created that will culminate with the summit in Barcelona on September 2024, almost a year from now.
The president also announced that, one year after the creation of the alliance between Spain and Senegal to deal with the drought that led to the IDRA initiative at COP27 in Egypt, "remarkable progress has been made on its strategic pillars". It has highlighted political support and international awareness, with 60 countries and organizations already joining the alliance. Sánchez expressed his confidence that IDRA will continue to grow in the near future, given that drought is a global problem. In addition, the Spanish leader highlighted that IDRA has developed a list of types of investments to improve resilience to drought, facilitating the creation of new innovative projects that allow to continue researching and developing new technologies against these episodes that already affect a large part of the planet.
Sánchez also wanted to highlight Spain's efforts to deal with drought, detailing drought risk management plans, initiatives for the national restoration of rivers and reconnection strategies aligned with climate plans. He mentioned the real-time rainfall monitoring system, available to everyone, with the aim of helping other countries develop their own warning systems. Finally, Sánchez emphasized the Alliance's progress in developing an innovative financial mechanism to provide new resources, especially for developing countries.