The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sanchezhas emphasized the danger that hangs over inaction on climate change, since “humanity might not survive impacts”. In addition, he has highlighted that “the recent meteorological catastrophes show what the future will bring.” These words are pronounced on the day the Climate Summit 2022 begins, which will be held from this Sunday until next November 18 in Egypt.
Next to Senegalese President Macky SallSánchez recalled that droughts were natural hazards that had to be managed in the past and that now “they are destabilizing communities and the global economy“. The President of Spain has also indicated that the lack of rain is translating into a threat, “as multiple challenges converge, whether they are forced migrations, economic losses or energy insecurity”.
Both leaders have advanced that this Monday, November 7, at the Climate Change Conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt), they will meet to create the International Alliance for Drought Resilienceand introduce it to world leaders and international organizations.
“The alliance will mobilize leaders from all walks of life to provide the political momentum necessary to ensure that all countries, cities and communities are well prepared and able to recover and prosper after droughts. No region is immune to drought. They are becoming more frequent, and each one is more serious than the previous one,” both leaders assured.
Only one in four people will escape water scarcity
It has been pointed out that while during the last two decades there has been a major drought every six years on average. For this reason, it is expected that, in less than three decades, only one in four peopleincluding the inhabitants of the cities, will manage to escape from the lack of water.
“But now we can change all this. In this decade. Because the emergency responses that were used in the past will not work and the droughts that are coming will be much more deadly. They will be worse than the recent ones and inexhaustible forest fires in Australia, Greece, Portugal, Spain or the United Stateswhich decimated nature reserves or left cities, communities and rural areas in ruin,” the two leaders indicated.
One of the main regions that suffers the most from droughts is the Horn of Africa, where they suffer a four-year drought, “the worst in four decades”. In this regard, they point out that, by 2030, “drought may displace 700 million people in Africa.”
Both allies have made a call to the rest of the leaders to “make resilience to drought a priority in national development and cooperation policy”, and have warned that “droughts are not just a national problem“. “Its impacts are regional and global. That is why we have to face them all together”, they have sentenced.
Pedro Sánchez and Macky Sall have also taken it upon themselves to affirm that the commitment to deal with droughts and desertification will stimulate a commitment to all actors involved, including the private sector. “Building resilience to drought-induced disasters is the way to ensure the progress we can make on each of the sustainable development goals, especially for the most vulnerable people,” they concluded.
