The University, Vectalia and Aguas de Alicante have collaborated in organising the event

The Rei Jaume I Prizes for Environmental Protection call for fundamental changes in Alicante ahead of a decisive decade

• The event was attended by award winners, climate change experts and officials who marked Earth Day.

The need to implement a series of fundamental changes in a decade such as this one – which is decisive for our future – was one of the conclusions reached this morning at the conference dedicated to discussing the “Crossroads of Climate Change. Mitigation Priorities in the Comunidad Valenciana’, held at the University of Alicante to mark Earth Day on 22 April.

Furthermore, the various speakers who took part in the round-table discussion on climate change warned of the worrying situation at national and global level regarding wildfires and highlighted the possibility of “being able to manage without water transfers”.

José Luis Rubio, winner of the 1996 Rei Jaume I Prize for Environmental Protection and chair of the Environment Committee at the HAC, pointed out that “the Valencian Community has been declared a fire-prone area” and described the country’s situation as “a veritable powder keg”, highlighting the alarming figures dating back to 2018, the most dramatic year on a global scale. Rubio has proposed a broader and more ecological approach to intervention, protection, restoration and management of areas affected by wildfires, and has advocated for “a biological perspective on soil protection operating across multiple scales”. He also proposed enhancing agro-ecosystem services and strengthening this ecological resilience in its adaptation to climate change; finally, he spoke about “what to do after forest fires”, warning of the worrying increase in forest fires, calling for new strategies and advocating for new, more self-protective and resilient forests, as “burning nature is burning the future”.

The director of the Alicante Water Chair, Jorge Olcina, in his presentation “Climate change on the Mediterranean coast: the urgent need for adaptation”, stated, amongst other facts, that “15 per cent of Spanish territory is in a state of emergency and 45 per cent of that territory is experiencing some form of drought, which is a silent but constant risk.” Olcina emphasised that humankind “is at a historic juncture because it is up to us to decide where we want to go, and it depends solely on us”, and he stressed the importance of planning and adapting our cities. To conclude his presentation, Olcina spoke briefly about water transfers, regarding which he believes that “we could manage without them”. According to him, “either we change our mindset of following models whose shortcomings are becoming increasingly apparent, or there will be no solution.”

Monserrat Vilà, a research professor at the Doñana Biological Station, spoke about biological invasions and global change, warning of “invasion processes that give rise to public health diseases” and stated that to halt them “we must focus on prevention or early detection”, just as with the invasion of exotic plants that spread “beyond their planting area”, emphasising the similarity of their invasive processes. Vilà went on to highlight humans’ direct responsibility for altering the biogeographical distribution of species—many of them exotic—which cause environmental and socio-economic impacts as well as effects on quality of life, not to mention climate change, which is altering the pathways of entry, establishment, spread and impacts of biological invasions.

Finally, the 1997 Rei Jaume I Prize for Environmental Protection laureate, Jose Mª Baldasano, spoke of the need to halt everything we are causing in the atmosphere, to prevent the situation from getting any worse: “if we do not mitigate, we will have to adapt, and if we do not adapt, we will suffer”. Regarding new models of mobility, he stated that “we must reduce car use both for the sake of human health and to meet climate targets, and to create more liveable, pollution-free cities” In conclusion, he pointed out that “we are in a situation of high uncertainty” and explained the “several clear lines of action” being pursued by the Comunitat Valenciana: with regard to energy, this involves reducing the use of oil and natural gas whilst increasing the use of renewables and self-consumption. In the domestic sector, by reducing consumption and increasing efficiency. In industry, by using less natural gas and more biogas. And in transport, by using fewer cars and increasing electrification.

At the morning’s opening ceremony, the first speaker was Fco José Candela, the regional secretary for climate emergency and ecological transition, who called for “better waste separation” and criticised the fact that “Alicante has as many as 80 bins, yet other cities recycle better than we do here”.

Next to speak was Rosa Mª Martínez Espinosa, Vice-Chancellor for International Relations and Development Cooperation at the University of Alicante, who paid tribute to primatologist Jane Goodall and expressed her gratitude for the progress made and the awareness raised in the fight against climate change.

Next, Antonio Peral, Deputy Mayor of Alicante City Council, called for “greater and better funding to enable the necessary investments to combat climate change” and argued that in Alicante “there are more than 100,000 trees and 3 million hectares of green spaces – even more than in Valencia, which was named the Green Capital” – whilst also pointing out that “Alicante is one of the cities with the lowest water consumption”.

Representing the event’s organisers were Antonio Arias, Chief Executive of Corporación Empresarial Vectalia, alongside Javier Díez, Director of Aguas de Alicante.

Following the discussion, the organisers and participants of the event, together with representatives of the Foundation, went to the Casa Sicilia Winery in Novelda, where a tribute was paid to Jorge Juan to mark the centenary of his birth.

The Earth Day celebrations took place at the University of Alicante and were organised by the Fundación Premios Rei Jaume I in collaboration with Vectalia and Aguas de Alicante. The aim of the event was to commemorate this day, traditionally celebrated on 22 April, as well as to raise awareness of the need to care for the planet, mitigate climate change and set priorities in the fight against climate change in the Comunidad Valenciana. To this end, there were two key events: one on the afternoon of Monday 17 April at the Adif station in Alicante, where the Quintet of the University of Alicante Philharmonic Orchestra performed a concert in tribute to the Earth, and where seeds were handed out so that those in attendance could take home a memento and play their part in care of the planet.

According to Javier Quesada, executive president of the Fundación Premios Rei Jaume I, the aim was “to convey the efforts made by the Rei Jaume I Prizes to recognise excellence, to highlight the immediate challenges facing the Spanish system in the relationship between science, technology and business, and to demonstrate the business benefits of investing in knowledge and science,” he stated.