Climate Change in Bilbao - What have to be done to protect the City?
- LAS Group
- Nov 19, 2018
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 17, 2018
By Eva Flandermeier in Bilbao
(Nov, 16, 2018)
Climate Change is coming. Can we protect the City? An Insight into science will help us to find answers. Estíbaliz Sanz Gogeaskoetxea (36) is soon starting her Ph.D. in the field Urban Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) at the scientific Institution - Basque Center for Climate Change (BC3). Currently she is working as an Research assistant, in the team, which is investigate the CCA. She has worked as a Technical Assistent at the Bilbao City Council for Urban Planning and Environmental Areas for 8 years. She is an expert for issues of Climate Change. What is she doing exactly? What is CCA?
11 Sustainable cities and communities:
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
Text and photo Courtesy of United Nations (un.org).
Urban Climate Change Adaptation is a field of science that explores which effects and risks occur through Climate Change to modern cities. Air and light pollution, floods, heat waves and extreme weather conditions which put pressure on the urban societies, are conditions that call for local preparation. The CCA is a very practical field of science, because it is always linked to a local area, a specific city or region. Mrs. Sanz is certain, that there is no standard solution, when it comes to urban CCA. The offshore city Bilbao, is occasionally suffering from floods, obviously because of the connection by the city center and the Atlantic, through the river, called „la Ría“. Its extensions surround the heart of the city center. In addition to an intact and well used natural ecosystem CCA is the tool to help confine effects of Climate Change in Bilbao. The use of new technologies, as weapons against floods, heads waves is being researched.
Like every topic of Sustainability is the CCA area a cross cutting issue. All levels of decision making and different local actors from the government, the society and the economy have to collaborate. Estíbaliz Sanz is sure that there is an urgent need to improve the framework to legislation for local adaptation planing. She accentuate the local and individual responsibility in context of Sustainable Development: „As long as new laws for urgent problems are not receivable, individuals are forced to act in their local radius. For example, to avoid plastic pollution is a good known, global problem. The implementation of international rules is a tedious process.“ She stressed out „as long this process is lasting, local governments have to inform their citizens about the problem to built a public awareness. Individual acting is mandatory now. Local administration can initiate this recognition.“
What have to be done by the Government? Right now the regional Government is giving only recommendations and no mandatory. Compulsive agreements are relevant, because there is a need for action. „To force the city to Adaptation planning, is something that have to be done by the Government. CCA is something that City's have to do. An obligation.“, comments Mrs. Sanz. Furthermore preparing only cities for rough upcoming weather conditions, like higher temperatures and higher sea levels is only a first step, small and countrified municipalities are not involved yet. Resources and Capacities have to divide fairly, otherwise the cleavage between the urban and the countrified society keeps moving forward. Lastly the urban planning has to act wisely and include as much interest groups as possible at all levels. All participants, the civil society, the local economy and minorities have to be involved.
What have to be done by the City administration? There is already an advanced urban planing in Bilbao. „We still have to improve a lot, obviously.“, emphasizes Mrs. Sanz, by mentioning further goals of the Urban Planing of Bilbao. The sustainability of mobility have to be improved. The citizens need more stimulation to use bicycles and eco friendly supplements, as a daily instrument of motion in the city. To avoid extreme weather conditions additional areas have to be equipped through green infrastructure. Soil pollution in public spaces have to be avoid. The waste system have to be improved. Moreover the implementation of a holistic Climate Change Adaptation Plan is still receivable.
Climate Change Adaptation (CCA)is a response to global warming and its further challenges.
What can I do? „This is very simple,“ according to Mrs. Sanz. One can use the public transfer, which is very well developed in Bilbao. More active people can walk to nearly every destination in the city center.“ Local shops can be support, by buying more frequently their products. Avoiding plastic and consume more wisely, is another advise from the expert. She added „Consumption habits are hardest to change, but one can illustrate the difference very simple. For example: More than a half of the climate emissions come from agriculture, and much of them from meat production. By person, and year on average, about 110 kg of meat are consumed in Spain. Only one kilogram of conventionally produced pork produces as many greenhouse gases as 26 kilometers of driving a car. That is a lot. Organic pork, on the other hand, produces as much as 17 kilometers.“ Mrs. Sanz starts laughing and said: „By that I do not mean at all that we all have to become vegetarians, only that each individual has opportunities to influence.“
The Basque Center for CLimate Change - BC3 was founded in 2008 and is an unique research institute that provides knowledge, tools, new methodologies and cross cutting proposals to support sustainable development policies. For example the BC3 provides frequently reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is known as the environmental Council of the United Nations (UN). The Institution is one center out of 9 Basque Excellence Research Centers, which were founded by the basque country. Currently 59 researchers form the team of scientist, they supervise 33 doctorate students and 17 master students. The topic climate change is a „novelty“ compared to other ares of research. The theme Climate Change is a global and complex problem, to face its needs, the team of scientist is interdisciplinary and international arranged. The variety of knowledge through different study fields is the source of problem solving investigations, that is urgently needed by facing the effects of Climate Change.
Contact & Website of
BC3 Basque Center for Climate Change:
Sede Building 1, 1st floor Scientific Campus of the University of the Basque Country 48940 Leioa (Spain)
Telefon: +34 (944 014 690)
E-Mail: info@bc3research.org
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