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‘Climate Change. How it Affects You and What You Can Do’

18.10.2017

Iberdrola and the G2020 platform analyse the consequences of climate change

  • Various experts in the field have gathered at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid to discuss its effects from different perspectives, including health, energy and transport

Today, the G2020 Platform will be hosting a seminar entitled ‘Climate Change. How it Affects You and What You Can Do at the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, in collaboration with Iberdrola. The aim of this meeting was to analyse the consequences of climate change from different standpoints, tackling crucial topics such as transport, energy, food and health.

They also discussed the need to foster regulatory and business initiatives to encourage compliance with emission reduction goals under the Paris Agreement, which Spain endorsed last January. According to attendants, it is important for these initiatives to be backed by the engagement of civil society.

The meeting on Climate Change. How it Affects You and What You Can Do was attended by different experts in the field, who were introduced by the chairman of the G2020 Platform, Salvador Sánchez-Terán.

Víctor Viñuales, the CEO of Ecodes, explained how citizens are affected by climate change in their everyday lives. Ana Belén Sánchez, the coordinator of the Sustainability Department at Fundación Alternativas, then analysed the issue from an energy and transport perspective, as both sectors are directly linked to the global rise in temperature.

The third topic on the table was health. The head of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department of the National School of Health, Julio Díaz, described the effects of extreme temperatures on people's health.

To round off the meeting, journalist Manuel Planelles from El País, who specialises in environment, climate change and energy, offered his point of view on the role governments should play in the problem. A debate ensued, moderated by journalist María Rey, about how each individual can put forward solutions.

 

About the G2020 Platform

The G2020 Platform has the main goal of bettering society based on the conviction that better informed citizens are the key to maximising our chances of overcoming the growing challenges our environment entails.

This Platform believes that raising citizen awareness and knowledge is an essential step towards a democratic regeneration for redefining political and social values.

This calls for practical collaborative intelligence initiatives, in a society faced with profound changes. The pressing need for change represents extraordinary opportunities, but also major challenges in people's daily lives, on a personal, professional and social level.

 

Iberdrola combats climate change

Iberdrola, a leading company in clean energy with a strong sustainable energy model, is convinced that time is of the essence in the battle against climate change. The company believes that the transition towards a low-carbon economy is unstoppable, and the electric sector should be one of the main drivers of this shift.

Guided by this conviction, the Iberdrola Group has been wagering on a low-carbon energy mix based on clean technology for over 15 years. Today, the company's emissions are 34% lower than the average for the European electricity sector.

To further this achievement, Iberdrola has made a strong pledge: to lower its emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to 2007 figures, and to be carbon-neutral by 2050.