Redacción de un Plan de Acción por el Clima y la Energía Sostenible (PACES) para el municipio de la Figuera

Abstract

Climate change is one of the main problems to be faced by humanity in the coming years. During the last decades, many policies have tried to mitigate the effects of climate change, but it has not been until recent years that the concept of adaptation to climate change has been considered. It is in this context that the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy was born, a voluntary participation movement of the European Union whose main objective is to align European climate objectives with the objectives of municipal governments across Europe. One of the requirements of the Covenant is the drafting of a Sustainable Climate and Energy Action Plan, which must be drawn up by those municipalities that want to be part of the Covenant. This document, in summary, consists of a detailed diagnosis of the energy and climate aspects of the municipality and several action strategies that aim to reduce the municipality's atmospheric emissions, increase resilience to the potential impacts of climate change and ensure energy supply and access for all inhabitants of the municipality. The energy analysis of the municipality has determined that, in 2021, a total of 171 MWh were consumed, equivalent to an emission of 43 tCO2eq into the atmosphere. One of the main objectives of the plan is to provide the municipality with a roadmap to achieve a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 emissions. To this end, a mitigation strategy has been drawn up consisting of a total of 14 actions, with which, initially, a reduction of 16.12 tCO2eq would be achieved. The climate analysis conducted on the municipality has determined the high degree of climate vulnerability it suffers and will suffer. Specifically, it has been determined that the municipality is vulnerable to the following climate risks: loss of ecosystem services, increased risk of forest fires, loss of productivity in agriculture and livestock, water supply problems, soil erosion, and impacts on infrastructure. To increase the municipality's resilience, an adaptation strategy comprising 11 actions has been developed, addressing the main climate risks and the main potentially vulnerable sectors. Finally, an analysis of energy poverty in the municipality has been carried out, through the calculation of various indicators. It has been determined that the municipality is vulnerable to fuel poverty, and an action plan has been drawn up, consisting of 5 actions, which aims to minimize future cases of fuel poverty that may affect the population residing in the municipality.