Spain's €2.2bn plan against record drought

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🗞️ Driving the news: The Spanish government has approved a €2.2bn plan to help farmers and consumers deal with persistent drought, made worse by the hottest and driest April on record

• Of this, €1.4bn from the environment ministry will be used to address the drought and boost water availability, while €784m from the agriculture ministry will aid farmers in maintaining production and preventing food shortages

🌎 Why it matters for the planet: The plan comes as Spain grapples with adaptation to climate change

• The country's environment minister, Teresa Ribera, emphasized that the solution lies not in promising more water but in managing demand
• Recent legislation was passed to protect outdoor workers such as refuse collectors and builders from working during high-temperature alerts

🔭 The context: Since January 2022, all of Spain has been in drought, with water supplies in Catalonia falling so low that a 40% reduction in water for agriculture, a 15% reduction for industrial uses, and a decrease in the average daily supply per inhabitant from 250 liters to 230 liters have been introduced

📈 One stat: "The main objective is to secure the productive continuity of our primary sector – of our crop and livestock farmers – so that they can produce food.” (Luis Planas, Agriculture Minister)

⛏️ To dig deeper: Visit our Climate Change news section for the latest news!