In his speech, Planas stressed the value of forests for the conservation of biodiversity and the ecosystem services of the planet. He also considers that forests are essential for the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the European Union regarding climate change, biodiversity and socio-economic development.
The minister has appealed to the dialogue between all stakeholders to generate alliances and promote the commitment to significantly reduce deforestation and degradation, through sustainable forest management. To achieve this, he mentioned the Forest Strategy of the European Union 2013-2020, as a framework for political action on forests and the forestry sector. He added that this commitment will go further in another post 2020 strategy.
Flat has shown the firm commitment of Spain in the fight against climate change and with the development of measures to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. In this area, in February of this year the European Commission was sent to the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIECC), with measures to promote the sink effect of forests.
The minister, who stressed that Spain is an international reference in the prevention and extinction of forest fires, has pointed out that the Government is developing a wide range of actions to restore the areas affected by fires, to which more than Four million euros in 2019, to prevent erosion and contribute to a rapid regeneration of forest area.
On the other hand, it has valued the contribution of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as a necessary tool for sustainable management of forests and fire risk. In the new programming period, the CAP will have greater environmental requirements, in line with the international commitments acquired.
He noted that three of the nine specific objectives of the future CAP will focus on the environment and climate, covering issues related to climate change, natural resources, biodiversity, habitats and landscape. It is expected that 40% of the general budget of this policy will be dedicated to measures to combat climate change.