LIFE URBAN KLIMA 2050 presents 40 climate actions for the next six years at the Berdeago fair

13/01/2020

• The exhibition illustrates projects for adapting our territory to the effects of climate change by addressing 20 entities in the three historic territories.
• The LIFE Integrated Urban Klima 2050 project, an initiative by Ihobe, a publicly-owned company within the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, will act in coastal areas, river basins and urban areas.
• The Berdeago Sustainability and Environment Fair, taking place for the eighth time this year, is an established annual meeting point for the environmental sector in the Basque Region.

Following the official presentation in December, the LIFE Integrated Urban Klima 2050 project, led by the Ihobe, a publicly-owned company within the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, is at the Berdeago Sustainability and Environment Fair with a selection of 40 climate actions that will address 20 entities over the next six years in the three historical territories.

The director general of Ihobe, Jesús Losada, took part in the opening ceremony of the fair, which is celebrating its eighth anniversary in 2020 and has become an established annual meeting point for the environmental sector in the Basque Region. “The exhibition explains, in a very visual and graphic way, how the URBAN KLIMA 2050 project and the 40 actions underway in the three territories are being carried out. These actions focus on three areas, namely the coast, river basins and urban areas. They are all designed to achieve the main objective set out in the Klima Climate Change Strategy 2050 and the future Basque Climate Change Law, which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for a carbon neutral Basque Country by 2050,” explained Losada.

Under the URBAN KLIMA 2050 project, €19.8 million will be invested directly in climate actions, 51% of which will be financed by the European Union. Several departments of the Basque Government are involved, as well as the three provincial governments, seven municipalities (Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Donostia/San Sebastian, Bermeo, Bakio, Gernika-Lumo and Zarautz), five technology centres and the Naturklima Foundation.

The exhibition provides information about the activities planned, which include recovering degraded areas, creating public electric bicycle networks in Alava and Urdaibai, reusing waste from the vineyards as biomass in Rioja Alavesa, and the search for natural-based solutions for urban environments in the three capitals. Visitors will also learn about projects such as the creation of a green ring in Debabarrena, the installation of a hydrothermal system in Urdaibai, the promotion of self-consumption in Donostia, implementation of measures to avoid rivers from bursting their banks in Bakio, Donostia and Alava, and the comprehensive restoration of Laga beach.

The eighth Berdeago fair is divided into two thematic blocks, ‘Berdeago Energy’, which will take place on 31 January and 1 and 2 February, and ‘Berdeago Nature’, on 8 and 9 February in Durango.