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WWF Portugal says repeated severe storms show climate change impacts, urging urgent investment in prevention, adaptation, and nature-based climate resilience.
WWF Portugal stated that the successive storms hitting Portugal is signaling a new era of 'climate normality,' and consequently each country needs to consider an urgent pivot from a position of responding to climate crises and urgently strengthen climate change adaptation and prevention. This is after a number of recent major storms that devastated parts of the Iberian Peninsula and killed at least 15 people in Portugal on January 28. WWF Portugal also stated that, “the intensity and frequency of extreme climate-related events now occurring in Portugal, such events should no longer be regarded as exceptional.”
WWF Portugal conservation and policy director Catarina Grilo further added to this sentiment when she advised that there is strong scientific evidence to suggest that global warming is resulting in an increase in the intensity of extreme rainfall, flooding, drought, and heatwaves. Specifically, Grilo explained that warmer air holds more moisture, increasing the risk of intense periods of rain over short periods of time and equally there is an increased potential for significantly prolonged periods of intermittent dry weather. On Tuesday, WWF Portugal warned that the country has not made enough investments into adapting to climate change. Based on an analysis by the organization, public and private investment in climate resilience needs to be increased to ten times its current level annually by 2050.
The NGO has called for increased public and private investments into nature-based solutions like ecosystem restoration, restoration of wetlands, establishment of native forests and coastal dune systems. This helps in reducing urban flooding, mitigate erosion and provide natural barriers against sea storms and rising sea levels. WWF Portugal also cautions against constructing within National Ecological Reserves (REN), which serve as natural flood protection structures. The recent storms named Kristin, Leonardo, and Marta resulted in floods, loss of power and displacement of people. This highlights the need for climate-resilient planning in Portugal.
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