Spain underscores climate research efforts as wildfires rage

 Image: Contando Estrelas [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Research could offer “more effective response” to forest fires and other climate emergencies, government says

Spain’s science ministry has underscored recent investments it has made in research to help combat the impacts of climate change, as the country fights deadly wildfires blazing in several part of the country.

More than €180 million in public funding has been allocated to climate research and innovation in recent years, the ministry said on 20 August, adding that there had been a particular focus on forest fires.

The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has developed 51 research projects related to forest fires since 2020, carrying out 34 national and eight international projects between 2023 and 2025, it said.

Research holds promise

Science minister Diana Morant said: “This commitment to R&I, which we have been promoting for years, aims to offer a more effective response, for example, to the forest fires that are devastating our country now, but also to other natural emergencies.”

The ministry said that ongoing CSIC projects are intended to reduce the vulnerability of forests to fires and develop measures to monitor forests and prevent and tackle fires when they do break out.

The research council has a research group dedicated to the topic and has developed technologies such as sensors to help direct firefighting efforts, it said.

Fires continue to burn

The statement came as Spain continues to battle wildfires in the northwest and west of the country, with the region of Castile and León being hit the hardest. Some 27,000 residents are currently evacuated from their homes, according to reports from media outlets.

In Leon, two volunteers died last week while fighting fires, and five people were injured in the Castile and León region in fires on 17 August, media have reported.