V. Meeting of the spanish ambassadors of the
EU Climate Pact in LLeida
At 19. and April 20, the Spanish ambassadors of the EU Climate Pact met at the University of Lleida for their fifth summit to discuss with experts climate change in the context of the primary sector and the food industry. The event was organized by the EU Climate Pact Ambassadors and professors at the University of Lleida Luisa F. Cabeza and Marc Escribà Gelonch.
Day 1: Success stories of sustainable production and circular economy
The afternoon of the first day at Parc Agrobiotech Lleida was dedicated to selected success stories of sustainable production and circular economy in agricultural production and the food industry. My personal highlights:
In his contribution, Francisco Fonseca Salcedo (Agricultural Knowledge & Innovation Services – AKIS International) presented the possibility of using innovative irrigation technologies to save 10 percent of the water previously required for growing apples without sacrificing the quality or quantity of the harvest.
Josep Espín Zaragoza presented Werner & Mertz, a German-based company and its best-known brand “Frosch”, a pioneer in the circular economy with a thirty-year history in the development of sustainable products and production. Under the motto “clean without polluting”, the company produces completely self-sufficiently without the use of fossil fuels or raw materials. The Frosch brand has been using surfactants made from vegetable raw materials since 1986. Wind power, photovoltaics and geothermal energy provide the necessary energy. Due to the company’s own water treatment, the water is discharged into the Main River cleaner than it was taken from it before production.
Carles Grau presented NUFI Group’s efforts to reduce emissions from the food industry. The energy needs of production are already partially covered by photovoltaics and utilization of biowaste from production, on the one hand by burning dried fruit pits, but also by producing electricity and heat from biogas generated by fermentation of fruit residues. Further plants are already in the project planning stage.
Day 2: Climate change in the context of the primary sector and the food industry.
The second day began with a welcome by high-ranking representatives of politics and the University of Lleida (from left to right ): Joan Talarn Gilabert (Diputation de Lleida), Narciso Pastor Sáenz (Vice Rector of the University of Lleida), Miguel Pueyo París (Mayor of Lleida), Carmel Módol Bresoli (Generalitat Catalunya). The welcome was led by Climate Pact Ambassador and professor at the University of Lleida Luisa F. Cabeza.
In the first expert discussion, moderated by EU Climate Pact Ambassador Carmen Marques Ruíz (bottom center), experts Vera Estefanía (Ministerio para la Trasición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico, via streaming), Victor Falguera (AKIS International, left) and European Climate Pact Ambassador Josep Espín Zaragoza (right) discussed climate change as a global challenge with local impacts. Josep Espin spoke about the role of ambassadors of the European Climate Pact, Vera Estefania about conclusions in Climate Summit in Sahm El-Sheik (COP 27) and Victor Falguera about bioeconomy and circular economy in the agricultural sector and its waste.
After a short break, Eva García Balaguer (Observatorio Pirenais de Cambio Climatico de la Comunidad de Trabajo de los Pireneos) reported on climate change in mountain regions and presented a cross-border strategy on climate change in the Pyrenees. Joan Cales Massot (L’associació agrària de Joves Agricultors i Ramaders de Catalunya – JARC) and Pere Roqué(Asocianción Agraria de Jóvenes Agricultores – ASAJA) reported on the effects of climate change on the primary sector from the perspective of affected farmers (no images).
The public part of the V. Ambassadors’ Meeting was a round table moderated by the Ambassador of the EU Climate Pact and Professor at the University of Lleida Marc Escrià Gelonch (center). Experts Carmel Mòdol Bresolí (Generaltitat Catalunya), Josep Cabré (UP), Ramon Vila (EU Climate Pact Ambassador) and Teresa Farré (Food Bank) discussed the impact of climate change on the agri-food sector and ways to mitigate it, agriculture and food waste, priorities, possible actions and possible solutions.
The participating Spanish Climate Pact Ambassadors: Lorena Álvarez-Sala Villazón, Miguel Luis Lapeña Cregenzán, Barbara Bartels-Leipold, Carmen Maquez Ruíz, Marc Escrià Gelonch, Luisa F. Cabeza, Ramon Vila, Josep Espín Zaragoza.
Eva García Balaguer (Observatorio Pirenais de Cambio Climatico de la Comunidad de Trabajo de los Pireneos) and the Climate Pact ambassadors Barbara Bartels-Leipold, Carmen Marqués Ruis and Lorena Álvarez-Sala Villazón in front of the university in LLeida.
Day 3: Cultural event
On the last day, Ambassadors Lorena Álvarez-Sala Villazón, Carmen Marquez Ruíz, Barbara Bartels-Leipold, guided by Marc Escribà Gelonch, visited the old Romanesque cathedral of the 12th century with the Turó de la Seu Vella.
