WD - Chendu World Declaration on Dams and Energy Transition

 Journey of the World Declaration from Chengdu to Belem.

Once the World Declaration on Dams and Energy Transition had been endorsed by international partners in Chengdu, it entered another stage: making itself known to civil society and other stakeholders, in particular those to whom recommendations are addressed, governments, policy makers, regulators, multilateral financial institutions, and so on.

A key event in this respect was the COP30 in Belem, Brazil, where dams were represented for the very first time in the context of Climate Change Summits. The role of dams in providing the grid security, flexibility to support other renewable sources and the capacity to recover quickly from blackouts was justified as the key infrastructure called to play a key role in the energy transition. The Climate Policy Initiative’s report ‘Global Landscape of Energy Transition Finance 2025’, prepared in collaboration with the COP30 Presidency, mentions dozens of gigawatts of pumped storage under development as part of the energy transition investment portfolio.

The UNDP publication “One Future”, linked to the summit, also points to some countries that are scaling up reversible plants, as a key element of the resilience of their electricity systems and the integration of renewables, in the context of COP30. Dams and hydro finally were pre sent in a COP, since no mention existed at previous climate summits. Pending is the debate of the actions on dams for climate change adaptation, including safety before extreme events, in which the engagement was limited to pledges to cross-finance the cost of measures to be taken.

Now the challenge is to promote the adoption of the entire set of the World Declaration recommendations by policy makers and relevant stake holders, to equip them to face the climate emergency.

Read the article in HYDROPOWER AND DAMS ( Aqua Media International ltd)

https://ewater.es/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/World-Declaration_DKS_EC.pdf

El Mediterráneo se calienta: una amenaza real

Pongamos ciencia al repetido mito del mar caliente y evaluemos el impacto del cambio climático y calentamiento del mar Mediterráneo en la severidad de las tormentas torrenciales.

Lessons learnt from Valencia 2024 flash floods

 

Some lessons learnt from Valencia 2024 flash floods

1 - Reviewing methodologies in hydrology is a must

2 – CC is and will be getting worse

3 - Being aware where we  are settled is missing in land management

4 - Blind hazard creeping vs development under non-zero risk

5 –Reconsider acceptable risk, but by whom?

6 - Non structural measures have to be better implemented

7 - We need the complicity of nature

8 - Investing in prevention is much less than the cost of the catastrophe

9 - Public participation implies opportunities for success

10 – Now er have an opportunity to rebuild under a resilient model

 

A new paradigma to be adopted

Four pillars are key for a good flood management

1. Good and safe infrastructures reducing probabilities of inundation
2. Flood risk mapping, real time information and early warning systems provide complementary actions to improve resilience.
3. Well informed land management and achieving less hazard creeping is a must. Land planning decision makers have to be involved as key stakeholders.
4. Education and public awareness on flood risks. Emergency and civil protection efficiency is based on population participation

Working in parallel on all tools for reducing expected damages should inspire comprehensive actions. 

Algunas lecciones aprendidas de las inundaciones relámpago de Valencia 2024

1 - La revisión de las metodologías en hidrología es imprescindible

2 – El CC está e irá empeorando

3 - Ser conscientes de dónde estamos asentados está ausente en la gestión del territorio

4 – Ceguera en el incremento del riesgo frente al desarrollo bajo riesgo no nulo.

5 – Reconsiderar el riesgo aceptable, pero ¿por parte de quién?

6 - Las medidas no estructurales deben aplicarse mejor

7 - Necesitamos la complicidad de la naturaleza

8 - La Inversión en prevención es mucho menor que el costo de la catástrofe

9 - La participación pública implica oportunidades de éxito

10 – Ahora tenemos la oportunidad de reconstruir bajo un modelo resiliente

Un nuevo paradigma a adoptar

Cuatro pilares son clave para una buena gestión de inundaciones

1.                  Infraestructuras buenas y seguras que reducen las probabilidades de inundación

2.                  La cartografía del riesgo de inundación, la información en tiempo real y  los sistemas de alerta temprana proporcionan medidas complementarias para mejorar la resiliencia.

3.                  Es imprescindible una gestión del suelo bien informada y lograr un menor peligro de falsa seguridad. Los responsables de la toma de decisiones en materia de planificación territorial deben participar como partes interesadas clave.

4.                  Educación y concienciación pública sobre los riesgos de inundación. La eficiencia de las emergencias y la protección civil se basa en la participación activa de la población.

Trabajar en paralelo en todas las herramientas para reducir los daños esperados debería inspirar acciones bien integradas.