PSD MEP Maria da Graça Carvalho, during a speech at a Strasbourg plenary session, has called for the European Union to draw up a contingency plan to deal with the effects of extreme droughts affecting various areas of Portugal, namely the Alentejo and the Algarve, with measures to provide immediate and long-term answers to this problem.
Recalling a call to that effect made a few days ago in Brussels by Rui André, Mayor of Monchique, the MEP said that "this plan should include water efficiency programs, and push for dam constructions and desalination plants".
For the MEP, the request made by the Algarvean mayor reflects the concerns of many other policy makers, notably in southern European countries. "We have to be aware that the lack of water is a scourge for many European regions, I endorse and reinforce this call for action," she said.
She added: "It is urgent for the European Union to define and implement measures to deal with these and other similar phenomena more quickly". As the 2019 United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP25) is approaching, which will take place in Madrid between the 2nd and 13th of December, Maria da Graça Carvalho recalls that “the fight against climate change is not done only by adopting preventive measures, no matter how crucial. It is also essential to respond to the effects we are already facing today.”
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