Milagros Tolón, at the World Meteorological Day event: “Ignoring climate change is irresponsible, reckless and puts our present and future as a society at risk”

25/03/2025

The delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha has highlighted the great work done by the professionals of the Aemet They have been recognized José Luis García Esteban, from Mocejón; Jorge González Muñoz, from Navalcán; Cesáreo Mora Reinosa, from Ossa de Montiel; and Alfredo Sanz Fernández, from the Guadalajara Observatory, who has recently retired

Toledo.- The delegate of the Government of Spain in Castilla-La Mancha, Milagros Tolón, presided today in Toledo the institutional act on the occasion of the World Meteorological Day organized by the AEMET. Precisely the delegate thanked the delegate of the AEMET in the autonomous community, Luis María Bañón, “for the work he has done in these last two weeks of intense rainfall, floods and floods”.

Milagros Tolón has congratulated “the people who today receive a well-deserved tribute and recognition for your professionalism, for your commitment and for making your vocation available to the public service that research and meteorological information entails”.

World Meteorological Organization

Every March 23, World Meteorological Day is celebrated, an event promoted by the World Meteorological Organization since 1950. Its objective is to highlight the essential contribution of the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to the safety and well-being of society.

This year, coinciding with the 75th anniversary, the chosen slogan is “Together, let’s reduce the gap in early warning systems”; a message that highlights “the importance of strengthening cooperation and accelerating the implementation of effective early warning systems against the growing risks of climate change”, as the Government delegate recalled.

Milagros Tolón stressed that “when in 2021 our region and the center of our country suffered the worst snowstorm and frost of the last century, we already warned that extreme phenomena were going to be an increasingly frequent constant. That episode was followed by heat waves, the dana of 2021, the dana of 2023, the torrential rains of last October, with more than 200 people dead in our country, and, in these days, an unusual chain of borrascas that make this month of March one of the rainiest since there are records.”

The response of the Government of Spain

As he summed up, “climate change has shown us its worst side and its effects are having an increasing impact on the development of human life. The response of the Government of Spain to this challenge has been embodied in several initiatives, starting with the Transformation, Recovery and Resilience Plan, a tool with a comprehensive approach to modernization, energy efficiency and sustainable development that has already allocated more than 2.2 billion euros to Castilla-La Mancha”.

Along with this, the delegate recalled other measures carried out by the Government of Spain such as the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2021-2030, the Climate Change Law, the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan or the Royal Decree creating the carbon footprint registry, compensation and carbon dioxide absorption projects.

Because, Milagros Tolón reiterated, “ignoring climate change is irresponsible, reckless and puts our present and our future as a society at risk. Climate change is not dogmatism, it is scientific evidence, clear and forceful. In this sense, the Spanish Government is committed to the defense of science and to the defense of the entire scientific community that works to give us the best information and to protect us.”

The delegate made it clear that “that is also the objective of this Meteorological Day and the event that we celebrate today: to highlight, once again, the great work that the professionals of the AEMET carry out. Their studies are essential in situations of risk, as we have seen these days of continuous rain, where the information that the territorial center of the AEMET is providing is key in the management of the emergency.”

Tribute to volunteers

Reports and warnings “that make it possible to form an early response and make decisions in the field of hydrological management, citizen security and civil protection. That is why we also pay tribute to the volunteers who dedicate their time to meteorological observation, demonstrating their commitment to the values that bring us together today.”

Milagros Tolón has congratulated José Luis García Esteban, collaborator of the Mocejón de la Sagra station; Jorge González Muñoz, collaborator of the Presa de Navalcán station, and Cesáreo Mora Reinosa, collaborator of two stations in Ossa de Montiel. “I also congratulate Alfredo Sanz Fernández, a professional at the Guadalajara Observatory, who has completed his working period and won the well-deserved retirement award.”

The Government delegate concluded her speech by recalling the motto of this commemoration: “Reduce the gap in early warnings together. To do this, we must insist on the necessary awareness and education of the citizens to understand the information provided and be able to act accordingly. This is a task in which public administrations must be decisively involved and which is on the agenda of the Government of Spain.”

The event concluded with a lecture by Miguel Ángel Gaertner, Professor of Earth Physics at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, entitled “Climatology and energy transition: analysis of emerging renewable energy resources”.