Spain urges EU climate fund, citing €822 billion in losses since 1980

Spain is urging the European Union to make climate adaptation a core economic and security priority by creating a dedicated adaptation fund and imposing binding short-, medium- and long-term targets. Madrid says EU countries have suffered about €822 billion in climate and extreme-weather losses since 1980, while this summer’s heatwaves, wildfires and droughts caused widespread damage, deaths, transportation disruptions and strain on critical infrastructure. Spain proposes financing the fund through measures such as taxes on oil and gas profits, along with possible common EU debt instruments. Its broader plan would require climate-risk assessments every five years at European, national and regional levels and integrate resilience into public planning, infrastructure, land use and investment decisions, initially focusing on areas including water, health, agriculture, biodiversity and emergency response. The proposal comes as the European Commission prepares an updated climate-resilience framework and as member states negotiate the EU’s 2028-2034 budget.