At the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez stated that climate change has claimed over 20,000 lives in Spain in the past five years, citing the DANA floods in Valencia that killed 229 people. Sánchez advocates for green transition as an engine of growth and calls for elections in the Valencian Community to break the 'climate denialist majority'. He also announces higher taxes on premium flights and a 45 million euro contribution to climate agencies.
Pedro Sánchez spoke on November 7, 2025, during the second day of COP30 in Belém, Brazilian Amazonia, organized by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Seated next to Lula, Sánchez detailed the severity of climate change: “Climate change kills and increasingly so. It has claimed over 20,000 lives in Spain in five years”. He recalled the DANA floods in Valencia, which caused 229 deaths, and prolonged heatwaves. “To those who believe in science: you can count on Spain”, he added, contrasting his support for climate summits with European resistances and Donald Trump's stance in the US.
Sánchez stressed that climate change not only kills but impoverishes: in three years, it has generated 44 billion euros in losses in the EU. He defended not yielding to deniers: “There is no way to convince someone who has blindfolded themselves. Today I speak to those who do not back down frightened by denialist forces”. He highlighted Spain's model: “In Spain we believe in the green transition as an engine of growth. Our economy is one of the fastest growing in the EU. We are demonstrating that it is possible to grow while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Renewables already generate more electricity than coal”.
He announced that Spain and other countries will tax premium class flights and private jets more heavily: “It is fair that those who earn more and pollute more pay more”. Additionally, he pledged 45 million euros to international climate agencies. Lula, for his part, urged courage and a roadmap to end fossil fuel dependence, stating: “Scientists have done their part, in this COP negotiators will seek understandings, and we leaders must decide if the 21st century will be remembered as that of climate catastrophe or intelligent reconstruction”.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz lamented the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and supported European cooperation, promising a 'significant contribution' to Brazil's rainforest fund, though requesting time for details. Sánchez arrived in Belém the previous night and spoke after the family photo and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
From the summit, Sánchez called for elections in the Valencian Community following Carlos Mazón's resignation: “The problem was not only Mazón and his negligence; it was also a denialist parliamentary majority that minimized and trivialized the response to the climate emergency. More than 230 people suffered the negligence and that denialism. If there is something to fear, it is Abascal's denialism and not the voice of the citizens”. He insisted on completing the legislature until 2027 through dialogue, even without new budgets, and expressed confidence in unblocking laws with Junts, assuring that EU funds are not at risk.