Ministry of Science promotes research and innovation to tackle the climate emergency in Spain

Through the Public Research Bodies and the Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures, the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities is promoting research and innovation to tackle the climate emergency in Spain.

The Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, explained that "this commitment to science and R&D&I that we have been promoting for some years aims to offer a more effective response, for example, to the forest fires that are currently ravaging our country, and also to other climatic emergencies we have seen previously, such as the volcano in La Palma and the DANA in Valencia".

Specifically, since 2020, and through the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Ministry has developed 51 national research projects on topics related to forest fires. Between 2023 and 2025 alone, the CSIC carried out a total of 34 projects at national level and a further eight at international level, funded with more than €11 million.

The projects have been carried out in 18 CSIC research centres, located in eight autonomous communities (Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia, Madrid and Murcia), and the general objective of their lines of action is a reduction of the overall vulnerability of forest systems to fires and the development of measures aimed at their prevention, monitoring and extinction

In the last six years, CSIC has also signed 23 contracts with companies, mostly for technological support, and has developed different technologies related to forest fire extinction, such as sensors to guide firefighters within the areas affected by the fire, minimising their exposure to highly dangerous areas; devices for detecting victims in high mountains, and tools for detecting, predicting and monitoring drought, which has made it possible to carry out projects, among others, related to the verification, monitoring and evaluation of the technical suitability of systems for fire extinction installations; the updating and evaluation of fire protection systems; the optimisation of agents for forest fire extinction; the verification and monitoring of systems for specific water supply networks for fire extinction installations, and the technical evaluation of non-potable water supply and delivery systems for firefighting purposes for the possible granting of the Technical Approval Document (DIT).

The CSIC has a large number of groups working on this issue, the Forest Fires research group at the Institute of Forest Sciences (INIA-CSIC) standing out for its a long track record in reducing the risk of these phenomena thanks to different studies. The centre has a singular and unique infrastructure in Spain which, for example, allows combustion tests of plant material aimed at improving technologies and decision making in fire prevention, restoration and extinction to be carried out at different scales. The work of the research group on forest fires at the Galician Biological Mission Centre (MBG-CSIC) also stands out in this area.

More than €180 million in R+D+I

Through the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI), the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities has committed more than €118 million in R&D&I actions in the field of climate change, and in particular forest fires.

For its part, the State Research Agency (AEI), which reports to the Ministry, has earmarked more than €65 million in aid since 2020 to finance research and innovation actions related to fires and climate change.

One example is the GAIA project, funded through the Transmissions programme in collaboration between the AEI and the CDTI and the AEI, which aims to increase knowledge in forest environments by using intelligence, real-time threat assessment and context to support decision making in cases of fire and reforestation needs. It is made up of six companies and two universities.

Satellite data for environmental emergency prevention and management

The Spanish Space Agency (AEE), which depends on the Ministry of Science, is promoting several projects and initiatives for the collection and use of satellite data for the prevention and management of environmental emergencies such as forest fires, floods, landslides and monitoring of critical infrastructures.

One example is the Atlantic Constellation, an industrial and technological cooperation project between Spain and Portugal comprising 16 satellites, which will make it possible to capture multiple daily images of the Iberian peninsula to monitor all types of ecological and atmospheric phenomena and improve the operational management of emergency services and evacuation planning.

The European Copernicus programme, in which ESA takes part, also currently has a network of satellites producing images that provide information on what is happening on the Earth's surface, in the atmosphere, and on the surface of the sea.

For example, this programme enables the Emergency Management Service to provide accurate geospatial information to support decision making in the event of imminent or ongoing natural or man-made disasters.

For its part, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias is promoting Earth observation projects using its own satellites (ALISIO-1 and VINIS), and developing cameras (DRAGO) with a dual objective: to contribute to the prevention and early monitoring of fires and droughts in the framework of adaptation to climate change, and to provide high-precision information to support the recovery and sustainable management of affected areas.

Study of the impact of forest fires on the earth's atmosphere

Through the Air Pollution Characterisation and Control Unit, the Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT) studies how anthropogenic activities (energy production, industry or transport) and also some increasingly relevant natural phenomena such as Saharan dust intrusions and forest fires have an impact on air quality and climate change in urban and rural areas.

The Centre for the Development of Renewable Energies (CEDER-CIEMAT) has several projects under way that contribute to the prevention of forest fires through the valorisation of bush biomass (steppe, rockrose, juniper) and the remains of forest exploitation from thinning and pruning (pine and juniper groves, etc.) to obtain natural extracts and different bioproducts. It is also investigating alternative crops on marginal land that tends to be abandoned due to lack of profitability.

SALUS Project

Some of the supercomputers of the ICTS Spanish Supercomputing Network work on fire prediction, as is the case of the National Supercomputing Centre (BSC-CNS) through its SALUS project, which brings together a consortium of four partners recognised for their experience in forest fires and their commitment to improving social resilience, risk awareness, and public preparedness for forest fires.

The expected outputs are designed to generate immediate impact through:

• The participation of relevant actors.
• The implementation of operational pilot projects in one or more areas of Spain.
• The drive for scaling up, which would strengthen institutional capacity and support the socio-economic and ecological transition to more resilient communities.

In the short term, SALUS will contribute to the availability of science-based tools to improve understanding and mapping of the changing risks of extreme wildfires. In the medium term, the project is supported by an ambitious marketing and dissemination plan to scale beyond Spain, in line with the forest fire objectives within the EU's 2030 climate and energy framework.

Erasmus+ projects linked to fire and forestry management

Last, the Spanish Service for the Internationalisation of Education carries out Erasmus+ projects related to fire and forest management:

• MeetYourForest (MYF)" project in the Concello de Salceda de Caselas, Galicia (Adult Education), whose main objective is to combat the abandonment of forest land and promote sustainable forest management in Galicia, where a large part of the territory is covered by forest mass.
• "VET to Stop Deforestation" project at IES La Merced, in Valladolid (Vocational Training), which led to the development of an innovative solution through the introduction of solar cookers, reducing the felling of trees and providing a sustainable alternative for cooking and drinking water. Local capacity building in clean energy and sustainability has also been promoted, strengthening the resilience of communities to climate change and improving health and food security.

Non official translation