The Climate Emergency Marathon gets under way

01/02/2024 - 11:06 h

Climate change. Over fifty buildings and facilities are taking part in this year’s marathon, which will run from 2 February to 1 March 2024.

Barcelona City Council’s Climate Emergency Marathon is a month-long campaign for awareness and good practice in the use and consumption of energy and water at various municipal buildings and facilities, with the financial savings achieved in this period used to help projects tackling climate change.

Various municipal buildings and facilities around all the city’s districts are taking part in the Climate Emergency Marathon throughout the month of February. During this period, workers and users will be adopting measures to reduce consumption. The consumption of water, electricity and natural gas will be monitored every week to calculate the related CO₂ emissions, the goal being to reduce consumption compared to usual levels.

The financial savings will be calculated and used for projects to combat climate change. This year’s savings will be used to make improvements to control temperatures in homes and shelter housing for the elderly, as part of the Residències Refugi project.

The Climate Emergency Marathon aims to highlight the need for action to combat the climate emergency we’re currently up against. The rhythm of water and power consumption in today’s society is not sustainable and has serious consequences for the planet. We can use our water and energy consumption habits, as well as the way we separate waste, to minimise the impact on climate change.

The website also includes a series of recommendations for us to contribute individually, with actions to help reduce our carbon footprint and fight the climate emergency. Given the emergency situation caused by drought, this first week’s efforts, from 5 to 9 February, will focus on reducing water consumption.