With just 5% of what the Spanish government paid out in emergency funds following the October 2024 Valencia floods, agriculture across the watershed could be transitioned to regenerative systems, and significantly reduce the likelihood of the disaster repeating.

EARA publishes a landmark report presenting the world’s first landscape-scale impact assessment of regenerative agriculture as a flood mitigation strategy. Analysing 316,000 hectares of Valencian farmland, the case study demonstrates the measurable impact of regenerative farming as a cost-effective approach to building climate resilience, positioning farmers and rural communities at the heart of disaster risk management.

The October 2024 Valencia floods caused more than 230 fatalities and generated losses exceeding €20 billion, compounded by decades of agricultural land degradation that stripped the landscape of its capacity to manage water. This report shows that restoring that capacity through regenerative agriculture is not only possible, but economically compelling.

Key findings

Under conventional management, 86% of rainfall becomes surface runoff during a torrential rain event.

Land under regenerative management could reduce surface runoff to 46–58%, retaining up to 200 billion litres more water across the Valencian landscape.

Regenerative management could achieve near-total reduction of mudslides and topsoil erosion from flooding in agricultural fields.

A full 5-year transition of the at-risk agricultural land would cost the equivalent of only 5% of total flood losses, 8.5% of the recovery fund allocated, and 80% of total agricultural losses alone.

The analytical framework is directly transferable to flood-prone agricultural regions across Europe and globally.

Implications beyond Valencia

The findings carry direct implications for finance, insurance, and public policy across Europe. In 2021, global natural disasters generated over €211 billion in total economic losses, of which only €88 billion were insured. In Europe, floods alone caused approximately €46 billion in losses, with just €11 billion covered by insurance. The protection gap is wide, and the need for resilient, long-term land-based solutions is urgent.

EARA calls on governments, insurers, lenders, and policymakers to integrate the report’s methodology and findings into flood risk frameworks, CAP reform proposals, and climate adaptation strategies,  treating regenerative agriculture not as an environmental aspiration, but as a structural tool for systemic risk management.

Regenerative agriculture is not an abstract aspiration. It is a tangible, measurable, and replicable solution, built daily by Europe’s pioneering farmers, and long overdue for the policy and financial support it deserves.