Spain will vote in favour of ratification by the European Union of the Paris Climate Agreement, says Isabel García Tejerina

Before attending the extraordinary Council of EU Environment Ministers in Brussels on Friday, the Spanish Minister for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Affairs, Isabel García Tejerina, stressed that Spain will vote in favour and do everything possible for the European Union to ratify the Paris Climate Agreement as soon as possible.

Leadership by the European Union

While speaking to the media, Isabel García Tejerina stressed that the Paris Climate Summit "was a success thanks to the leadership by the European Union, which made ambitious diplomatic efforts". In this regard, the Spanish minister expressed Spain's wish for the European Union to continue leading the fight against climate change at a global level.

Isabel García Tejerina also said that the Paris Agreement, which was expected to come into effect in 2018, will do so much earlier than planned. She explained that a decision was reached in Paris for the agreement to take effect when at least 55 countries - representing 55% of emissions - ratify it. At present, 61 countries representing 47.7% of emissions have already ratified the agreement.

Against this backdrop, the Spanish minister insisted on highlighting the importance of the European Union maintaining this leadership vis-a-vis the Paris Agreement.

Spain, leading the fight against climate change

Furthermore, Isabel García Tejerina said that Spain has always sought to be among the countries leading the fight against climate change and has implemented numerous policies in this regard. "This government has promoted a highly significant change in the fight against climate change", said the Spanish minister, who recalled that this policy was previously based exclusively on the purchase of emission rights but not on transforming our economic model.

However, over the last five years, "an effective policy to combat climate change has been implemented that is committed to transforming our economic model towards a lower-carbon model", she said.

Furthermore, the Spanish minister added that many millions have been invested for companies to transform the way they operate and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The Pima Projects and Clima Projects seek this objective, "and we can say today that, thanks to the efforts made, Spain is in a condition to meet the second commitment period" after having complied with Kyoto I.

As regards ratification of the Paris Agreement, Isabel García Tejerina explained that Spain has made all the necessary preparations at an administrative level but cannot ratify the agreement because it only has an acting government in place at the moment. Nonetheless, the Spanish minister clarified that this does not mean that the Government of Spain has stopped working on this issue. In fact, everything is ready to proceed from an administrative point of view.

At any event, Spain continues working to meet its commitments in this regard. To that end, a roadmap was approved for compliance with Kyoto II "and we are already working on a new roadmap for Spain to meet the commitments contained in the Paris Agreement from the outset".