Mariano Rajoy asserts that Spain "wants to be at the forefront in the commitment" to fight against climate change

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and Environmental Affairs, Madrid

Mariano Rajoy explained that climate change is "one of the greatest challenges we are facing" and "a challenge that is called to define our times". He outlined some figures to underscore the "extraordinary impact" of this phenomenon: last century, the sea level rose by almost 20 centimetres; Arctic ice is becoming less dense and even disappearing; deserts are growing, and extreme meteorological phenomena, such as droughts and storms, are increasingly more frequent.

United in the fight against climate change

"The fight against climate change is such a great responsibility that it will show the true measure of each society", and it is necessary "to take urgent measures" in this respect, added the President of the Government. Along these lines, he highlighted the "great leap in ambition" that has been shown between the Kyoto Protocol signed in 1997 and the Paris Agreement in 2015: the latter places an obligation on the 146 countries that ratified it and showing that "we are now all fighting on a united front" thanks to the "new state of global awareness".

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoPresident of the Government Rajoy also underlined the leadership of the European Union in this area, since "it has taken on the greatest commitment from among those proposed": to reach the year 2030 with 40% fewer emissions than in 1990 and to reach the year 2050 with between 80% and 95% fewer emissions than in that year.

According to the President of the Government, Spain also "wants to be at the forefront of this commitment" and "to be a decisive player in this fight", as it has been doing in recent years. To that end, he will push through the Climate Change and Energy Transition Act that "the government seeks to make a reality in this term of office" and which must be the result of both political and scientific consensus. In this regard, he announced that in the coming weeks a public consultation process will take place so that the new law takes on board the most important proposals.

Spain's commitment

Mariano Rajoy referred to the "innovative initiatives" that have already been taken, such as the Plans to Promote the Environment and the Carbon Footprint Register. He explained that the involvement of key sectors has been achieved in order to make progress on "reducing emissions and take steps towards a new model of production and sustainable consumption". By doing so, "emissions have not only been reduced, but we have also managed to show that economic growth is not necessarily tied to an increase in emissions", he pointed out.

The President of the Government argued that "Spain is a country that is already meeting its commitments" and has shown this in relation to the Kyoto Protocol, to the Paris Agreement and to the Convention on Climate Change. "Between 2012 and 2015, we have contributed some 1.4 billion euros of climate financing to developing nations and our goal is to increase our contribution to 900 million euros per annum as from the year 2020".

Lower carbon economy and energy transition

Mariano Rajoy stated that future challenges include "minimising the impact of climate change" and "de-carbonising" the main productive sectors while stimulating economic growth, job creation and competitiveness. In order to achieve these goals, technological innovation plays a key role".

In short, it is a question of pushing through an energy transition, added the President of the Government, because the goal is "to improve our well-being whilst using less energy and reducing the climate footprint". To achieve that, it is essential "to strengthen transparency and maintain the financial sustainability of energy systems", as well as "to draft a long-term plan that sets the goals in terms of renewables and energy efficiency".

New renewable energy auction

After pointing out that 40% of all electricity consumed in Spain comes from clean energies, Mariano Rajoy referred to the recent auction of renewable energies held by the government, at which demand was almost three times the supply on offer. "3,000 MW of renewable power were awarded, representing a 10% increase on the previous volume".

This success suggests we should continue down this path. In this regard, the President of the Government announced a second auction of renewable energies, with another 3,000 MW, which will "give an additional boost to our strategy on this matter".

Pool Moncloa/ Diego CrespoBefore ending his speech, Mariano Rajoy pointed out that "we need the Spanish people to subscribe to this process", because "we all have a great deal at stake here" and because Spain has "the talent and the interest" in becoming "a benchmark in the energy transition and in the fight against climate change".

The presentation of this workshop on climate change was also attended by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Isabel García Tejerina, the Minister for Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda, Álvaro Nadal, and the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias-Cañete, who introduced the speech of the President of the Government.