Spanish Government Declares Climate Emergency

As if storm Gloria was sweeping across the country to show how necessary and timely his action was, on January 21^st, 2020 the newly elected Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared Spain to be in a situation of climatic emergency. This was as a first formal step in his long-announced fight against global warming. Within 100 days, the government will introduce their climate change bill into parliament, which will be at the heart of Spain's new climate and environmental protection policy.

In accordance with EU plans for the so-called Green Deal, Spain wants to reduce their net carbon dioxide emissions to zero, net emission meaning the actual emissions minus the amounts of CO2 withdrawn from the atmosphere by decarbonization measures. To reach this goal, Spain plans to have up to 95 per cent of their power supplied from renewable sources by 2040. In addition, busses and trucks shall run exhaust-free and the agriculture be climate neutral. Further details are to be published with the presentation of the bill in parliament.

With their declaration of Climate Emergency, Spain follows the example of other countries in the EU. The French parliament had taken that same decision during the July heat wave, and in Germany, too, many communal parliaments have declared themselves in a situation of climatic emergency since May 2019.

The next move will be to send a bill on climate change to parliament. The plan is to generate up to 95 per cent of electricity from renewable energies by 2040. Exhaust emission from busses and trucks are to be cut down to zero, and agriculture is to be re-shaped with the aim to make it carbon-neutral. A big vision which will hopefully come true.

We will keep you posted.

Sources

• https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2020/01/22/spain-declares-state-of-climate-emergency-as-pedro-sanchez-aims-to-make-country-95-renewable-by-2040/
• https://renewablesnow.com/news/spain-declares-climate-emergency-684463/

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