The new Spanish climate plan is ready. This Monday, the environmental strategic statement was published in the BOE, which includes without modification the improved objectives for reducing gas emissions, the weight of renewable energies or energy efficiency presented in the June 2023 draft.
The Integrated Climate Energy Plan (PNIEC) plans to reduce CO2 emissions by 32% by 2030 compared to the 1990 volume, 11 points more than in the previous 2021 plan. To achieve this objective, the new version specifies – as was already announced more than a year ago – that 81% of electricity will be produced from renewable sources (7 points more) and that Spain’s energy dependence will remain at 50%.
The draft of this plan has already received the approval of the European Commission last August and is now awaiting the final document which must be approved by the Council of Ministers to be sent to Brussels.
The main objective of this plan is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that Spain releases into the atmosphere each year, the main cause of climate change. It is a roadmap for the Spanish economy to be “carbon neutral” by 2050. This means that emissions are so low that the CO2 absorbed in sinks such as forests is zero-sum.
Although the initial PNIEC only dates from 2021, it had to be revised upwards to comply with new European Union climate legislation which increased emission reduction requirements for the whole Union.
What reflects a certain change in the project are the socio-economic parameters. According to the impact study, the PNIEC will involve investments worth 308 billion euros (compared to 294,000 a year ago) with a GDP growth of 3.2% by 2030. The plan estimates that 560,000 jobs can be created (the previous forecast was half a million).
Environmental protection
However, the environmental statement explains that the “proponents” of the plan – the Office of Climate Change and the Directorate of Energy Planning and Coordination – recognise that “there is a debate in society about the process, pace and nature of this transformation”.
For this reason, the environmental study emphasizes that it is necessary to “monitor that changes in land use [para montar, por ejemplo, paneles solares] They are produced in a manner compatible with environmental conservation” while compensating “the advantages and disadvantages for the affected populations”. Also that the implementation of new energy technologies must “contribute to rural, sustainable and equitable development for all inhabitants, by promoting the energy self-sufficiency of cities and by promoting “the repopulation or maintenance of the existing population in areas vulnerable to depopulation”.
The rapid deployment of renewable energy sources (such as photovoltaic and wind) has generated opposition movements in different areas. This is why it is insisted that this deployment must aim to “reduce levels of energy poverty, promote the economic and social development of rural areas, maintain economic activity and support a fair transition for the populations of the regions affected by the energy transition process”.
