The PNIEC increases ambition by 9%, but it is still insufficient

The PNIEC increases ambition by 9%, but it is still insufficient

• The 9% increase in emissions reductions is still far from keeping global temperature rise to 1.5ºC.
• Following communication to the European Union, these objectives should not be subject to any further reduction, as required by international commitments.
• Ecologists in Action will continue to evaluate the measures contained in this new draft of the Climate and Energy Plan to demand planning and greater ambition.

The Council of Ministers has just approved the submission to the European Union of the draft of the new Integrated National Climate and Energy Plan (PNIEC). The increase to 32% of the reduction of emissions is a small additional commitment, but it is still far from reaching the -55% required. The meteorological situation of recent years is a clear example of the consequences of climate change on people's health, on food, on the increase in inequality and on many other vital issues. Taking additional measures in energy planning in sectors such as transport, agriculture or waste management could help to meet the objectives.

Ecologistas en Acción once again points out that the process of preparing this draft of the Integrated National Climate and Energy Plan has been carried out without subjecting the objectives of the plan to debate, which would have allowed for the improvement of many of the actions contemplated. This draft has been made public after its approval by the Council of Ministers. It does not contain any assessment of the costs and benefits of proposing reductions greater than 55% in emissions, as demanded by the scientific community and civil society. Alianza por el Clima, a platform of which Ecologistas en Acción is a member, pointed out a few months ago that the public participation process for preparing this draft had not been adequate.

The plan includes 46 new measures to achieve the proposed new objectives. Sectors such as electricity production, the refining industry and industries subject to the emissions trading system face a greater reduction compared to the previous plan. However, for Ecologistas en Acción it is paradoxical to see that a substantial increase in the implementation of renewable energies, the development of storage and an increase in self-consumption is still not capable of achieving completely renewable electricity generation, which, in the opinion of the environmental organization, should be possible before 2030.

This deployment of renewables must be carried out accordingly with substantial environmental and social values in the territory. Thus, although the draft includes the need to incorporate measures for the compatibility of renewables with ecosystems, the reality is that many of the measures contemplated should already be in place or have not been sufficient. On the contrary, the commitment continues to shorten the procedures for the development of this technology, which has been clearly rejected by numerous territorial organisations and platforms.

Ecologists in Action point out that this PNIEC must be subject to a detailed Strategic Environmental Assessment capable of ordering technological substitution towards the minimum climatic, social and environmental impact. The organization warns that a commitment to an energy model closer to the points of consumption and in the hands of citizens is necessary. It also points out the importance of beginning the decarbonization of some industrial processes. In this sense, technologies such as hydrogen could be helpful, but the commitment to incorporate the production of large quantities of hydrogen for export, or to replace uses that can be based directly on renewable energies, will lead to greater territorial tensions and will detract resources from the decarbonization of electricity production.

In the plan, the measures related to transport and agriculture are timid. They hardly change from the previous proposal and their current emissions. These sectors are highly emitting and their transformation is necessary to reverse a high carbon impact economy. The reduction of long global trade chains, the reduction of dependence on private vehicles or the transition to a local or more agro-ecological diet are urgent measures that cannot be delayed. Priority must be given to the transport of passengers and goods by rail, improving the quality and efficiency of this means of transport. The growth and expansion of large transport infrastructures must also be limited. The objective is to reduce demand, not to expand it. Likewise, compliance with emissions reductions at a local level must be guaranteed, in accordance with the Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition and the Royal Decree on Low Emission Zones, limiting the construction of new car parks and reducing traffic-attracting centres. The environmental organisation considers the elimination of traffic reduction measures or cycle lanes that are being implemented by various town councils following the last municipal and regional elections to be unacceptable.

The presentation of this draft to the European Union represents a new commitment by the Spanish State to reduce its emissions by 2030. An objective that should not be subject to a reduction, as established by the international commitments signed in the Paris Agreement. Announcements of steps backwards in the climate fight or avoiding the closure and promoting the reopening of fossil and nuclear projects are, in the words of Ecologistas en Acción, unacceptable: “They mean giving carte blanche to the same companies and economic interests that are guilty of the climate emergency,” says Javier Andaluz, head of Climate and Energy at the environmental organization. For this reason, Ecologistas en Acción insists that protecting the future for people and the planet requires facing the climate emergency.