Environmental organizations have met with the President of the Government

Environmental organizations have met with the President of the Government to ask for more ambition and leadership in the face of the ecological and social crisis.

The five main environmental organizations—Friends of the Earth, Ecologists in Action, Greenpeace, SEO/BirdLife and WWF—met early in the morning with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to discuss various issues related to climate change. , the loss of biodiversity and the gap of inequalities that we experience.

The directors, directors and/or coordinators of the organizations that have participated in the meeting have recognized some of the progress that is taking place in this matter, but have highlighted the importance of strong and clear leadership that this Government must have at the level international (in the International Ocean Treaty, underwater mining, the COP or the Convention on Biological Diversity), European (especially now that the date for Spain to occupy the European presidency is approaching) and national, with what remains to be achieved .

For this reason, they have conveyed to the executive several specific requests that have revolved around four axes:

1. Climate change and energy transition. To respect the ecological limits set by science in the face of the climate emergency, it is essential not to lose track of the energy transition towards an efficient, intelligent and democratic renewable 100 % system, ending dependence on fossil fuels and avoiding the danger of the nuclear energy.

The deployment of clean and safe energy must be accelerated in all sectors, with guarantees that it does not produce negative impacts on nature and that the benefit of renewables reaches all people, especially the most vulnerable and those who will live with them in their proximity.

For this, transparency and participation are essential, so that the transition is carried out together with citizens, which is why environmental organizations have pointed out that the Government's leadership in this field is necessary, to guarantee the definitive takeoff of the energy communities. and shared self-consumption.

Friends of the Earth, Ecologists in Action, Greenpeace, SEO/BirdLife and WWF have commented that money should not be invested in fossil infrastructures that tie us to climate change and energy insecurity, nor should Spain become a “gas hub” for the rest of the EU.

Organizations have been very concerned about the recent announcement by the EU to include gas and nuclear energy as green energies in the EU taxonomy. They consider that the Government should maintain the rejection it has had from the first moment and, consistently, promote legal action against the delegated act and promote that it not be applied in Spain.

Furthermore, they have reminded the executive that what they expect from a Government convinced of the urgency of climate change is firm and distinguished action. Therefore, Spain must move from the current and meager emissions reduction target of 23 % to 55 % in 2030 compared to 1990, without further delay. These more ambitious objectives require a deep and urgent transformation of the sectors with the greatest responsibility for emissions, such as energy, transport and food.

2. Protection of biodiversity. At the international level, after important meetings on this matter were postponed on several occasions - such as the CBD (United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity) that will finally be held in December in Montreal, or the last round of negotiations on the Treaty International Oceans Conference which will take place in New York in August – the destruction of nature continues, not only globally but also in Europe.

To date, none of the previously agreed biodiversity targets for 2020 have been met. For environmental organizations, Spain must lead the development of European legislation on nature restoration and increase its leadership position in the negotiations of the global diversity framework at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

At the state level, Friends of the Earth, Ecologistas en Acción, Greenpeace, SEO/BirdLife and WWF have highlighted the importance of our natural capital in this context and of investing in nature protection. Amid extreme concern in Spain about fires, organizations have pointed out the need to promote extensive livestock farming and change the extinction paradigm to one based on prevention and forest management. They have proposed as a concrete measure a PERTE for ecological restoration, which invests in the recovery of our ecosystems and in the generation of employment.

3. Rural development. It is essential to guarantee the quality of life and essential services of the rural population, as a matter of justice and so that they can play their key role in the environmental emergency, the protection of ecosystems and food production. For this reason, we must urgently move forward in the development of state measures (tax and Social Security bonuses, state investments in employment and entrepreneurship) that favor the settlement of the population.

Environmental organizations have discussed with the president the challenges of the agri-food system and the urgency of raising its priority on the agenda, as well as working to establish food sovereignty and security. The solutions involve a transformation that reduces all the external inputs that make this system enormously vulnerable, as well as the increase in the surface area in ecological production, all of this integrated into nature to face the various agrarian, climatic and biodiversity crises. . A CAP (and PERTE) aligned with these objectives is necessary.

In this sense, the entities propose, in line with the European Network for Rural Development, that “rural proofing”—or rural development filter—be incorporated in addition to the biodiversity impact filter in the deployment of all laws, as as is currently done with climate change or the gender perspective.

4. Social justice. Friends of the Earth, Ecologists in Action, Greenpeace, SEO/BirdLife and WWF have shown their support for those measures taken in the Royal Anti-Crisis Decree and those announced in the National Debate aimed at redistributing wealth, favoring and helping those most They are being affected by inflation and have fewer means, and those that make companies and banks – which paradoxically are getting richer from the crises – also “lend their shoulders” through taxes.

In this crisis, measures are also necessary to make us less dependent on fossil fuels. For this reason, environmental organizations have applauded the measures aimed at promoting the use of public transport and not those that encourage the consumption of fossil fuels, such as the 20 cent discount on fuel, which also does not take into account progressivity as it is directed equally to the entire population.

In any case, we must not forget that to promote energy savings, the use of public transport is not enough for the vouchers to be free, but rather to reinforce the service, improve frequencies and make the train a backbone vector of sustainable mobility that reaches to all points of the national geography, for which, the closure of regional train lines that are being carried out must be reversed.

In addition to specific measures to alleviate the effects of inflation, environmental organizations have highlighted the importance of establishing structural measures to prevent crises from being paid for by “the usual ones.” For this reason, Friends of the Earth, Ecologists in Action, Greenpeace, SEO/BirdLife and WWF have reiterated their request for the implementation of a tax reform whose taxes come from where they have to come from: fair and green taxation. A tax system that supports rural areas, where those who have the most and those who pollute the most pay more, and that serve to pay for public services and social protection, that lead us to a true ecological transition, that guarantee rights and lives worth living. for all people.