Speech by President of the Govenrment at COP 24 Climate Summit

Katowice (Poland)

Good day. Thank you Mr President, ladies and gentlemen.

It has been many years now since the impact of climate change was dissipated. And to those who denied this Science has clearly demonstrated what was in fact obvious, namely that this was and remains a real challenge.

Science has done its job and hence, it is now down to us to do ours. This is not, consequently, a divisive cause, or something on ideological or cultural grounds. This is a global cause, which is founded on human dignity.

We must, therefore, choose to remain inactive or to act as one, with collaborative leadership, instead of being tempted to pull back.

Because the question today is clear. Are we meeting the goals set, yes or no? And the answer, according to all those of us who are here is no. We are far from attaining the climate targets set in 2015, as shown by the growth in global emissions in 2017.

And it is thus time to step up our commitment to multilateralism, through institutions such as the United Nations, and also the European Union.

It is time to implement the commitments taken on, and make progress on the full application of the Paris Agreement. The roadmap is thus clear: to reduce emissions, implement sustainable economic development that is fair and inclusive, and foster societies adapted to climate change.

Katowice must thus represent a before and an after in laying the foundations for a more ambitious vision and taking on greater responsibilities, if indeed possible.

Spain, ladies and gentlemen, shares this vision. And it has signed up to the Declaration sponsored by the President of Austria to this end. We are going to meet the national emissions target for 2020, but we also want to go further; we are a country susceptible to the effects of climate change, and our society is aware of this challenge.

We have signed up to the Carbon Neutrality Coalition to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by the year 2050, and we also encourage others to sign up to this coalition.

We want to move towards our target of mobilising 900 million euros per annum as from the year 2020. Spain is working on a comprehensive agenda, through the Ministry of Ecological Transition, albeit from a cross-cutting perspective, to implement the government's actions, with such instruments as the Climate Change and Energy Transition Acts that we will shortly put before the Lower House of Parliament.

My government is decisively committed to efficiency, to renewable energies, and also to electric mobility. And we are going to set clear and ambitious targets for the year 2020, as indeed for the years 2030 and 2050.

We must offer certainty and confidence, not only to economic investors, but also, and particularly, to our citizens.

Our proposal for the year 2030 will be to reduce our current levels of emissions by 37%, and for 2050 to reduce them by at least 90% to attain carbon neutrality.

Air quality, the impact on the most vulnerable groups and the modernisation of our industry are the drivers of our commitment.

My commitment, ladies and gentlemen, is to approve a raft of measures to combat climate change, and to thus work along a viable path towards the decarbonisation of our economy.

I am aware of the impact of these measures on the regions, on sectors and on the most exposed groups, but the response must be clear: there must be a just ecological transition; we are going to be pioneers in the design of a national strategy for a just transition, which takes into account the impact in specific zones, and particularly in the mining districts. Along this line, we support the Silesia Declaration on solidarity and the just transition presented today in Katowice, which has also included contributions from the main international trade unions.

In conclusion, the time to act is now. Spain has made a clear choice to act for a transition that is urgent and must not be delayed, which will only bear fruit if we all act honestly, with common sense and responsibility.

Thank you very much, Mr President.

(Transcript edited by State Secretariat for Communication)

Non official translation