Political context of climate change for businesses
“Mitigating this risk at Repsol is first about reducing our GHG emissions and secondly about transparency and reporting to ensure that stakeholders are able to judge our efforts in accordance with their expectations. With respect to reductions, the Company has a GHG reduction objective that is well on its way to being met and we are
undertaking significant efforts in energy efficiency that will allow us to adopt more ambitious targets for the future”
REPSOL
The politics of climate change in Spain
Although it has made significant progress in reducing its emissions Spain is still short of meeting its Kyoto target for 2012. Spain’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2010 were about 25% higher than the1990 base year and although lower than in 2009 (when they were 30% above target) they are substantially short of Spain’s Kyoto objective, which is to limit the increase to15% of the 1990 levels for the period between 2008 and 2012. Spain is the sixth largest emitter in the EU-27, roughly in line with the overall size of its population and its economy, and in 2009 accounted for about 8% of total EU-27 GHG emissions.
Spain’s GHG emissions
performance, both good and bad, has broadly followed the ups and downs of the country’s economy. Between 1990 and 2008, emissions increased from road transport, electricity and heat production, construction and fuel use from both industry and households at a time when the economy was growing fast and house building expanded rapidly during the second decade of the period. Since 2009, however, GHG emissions have decreased, with economic activity declining during a deep recession and only staging a feeble recovery afterwards. Moreover, Spain’s population which previously expanded rapidly due to immigration during the good economic years declined in 2011 which has also
contributed to reductions in GHG emissions.
However, increased use of renewable energy and a decrease in the use of coal have also contributed to the reductions in GHG emissions. Spain has made significant investments in both energy efficiency and renewable energy. In 2010, renewable energy, including wind power and hydroelectricity, exceeded 10% of Spain’s primary energy supply and generated 32% of the nation’s electricity. Both the Renewable Energy Plan 2005–2010 (PER) and the Spanish Strategy for Energy Savings and Efficiency 2004–2012 (“E4”) have contributed substantially to the objectives of Spain’s climate change policy.
Spain has a target for renewables to deliver 40% of the electricity by 2020 and in the latest Renewable Energy Plan 2011−2020 (PER) renewables are estimated to provide for 22.7% of the gross final energy consumption by 2020.
Since 2004 Spain’s government emphasised the importance of alternative energy for the Spanish economy, especially for job creation. The Spanish government introduced a number of laws and policies covering environmental issues. Climate change policy currently falls under the Estrategia Española de Cambio Climático y Energía Limpia (Spanish Climate Change and Clean Energy Strategy), which covers the period to 2020 and includes 198 measures and 75 indicators on
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