Carbon Disclosure Project 2011 – Iberia Report 125
Letter from Spain
Climate change is recognized as one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. The economic model of recent decades has proven itself to be flawed and unsustainable and the current financial and economic crisis rather than adding uncertainty or acting as an excuse to avoid dealing with this challenge should spur us to bring about a change in the economic system that promotes the inevitable transition to a green economy, sustainable and low in carbon emissions.
This transition requires, however significant leadership and shared efforts by all relevant stakeholders. If we act together we will make it possible for new production and consumption models that appropriately integrate the environmental component to become prime drivers of economic growth, creating new areas of economic activity and new quality employment opportunities. This will also place us on a path of greater competitiveness in the international arena, within a medium and longer term time horizon.
In this new path, the role of the private sector is of paramount importance. The integration of climate change into companies’ strategic plans, will increase their competitiveness in the short term by identifying opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint. Moreover, it will be possible to assess and anticipate the potential risks associated with the impacts of climate change.
And within a broader time horizon, in the context of an economy that must decouple itself from the emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 in order to ensure sustainability, private sector is a key player expected to drive change by taking advantage of opportunities created in strategic industries. As citizens and civil society more generally become increasingly informed and aware, they are demanding this type of commitment from all the economic and industrial agents.
It is very satisfying to find evidence in the CDP 2011 results, that Spanish and Portuguese companies are engaged in this common task and are making steady strides in the direction of more sustainable and low carbon models. This edition of the report shows the increasingly high percentage of companies in our peninsula that are integrating climate change into their business strategies, that adopt proactive policies to reduce their emissions and that consider it a source of business opportunities. This commitment to the real economy as well as a new approach to addressing business challenges is especially gratifying at a time when the financial economy seems to dominate the scene. Therefore, it should be valued as a good indicator of the maturity of our private sector. However, further work is needed in this endeavor in order to convert the opportunities associated with climate change into a common reality.
Additionally, the public sector must go beyond its leadership role in setting reduction targets sufficiently ambitious to achieve the environmental objective of not exceeding a 2°C rise in temperature and in ensuring that carbon is priced at a level that makes investments in clean technologies profitable. Governments must also put in place mechanisms that attract private investments into these new areas of activity by promoting public-private partnership. The policies that have been useful during the last century will not help us to solve the problems of the 21st century. The Government of Spain has shown a firm commitment in the fight against climate change and has launched various initiatives to promote the transition towards a low carbon economy in our country. We are confident that in the coming years we will see a continuation of these efforts and that the Spanish private sector, as evidenced in the results of CDP2011, will further contribute to the continuity and success of this venture. In order to achieve this, it is vital that companies get more involved, take on greater social, environmental and climate related commitments and that citizens and consumers become more keenly aware of this reality. Therefore, we would like to extend our gratitude to CDP as well as all the participating companies of the 2011 edition, both in Portugal and Spain, for their efforts as well as the admirable results and encourage all involved to continue to work in this same direction.
Teresa Ribera Rodríguez Secretary of State
for Climate Change in Spain 6
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