Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S new climate change and energy law was passed by Congress in Madrid today(May 13).
It aims to make Spain a carbon-neutral country by 2050.
All new car sales will be restricted to electric vehicles by 2040 with a total ban on ‘traditional’ cars being used ten years later.
The passage of the law was delayed over the last two years due to a series of general elections and the coronavirus pandemic.
The only party to vote against the new law was the far-right Vox party, with the right-of-centre Partido Popular abstaining.
The Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, said: “This measure is ten years overdue compared to our European colleagues”.
In a swipe at her political opponents, Ribera added: “This law has been postponed for too long since there are threats that do not follow political lines.”
The measures look to cut carbon emissions by at least 23% over the next nine years based on 1990 figures, but the aim is to substantially improve on that target.
The law requires cities of 50,000 or more people to introduce low carbon emission zones.
Traditional coal mining will end and coal-fired power plants will be decommissioned by 2025..
The government believes that their ‘green’ policies will create up to 350,000 new jobs per year until 2030.
It estimates that the Spanish economy will grow by around 1.8% in 2030 as a result of the investment in the new green policies.
A new national climate change plan will be produced every five years.
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