Teresa Ribera: “With our development model we take the planet to its limits”

The Vice President for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge affirms that this pandemic shows us that we cannot live with our backs to nature and that we must reduce the environmental debt that our children will receive.

Minister Teresa Ribera (Madrid, 1969) believes that it is possible to face the current health and ecological crisis at the same time with resources such as the Climate Change Adaptation Plan and the Energy and Climate Plan promoted by her portfolio. To do this, it recognizes that we must reduce our environmental mortgage and tend to climate neutrality. In short, it leaves a clear message: it is time to decide what kind of country we want.

Question: How important is World Environment Day? Reality tells us that there is no other, isn’t it?

Answer: Yes, it is a pity, but there is no choice but to continue working, raising awareness and rebuilding the nature that we have destroyed. We have made progress, but the numbers are devastating. Environmental protection regulation and other active standards must be made operational and consistent, ensuring that the right message of environmental protection is sent.

Question: The central theme of this year is biodiversity, which also reminds us of the necessary coexistence between species, including viruses…

Answer: This year, more than ever, we are realizing the cost of living with our backs to nature. This explains why the EU has decided to place the Green Deal at the backbone of its recovery agenda. Today we face the debate about what kind of country we want. It is important not to waste the opportunity to invest in the future.

Question: Could it be that Covid-19 is diverting attention from other natural emergencies, such as biodiversity itself or climate change?

Answer: Fighting the virus has been an absolute priority in the Government’s action and, for this, we have had to change mobility drastically. This has reduced pressures on air quality and green spaces, but we are not facing structural change. What it does allow us to do is rebuild in a different way. We must ensure that resources for recovery do not increase our environmental mortgage and reduce the debt our children will inherit. We have a lot of progress: the National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan, both for 2021-2030, mark the great economic, employment, innovation and well-being opportunities for our children.

Question: Can the coronavirus be understood as a warning that we have to change many things?

Answer: We enjoyed a sense of security that was not such. With our development model we take the planet to its limits. The good news is that solutions are within our reach and that we can tackle the two battles, health and environmental, together.

Question: Does this crisis give us to understand that we must change our model?

Answer: The key is to build on the best scientific knowledge, build resilience and strengthen cooperation, very much in line with the Paris Agreement. The next 10 years will be decisive. It is time to lay the foundation for a smart recovery. Climate neutrality-oriented solutions make environmental, social and economic sense.

Question: What kind of consequences could the new normal have regarding the impulse that the automotive industry was taking towards a new greener and smoke-free mobility?

Answer: Mobility is one of the most relevant aspects when analyzing the impact of the pandemic. Public transport is the best option: sanitized and with masks, it offers effective, affordable and clean solutions. There are other changes, such as teleworking or even staggering hours, which is a good test bed to improve demand management. And a third variable: the transformation of the automotive sector towards more environmentally and economically sustainable premises. This process was underway and the Government wants to accompany it because it is part of the great needs and opportunities for economic activity, employment and modernization of the country.

Question: But there are already studies that claim that the fear of contagion can lead people to prefer the use of the private car … How could this issue be tackled if sustainable mobility solutions began to be booming?

Answer: Removing obstacles. Let’s think about someone who is considering cycling to work: they will weigh whether the route is safe and comfortable; if you can travel by metro with it… If there are facilities, you will opt for the bike. At the same time, the management of public transport demand must come to the fore. I believe that public services are responding, and we must continue in this line so that citizens have safe alternatives to the private car and traffic jams.

Question: Can the massive use of gloves and other products to prevent contagion go against the important advance in terms of awareness of plastic recycling that seemed to be penetrating people?

Answer: During the health crisis, we have made an effort to raise awareness about waste prevention. Proper hand hygiene is often preferable to gloves and it is safer to wash dishes than to use disposable dishes. These products can also be a vector of contagion. On the other hand, we have just started the processing of the draft waste law that imposes measures to limit and tax the consumption of single-use plastics, and with which to address the problem of waste beyond the conjunctural situation of Covid-19.

Source: Expansión