The climate summit in Catalonia concludes without tangible results

The Catalan climate action summit has concluded without tangible results. Some 1,000 people attended this meeting held at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya. The meeting (during the morning) was presented as the final point of a series of 12 working sessions in which the Government had asked some 200 companies and social institutions for greater involvement to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The central idea was to invite them to promote plans to reduce CO2 emissions and to set decarbonization goals for their processes and activities.

The day ended with the presentation of an open document, with a very long list of commitments, to which companies can adhere as a subscription to the letter.

The exclusion of NGOs in this process has been, on the other hand, highly criticized by these entities.

“We do not want to centrifuge the responsibility of the Government towards companies, but we ask them for an additional effort, extra, to act with the speed that the citizen asks us against the climate crisis,” said this week the Minister of Territori i Sostenibilitat, Damià Calvet, when announcing the meaning of the meeting. All this complements the voluntary plans to reduce the emissions of the companies that the Generalitat manages in a regulated manner.

The argument put forward by Calvet is that the Government has already been taking initiatives to face the climate crisis (Canvi Climàtic law, CO2 tax on cars, new decree on renewables …) and that, therefore, it felt credited to question companies and other social actors: “what else can you do against the climate crisis, beyond what you’ve already been doing?”

“The challenge we face is of such magnitude, that the solution cannot be given only by the government, but the involvement of the whole society is required,” said Marta Subirà, secretary of Medi Ambient, aware of this unusual approach.

The highlight of the meeting was to present a document with the general and sectoral commitments assumed by companies and other institutions.

However, this document, which includes a catalog of possible actions, has been disseminated without knowing who will sign each commitment in each case.

From now on it will be the companies that must subscribe to it.

Some companies and employers consulted indicated that their perspectives for action are given by broader and sometimes more precise legal and/or strategic frameworks, which showed some skepticism about the chosen method of participation and the call for voluntary action.

In the presentation session they had three dialogue tables, in which interventions related to the local world were grouped (with the presence of representatives of various local administrations), innovation (with spokespersons of companies and institutions) and relevant examples of action (in charge of other companies). But not an NGO

Criticism for not having been invited “the entities that have put climate change on the political agenda”

For this reason, protests abroad took on an important role. Fifty people from the Xarxa d’Entitats Climàtiques, which includes different entities in the fight against climate change, gathered before the TNC to protest what they consider inaction of the administrations in the face of climate change and its exclusion in these debates.

One of its spokesmen, Álex Guillamon, regretted that a Catalan summit on climate is being faced “without inviting the entities that have put climate change on the political agenda”, while another spokeswoman, María Serra, has remarked that they will not be silenced.

The entities chanted slogans such as Climate Justice now and demanded that Catalonia adopt the goals demanded by United Nations scientists.

Protests

The Xarxa d’Entitats Climàtiques has proposed eleven urgent measures to the Generalitat to address climate change, such as stopping the expansions of the port and the airport or the application of an anti-pollution tax to enter a private vehicle with low occupancy in the Low Emissions Zone of Barcelona.

They also demand to implement the article of the climate change law to reduce the final consumption of energy by 32.5%, the prohibition of single-use plastics, a waste reduction law, guarantee public water management or review the school curriculum to face the state of climate emergency.

Climate justice movements are calling for a reduction in emissions of 7.6% per year in line with UN targets to halt temperatures rising to 1.5°C (compared to pre-industrial times). This will allow us to put the path on track to achieve a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030, as demanded by the scientific community.

Both the minister and the secretary of Medi Ambient, Marta Subirà, insisted that this summit is not the end of a process, as it will have continuity.

For Marta Subirà, the commitments of companies and institutions can be evaluated in the future through this monitoring.

Commitments on the table

The document submitted for consideration by companies establishes the commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and present within a period of less than one year a roadmap to achieve that goal with a detailed and quantified emission reduction plan.

Another commitment is to calculate their emissions annually, publish investments to reduce the carbon footprint and submit a report on their climate behavior.

Voluntary

The Generalitat has set a series of commitments for companies and institutions to adopt them according to their capabilities

The improvement of energy efficiency, contracting electricity supply of renewable origin or seeking a self-consumption of renewable sources of at least 35% within a period of ten years are other points collected. Reducing the climate impact of mobility also involves renewing the fleet of vehicles for zero-emission ones, drafting travel plans for its staff to benefit public transport or teleworking plans and telematic meetings.

To all this, a series of sectoral commitments are added; for example, local administrations are proposed to join the declaration of climate emergency, incorporate these criteria into urban planning, review and adapt ordinances and adapt their budgets to the priority of the climate situation.

The document is now a template open to signature by companies

It was intended that the day was not the scene of a mere voluntarist gesture, but that it became a “notarial act” that makes it possible to make that subsequent follow-up of the commitments acquired. But for now it is a notarial act without a signature. A list of companies making these commitments is not yet available.

The list of goals or good purposes (to which companies and institutions can join by signing a form) will therefore be assumed according to what seems most convenient to them and their capabilities. That template should start filling out from next week.

Quim Torra

The president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, advocated that Catalonia lead the action to fight against climate change and maintained that if Catalonia were independent it could combat the climate crisis with better and more effective instruments.

Torra has assured that it is not time for declarations, but that an “action” is necessary as the young people demand.

His arguments were that the climate emergency challenges the whole society, and that in the same way that Catalonia has had “the capacity to lead revolutions in the past”, it can also lead climate action”.

Torra points out that if Catalonia were independent it would be easier for it to combat the climate crisis and maintains that this goal requires “sacrifices from all”

He stressed that institutions find it difficult to distance themselves from inertia, but that it is necessary to overcome them, so he has advocated “a radical cultural change” as demanded by the current moment. Torra has said that working on climate action and climate change mitigation will require “sacrifices by all,” but that the only way to address a situation like climate is to do it together.

The Minister of Territori, Damià Calvet, was self-critical and said that he will bring together in an upcoming meeting the entities that have not now been consulted.

After the representative of the European Commission in Barcelona, Ferran Taradellas, explained that Europe wants to be a leader in decarbonization and the green industrial revolution, Calvet has assured that he will assume the ‘green deal’ as Government.

Janet Sanz and Eloi Badia

“This is not the time to make diagnoses, it is the time to act,” said the second deputy mayor of Barcelona, Janet Sanz.

The mayor has advocated consensual “concrete actions in the short term” and has urged large infrastructures such as the Josep Tarradellas airport and the port of the Catalan capital to promote concrete plans to reduce polluting emissions.

In the same vein, the vice president of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), Eloi Badia, has warned that “the worst thing we can do is do nothing” because this “will take us directly to the abyss”, and has called for “a radical change” to manage the climate crisis. “Now it’s time to alarm and alert all the approaches we have,” he said.

The delegate president of the Climate Action area of the Diputació de Barcelona, Xesco Gomar, has highlighted the role of the young people who make up Fridays For Future: “They have given us a lesson, they have put us in the direction in which we have to walk and, if we do nothing, we will be co-responsible”.

“Achievable goals”

The president of the Port of Barcelona, Mercè Conesa, affirms that this infrastructure can only be made responsible for the ecological footprint of the interior of the port area.

“We ask for objectives that are achievable because if not, frustration and a dead hope can be generated,” he said.

Conesa has stressed that only the Port can be attributed responsibility for the carbon footprint on the area in which it can act. “If we attribute to the Port of Barcelona the emissions of the entire logistics chain, it will be able to have little impact because it can only act in sheltered waters and in what happens within its territory,” he said.

The Port of Barcelona accounts for 7.6% of the city’s emissions, he said.

Mercè Conesa says that the Port of Barcelona cannot be held responsible for all _CO2 emissions from the logistics chain

Conesa thus replied to the City Council of the Catalan capital, which he accused of “manipulating” the _CO2 emissions data of the port activity and defended that the figures provided by the consistory were “very far” from reality.

Contradictory data

According to the infrastructure, the direct and indirect CO2 emissions of the port activity represent about 315,000 tons per year, while the City Council estimated them at more than 5.3 million tons by also including the emissions of all the international logistics and transport chains where ships that have called at the port in a year intervene. The president of the entity has requested, therefore, that “exactly what is the footprint and emissions of the Port be measured” so that, among all administrations, a consensus is reached on “what is the scenario with which we can work best”.

“Let’s limit well the emissions of the infrastructure itself and encourage it to work to agree on specific objectives,” he insisted.

The Port of Barcelona is working on the goal of reducing 50% of _CO2 emissions by 2030 through a plan to electrify the docks

He also recalled that the Port works with the goal of reducing 50% of CO2 emissions by 2030 through an electrification plan that will begin to be deployed this year so that all ships that dock in the infrastructure have the obligation to be “plugged in”.

For her part, the delegate of Environment of the Diputación de Girona, Anna Barnadas, has appealed to the private sector to collaborate with the public administrations in this objective, while the deputy of Environment of the Diputación de Tarragona, Eva Mata, has questioned the tax on pollutants. “The ‘polluter pays’ is also to open a social gap and this can become an important problem,” he warned in a surprising way.

On the other hand, the first vice president of the Provincial Council of Lleida, Jordi Latorre, has emphasized the circular economy and the importance of consuming zero kilometer products. Finally, the president of the Catalan Association of Municipalities, Lluís Soler, and the vice president of the Federació de Municipis de Catalunya, Montserrat Candini, have promised to strengthen joint work and the dissemination of good practices.

Other critical voices

Other sectors, from outside the conference, censured the summit.

“This is an act of country that inexplicably excludes organizations from the third environmental sector. It is an unheard of fact in this type of social calls in Europe. This decision can only be understood with the attitude of councillor Calvet, who is not prone to debate with critical socio-environmental movements,” says environmentalist Manel Cunill.

Manel Cunill, environmentalist

“It seems to me that it has been an act of contempt for the young people who have filled the squares many Fridays of the year”

“The Department of Territory is more concerned with accelerating large road infrastructures such as the Fourth Belt, in coexistence with the Spanish Government, than with firm policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change,” says Cunill.

“It seems to me that it has been an act of contempt for the social movements of young people who have filled the squares many Fridays of the year. We will most likely only succeed if environmental policies are not subordinated to other interests. A political structure, its own and transversal, such as a vice-presidency of the Catalan government for environmental policies, is urgent,” he says.

The vice president of Movilitat, Transport and Sustainability of the AMB, Antoni Poveda (PSC), called on the Gpvern to “go further”, because “today no new concrete proposal has been made to face climate action. There is a clear lack of action on the part of the government,” he says.

Antoni Poveda

“No new concrete proposal has been made today to tackle climate action”

“Of these great institutional stagings that have been made so far, such as the two held in Pedralbes, we have only fulfilled the commitments agreed by the local administrations,” he said. “We urgently need the Generalitat de Catalunya to move forward with real, concrete and mandatory measures against the climate crisis,” Poveda said.

The AMB also reminds the Generalitat that improvements are pending commuter and regional services, the expansion of the tram network, the implementation of T-mobility, the renewal of the fleet of highly polluting intercity buses, the construction of bus-VAO lanes and large park & ride, as well as the implementation of transport interchanges in the accesses to Barcelona.

Source: The Vanguard