Spain

Spain ratified the UNFCCC in 1993 and the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. It submitted its first National Communication to the UNFCCC in 1994, and its 6th communication was submitted in December 2013. The ‘seventh’ communication to the UNFCCC is now being prepared. Sharing the common Kyoto Protocol target of 8% GHG emissions reduction from base year with the other 14 EU-member states in 1997, when the Protocol was adopted, Spain had to limit its growth in GHG emissions to 15% by 2012 compared to 1990 levels. For the second commitment period (2013-2020), the EU aims to cut overall emissions by 20% compared to 1990. Under the related Effort Sharing Decision (No 406/2009/EC), Spain is responsible for reducing its GHG emissions by 10% by 2020. As a member of the European Union, Spain’s climate policy primarily aims to implement EU laws into national legislation.

Climate policy has been an important topic of debate in recent years. The Climate Change Office, which operates within the Secretary of State of the Environment, leads and co-ordinates the execution of climate change policies in Spain. This structure is supported by an Inter-ministerial Commission on Climate Change, which is co-ordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment (MAGRAMA) and chaired by its Minister; by the National Climate Council, also chaired by the Minister and in which different civil society representatives take part; and by the Climate Change Policy Co-ordination Commission, chaired by the Secretary of State of the Environment.

Spain’s overarching climate policy is the Strategy of Climate Change and Clean Energy, which entered into force in 2007 and will run until 2020. This Strategy focuses on energy efficiency, sustainable transport and renewable energies to reduce GHG emissions. However, in 2012, as a result of austerity measures, the feed-in tariff scheme promoting energy efficiency and renewable electricity was suspended. The Strategy will soon be replaced by an updated scheme based on the Spanish energy roadmap to 2020 and other plans.

Although policies and strategies are usually designed at the central level, regions have a high level of independence and can draft and implement local plans and strategies according to their own specific needs. Autonomous Communities establish their own targets to reduce GHG emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Local governments work to prevent climate change within the Spanish Network of Cities for Climate.

Energy supply

Spain is Europe’s fifth-largest energy consumer, yet it has virtually no domestic production of liquid fuels or natural gas. In recent years, it has generated a significant amount of power from wind and solar energy. Renewable energy, including hydroelectric generation, accounted for 30% of power generation in 2012, while fossil fuels accounted for 49% and nuclear reactors supplied about 21%.

However, following the financial crisis, the government put on hold its renewable energy support schemes. In 2012, it established a moratorium on premiums for new renewable projects and in February 2013 the premiums still in force were changed, reducing the payments to producers. In 2012, a tax on all electricity generation was introduced and subsidies for solar/gas plants were removed in an attempt to address the high tariff deficit.

Regional policies to promote renewable energy remain in place in Catalunya, Andalucía and Valencia.

Energy demand

The government has made great efforts to implement energy efficiency policies to help bring energy intensity closer to the EU average, starting with the 2004–2012 Energy Saving and Efficiency Strategy. By 2010 the nation had achieved its 2016 energy use target and current energy consumption level is 17.6 Mtoe or 23.1% below the EU target for Spain.

Spain promotes energy security through a number of strategies and plans, including the Energy Efficiency Action Plans (EEAPs). The EEAP 2011–2020 has a savings target of 35.5 Mtoe compared with a business-as-usual (BaU) scenario. In order to reach the targets of the EU energy efficiency directive, the government is developing an EEAP 2014–2020, with a savings target of 28.6 Mtoe compared to BaU. The plan foresees 50.6% of savings in 2020 coming from transport and 25.2% in the industrial sector, with the remainder in buildings, farming, fishing and public services.

Other energy saving and efficiency measures include the Efficient Vehicle Incentive Programme (PIVE), the fifth instalment of which is being implemented with a budget of EUR175m (USD216m) ; the Aid Programme for the Energy Renovation of Existing Buildings in the residential sector and hotel industry (PAREER), with a EUR125m (USD156.9m) budget; the ‘Aire’ Environmental Stimulus Plan (PIMA) with a EUR38m (USD47.7m) budget for commercial vehicles; the PIMASOL Environmental Stimulus Plan for the energy renovation of hotel facilities, and the 2013–2016 state incentive plan for rental housing, building renovation and urban regeneration. Supporting these initiatives are a law on fiscal measures for energy sustainability, in effect since January 2013, and a national energy savings and efficiency communication campaign.

REDD+ and LULUCF

Spain has 39% of its territory covered by farmland, while just over a quarter (27%) is forestry land. Since 1990 there has been a reduction in farmland. The National Forest Programme is established by the Forest Strategy and the Forest Plan. The Forest Plan has a 30-year time span (2002-2032), within which there will be two in-depth revisions of the document. The Plan makes a number of direct references to forests as carbon sinks. It states that the actions under the Plan to protect existing forests and prevent their degradation will impact on carbon storage. It estimates that the Forest Plan will result in a 60 Gt increase of carbon sequestration. The Forestry Plan has a target of planting 45m trees between 2008 and 2012 to increase CO2 storage. However, owing to budget cuts because of the economic crisis, this number was reduced to 19.5m trees, which were planted by 2011, leading to reforestation of an area of more than 29,000 ha.

Transportation

The transport sector contributes about 25% of total GHG emissions and it accounts for over 50% of total energy consumption so developing measures in this sector is essential to meet emission reduction targets and energy saving objectives. Measures to reduce emissions and energy use in the sector include: modal shift of passengers, more efficient freight transportation and developing the railway systems.

The EEAP 2011–2020 includes modal shift measures for people and goods (shifting to rail and sea transport), efficiency improvements through a vehicle scrappage scheme (PIVE), promotion of alternative fuels and technologies, and taxation measures. Emissions in the transport sector are due to be 17,900 kt CO2 eq less under the EEAP 2011–2020 than under BaU. The scrappage scheme offers EUR1,000 (USD1,255) to replace cars older than 10-12 years with vehicles with less than a year of age; it aims to replace 75,000 vehicles.

There are also incentives from various regional governments, including grants of EUR2,000 (USD2,510) to EUR7,000 (USD8,785) for electric, hybrid, fuel cell, CNG and LPG vehicles. Andalucía offers up to 70% of the investment. Catalunya provides incentives for different transport-related measures (e.g. purchase of EURO vehicles, use of alternative fuels).

Adaptation

Spain was one of the first European countries to develop an adaptation policy, in 2006. The National Adaptation Plan to Climate Change (PNACC) is developed by the Spanish Climate Change Office and approved by the Climate Change Policies Co-ordination Commission. Three Work Programmes have been prepared, covering 2006‐2009, 2009-2013 and 2014-2020.

The Third Work Programme, of January 2014, confirms that climate change adaptation has been integrated into a number of Spanish laws, including:

• Law 22/1988, on the protection and use of the maritime-terrestrial public domain and seashore, altered by Law 2/2013, on the Protection and Sustainable Use of Coastal Areas, which requires a consideration of climate change in new projects in coastal areas
• Law 45/2007, on sustainable development of rural areas, calls for the replacement of non-renewable energy, and highlights the benefits of increased vegetation cover as a carbon sink, and the need for rural inhabitants to adapt to new environmental conditions arising from climate change
• Law 21/2013, on environmental assessment, includes the obligation to take into account climate change in plans, programmes and projects that can have significant impacts on the environment.