Esquerra defends energy transition to achieve sustainable development goals and intends to make Catalonia Southern Europe’s Green benchmark

In the face of the profound global ecological crisis we are facing, political action must focus on responding to the various global challenges that lie ahead. One of the main ones is the need to decarbonize our lives and reduce air pollution.

To do this, the energy transition will play a prominent role. Catalonia is far from meeting the requirements on renewable energy set by the European Union for 2030 on the way to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest. But this is not a new debate either; for many years the country has disagreed on the most appropriate and effective model for our land. Now we must set a path that is effective and efficient in the transformation of the Catalan energy model, one that is definitive; we have no more time to waste.

Esquerra Republicana defends an energy model that promotes the development of 100% renewable energy, of km 0, energy efficiency, self-consumption, intelligent grid management and the democratization of the energy market. In this model, citizens also become central to the production and management of energy, not only as consumers, free of oligopolies and at fair prices.

It is not just a matter of replacing the dirtiest energy sources with the cleanest ones, but also of transforming a model based on the big energy oligopolies and in the hands of the most ferocious of capitalism. Citizens and environmental well-being must be at the heart of the economy.

• Working for the full energy sovereignty of Catalonia that allows democratization of access to the production and consumption of 100% renewable energy.
• Commitment to energy research and innovation as an essential element in order to diversify renewable energy sources, taking advantage of the full potential of each, depending on the nature of the territories.
• Working to replace nuclear energy production with clean and sustainable energy sources, setting a calendar for the closure of nuclear power plants and a plan to replace power generation and worker retraining.
• Promotion of local energy communities, transposing European regulations on energy communities and promoting their deployment throughout Catalonia.
• Working for the recovery of the management and ownership of hydroelectric power plants, ensuring their return to the municipalities and territories affected.

To sum up, we intend to leave behind a centralized energy model based on of fossil-fuel and non-renewable stocks, including coal, oil, gas and uranium, and to move decisively towards a new digitized model based on capturing the natural flows of renewable energy; and it must be done in a distributed manner throughout the territory, not at the service of the energy oligopoly, but at the service of the people.

For these reasons, Esquerra Republicana will immediately advance a National Pact for Energy Transition that should essentially be transversal and lead to a change towards a more just and sustainable energy model, reaching a 100% renewables horizon by 2050. Reaching this horizon is not only technically possible but also socially necessary.

After a year and a half of application of the Decree-Law on Urgent Measures for Climate Emergency and the Promotion of Renewable Energies currently in force, it has been found to fall short: it does not respond to all these needs and it allows the economic interests of large companies to prevail. That is why it is necessary to modify it urgently and make it the tool that will expedite the energy transition in a determined and orderly manner. The current model opens the doors to large oligopolies even further, it does not provide for land use planning, nor does it facilitate the participation and leadership of the municipalities and the counties. The idea is not to implement renewables because that is what is “in” now, but to do it well, to become the green benchmark of Southern Europe, and basing it on the principle of the common good.

The moment is grievous, and it is necessary to implement a model that establishes clear criteria and allows territorial co-leadership. And it must be done quickly. We can’t afford to stop. But to move ahead, it will be necessary to establish a brief halt while we amend the decree, which must be done before the end of 2021 in order to prevent the speculation and imbalances that are being generated.

• Guaranteeing participation and co-decision making by the territories, in particular the city councils.
• Establishing criteria in the field of countryside landscape integration.
• Protecting valuable natural areas, essential for the conservation of biodiversity.
• Protecting places of cultural heritage and memory.
• Prioritizing and encouraging through incentives the use of anthropized spaces: public facilities, irrigation canals, industrial buildings, agricultural and stabling buildings, industrial estates, housing estates, etc.
• Prioritizing and encouraging local initiatives: energy communities and local strategies to promote mixed projects in which municipalities (public) participate alongside companies and citizens (private).
• Protecting high-value agricultural, livestock farming and forestry areas, in accordance with the law on agricultural land, which is essential for food sovereignty.

And at the same time, holding a participatory debate on the National Pact is urgent, and this must spread and anchor a new national consensus in order to move decisively towards a 100% renewable model, including territorial planning, establishing territorial balance in terms of renewables – potentials and needs – so as to link production and consumption as a mechanism for territorial equilibrium, and also for the efficiency of distribution grids, thus minimizing the losses that occur in energy transportation. On the other hand, it is necessary to deploy fiscal and economic compensation mechanisms for those territories that assume greater burdens in terms of energy production and facilities.