Facing climate emergency, republican action

The profound global ecological crisis caused by accelerated climate change will have devastating effects on planet Earth, generating crises and the danger of irreversible change, especially amongst the most vulnerable communities and environments. It is inadmissible that the people and groups least responsible for climate degradation should unjustly have to bear the burden of the most detrimental consequences.

We must adopt extraordinarily urgent, strong and effective measures for an ecological transition that must guarantee the welfare of future generations and safeguard the planet.

Given such a scenario, we enjoin the participants at the United Nations Climate Summit to commit to undertake immediate, radical action to reverse the widely acknowledged, profoundly negative climate trends. The solutions abound in terms of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the introduction of alternatives to fossil fuels.

On a planet where natural resources are finite and climate change is a fact, we must move towards a model that is firmly committed to sustainability, the minimization and transformation of waste, driving the development of renewable energies and self-consumption, implementing a new water culture and executing an integrated territorial management policy that enables the rational and sustainable use of its natural resources.

In order to guarantee the success and effectiveness of the measures to be taken to combat climate change, it is essential we adopt a holistic perspective that does not overlook existing social inequalities.

While the UN plays a central role, the European Union must also lead and coordinate the actions that all public administrations, at any level of the administrative hierarchy, have the duty to apply for adaptation and mitigation. No administration can look away before the necessary and urgent changes required to face the climate emergency.

Many sweeping declarations and promises have been made in international forums to support the deployment of renewable energies and to move towards a decarbonised society, but the results have been decidedly disappointing.

We have to move from commitment to action and to stake on those acts that allow us to generate real change. Thus, on September 27 and with the support of over 100 organizations and groups, the “Fridays for Future” movement has called a day of action, including a student strike, a consumer strike, and various mobilizations in support of the climate fight.

Esquerra Republicana calls for the immediate declaration of a climate emergency and the urgent implementation of concrete measures be taken so as to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero. We thus commit to the following:

1. In the face of the climate emergency we are undergoing, Esquerra Republicana commits to giving a firm response, involving public policy on energy, the environment, sustainability, public health, the economy, welfare and quality of life that will allow us to progress decisively in all those institutions for which we have governmental responsibility, towards the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
2. Given that the local administration is closest to the citizens and as such plays a key role, particularly as regards people’s awareness and modification of habits, and as an example as an institution that is committed to sustainability, the improvement of the quality of the air and green energy, we commit to promoting:
   - The fight against climate change with our commitment to measures reducing emissions of pollutants and to improve air quality.
   - A country-wide energy strategy for a sustainable future, with a commitment to energy efficiency, 100% renewable energies, self-consumption, smart grid management and the democratization of the energy market with fair prices and free of monopolies.
   - A waste management strategy working towards zero waste, implementing circular economy systems for the transformation of waste through eco-design and innovative management processes.
   - A new, efficient, sustainable water culture with an integrated water cycle system, moving to public rather than private management, guaranteeing a minimum supply, and recovering groundwater and rivers’ ecological rates of flow.
   - Preservation and management of the natural environment and its species, with a balanced equilibrium between protection and its use for economic and leisure purposes.
3. Support for the demonstrations for the climate called for September 27 by over 100 groups demanding the immediate declaration of a climate emergency and the urgent implementation of concrete measures to quickly reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero.