Workgroup

Climate change and energy transition

Why?

The Climate Change and Energy Transition Law is a key instrument to guarantee the achievement of Spain's commitments to the EU on energy and climate in the framework of the Paris Agreement against global warming.
 
The transfer of the set of commitments assumed at the international and European level requires that Spain be endowed with a regulatory framework that includes the medium and long-term objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and that provides solid legal support for planning in energy matter.
 
Although all groups in the parliamentary arch and civil society share the need to draft a Law that establishes a stable institutional framework in this area, there are discrepancies on its content and scope.
 
The Working Group on Climate Change and Energy Transition that was established in FIDE  Its main objective was to actively collaborate in the debate of one of the few legislative initiatives that can prosper in the next two years.

Publications

The Energy Transition and Fide: Activity Summary for Course 21-22

This report is intended to show a summary of the main ideas transmitted by the speakers and make a compendium of the most valuable reflections made by the participants in the aforementioned sessions of the WG CCTE carried out during the academic year 2021-2022.

Working Group Proposals Fide: Draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition

On January 24, 2019, the presentation ceremony of the "Proposals of the Working Group Fide: Draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition”. 

At the beginning of the event, the following intervened: 

  • Cristina Jimenez Savurido, President of Fide. Judge on leave 
  • Mariano Bacigalupo Saggese, University Professor, Department of Administrative Law of the UNED. Member of the Academic Council of Fide
  • Guillermina Yanguas Montero, Magistrate and Doctor of Law 
  • Valentin Alfaya Arias, Health & Safety, Quality & Environment Director of Ferrovial
The main conclusions reached by the working group are the following: 
 
  1. The approval of a Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition is an unavoidable commitment that does not allow for delays.
  2. The working group considers, in a majority way, the ideal moment for the enactment of a Climate Change and Energy Transition Law. The approval of this Law is an opportunity for Spain to transmit an image of a country committed to the fight against climate change.
  3. The fight against climate change and the energy transition represents an opportunity that Spain must not miss. A transformation of the model in which economic growth is decoupled from greenhouse gas emissions is required, although it is essential to ensure that this transition is carried out without placing Spain at a disadvantage compared to other countries in its region. environment.
  4. Spain is called to occupy a leadership position in the current socio-political framework in the fight against climate change. The approval of a Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition can be a clear sign of this role that Spain wants to play. This protagonism and leadership of Spain in the EU and in the international framework is justified, among many other reasons, by the greater vulnerability of Spain to the effects of climate change.
  5. There are dissenting opinions in the working group regarding the degree of ambition of the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law.
  6. In the GTCCyTE, a disparity of criteria regarding technological neutrality has been revealed. Thus, and in front of those who believe that the LCCyTE should determine the applicable technologies, other members defend the need to be flexible in the way of achieving the established objectives, given the uncertainty regarding the technologies that can be used in the future, without that none should be prohibited, since the achievement of the objectives could not only be unnecessarily expensive, but even their achievement could be jeopardized.
  7. Consensus and participation are essential for the proper application of the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law. Messages that generate legal uncertainty should be avoided and an orderly transformation process that avoids reluctance should be fostered.
  8. The Working Group considers that a greater commitment of the public sector in the fight against climate change is necessary. The measures contained in the LCCyTE decisively affect the private sector and do not have the same degree of forcefulness regarding public policies.
  9. An in-depth reform of environmental taxation is essential. Although the Draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition indicates what the objectives of this tax system should be, it is necessary to translate these objectives into a true tax reform.
  10. From a normative technical point of view, the Draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition suffers from a lack of uniformity. The Climate Change and Energy Transition Law must respect the principles of good regulation and must be accompanied by the corresponding regulatory impact analysis report.
 
The Climate Change and Energy Transition Law must guarantee that principles of Union law (such as the free movement of goods) and the powers attributed to the different public administrations and, especially, the autonomous ones are respected. 

Related Items

conversations Fide: Bill on Climate Change and Energy Transition

  • Valentine Alfaya, Director of Sustainability at Ferrovial
  • Carlos de Miguel, Lawyer at Uría Menéndez, Professor at the ICADE Law School (Comillas University)
Play video

Group Directors

Valentin Alfaya Arias

Director of Sustainability at Ferrovial

Mariano Bacigalupo Saggese

University Professor, Department of Administrative Law of the UNED. Member of the Academic Council of Fide

Carlos de Miguel

Lawyer. Professor at the Faculty of Law of ICADE (Comillas University).

Luis Jesus Sánchez De Tembleque

Executive Secretary of the Ibero-American Association of Energy Regulatory Entities (ARIAE), which groups together 27 energy regulatory bodies from 20 Ibero-American countries.

Guillermina Yanguas Montero

Magistrate and Doctor of Law. Member of the Academic Council of Fide.

Academic coordination: Emilia Malacalza

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