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Spain promises urgent climate action in response to Greta's UN speech
24/09/2019
ACTING president Pedro Sánchez promised 'urgent' measures to address climate change during the New York-based United Nations summit – after world leaders were given a dressing-down by Swedish sixth-former Greta Thunberg (pictured).
The youngster, who calls her Asperger's her 'super-power', started out last August as a lone protester in front of national Parliament in Stockholm and has since rallied children and teens all over the globe to join her Fridays for Future campaign holding politicians to account over their failure to treat global warming as an emergency.
She led the Youth Summit two days before the main event yesterday (Monday), where young adult representatives from 60 countries discussed strategies to present to national leaders.
Spain's representative is Patricia Ramos, 19, a medical and musical student at a Madrid university who has successfully campaigned in her home city for safer streets for women and for health professionals to detect and report cases of female genital mutilation (FGM).
Greta told participants at the main summit that they had 'stolen her dreams and her childhood' with their 'empty words', and said if they let her generation down, she would 'never forgive them'.
The teen activist said people in the third world were already 'suffering and dying' and that the planet was 'in the beginning of a mass extinction' but that 'all they could talk about' was 'money and fairytales of eternal economic growth'.
“How dare you!” She raged, in tears.
Spain's caretaking president, in response to Greta's scathing and impassioned speech, announced the country would contribute €150 million to the United Nations' 'Green Fund'.
Pedro Sánchez spoke of an 'unprecedented climate emergency' which 'forces us to act now', in a 'fair' manner and 'without leaving anyone behind'.
“In great paradigm changes, there are always victims and losers; the idea is that there should not be either and that the challenges we face do not take their toll on the weakest,” Sánchez said in his speech.
Along with Perú, Spain is heading up a coalition in favour of a fair energy transition and, between the two countries, they have managed to get another 40 nations on board and committed to developing sustainable plans including fair, dignified and 'green' jobs.
Spain will contribute €150m over the next four years to the UN's Green Fund for Climate, a pot which supports action needed to mitigate existing damage to the environment and to help developing and third-world countries to adapt to the climate change which has already occurred.
Sánchez assured those present that Spain would ratify the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol signed in 2016, which requires countries it covers to reduce their hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) production and consumption by over 80% in the next 30 years.
The president admitted that other countries were planning to contribute more than Spain's €150m, but points out that the effort Spain has made to find this money has been greater because there is 'no greater margin' as the national budget is still up in the air due to its not having had a government since the end of March.
This is still €30m more than Sánchez's predecessor, Mariano Rajoy of the right-wing PP, pledged in 2014.
Spain will hand over another €2m to the UN's Adaptation Fund, which is aimed at helping the world change its practices to survive the already irreversible impact of global warming.
“We won't be able to claim ignorance when, in the future, we're asked why we didn't do everything in our power,” Sánchez continued.
Spain is seeking to become 'carbon-neutral' by the year 2050 and has pledged to slash emissions by 20% by the year 2030, and for 74% of electricity generated to come from renewable sources by then.
To achieve all this, Sánchez's socialist government has recently approved a 'Green New Deal' which, out of all the 28 member States of the European Union, has been the 'most approved-of' by the bloc's leaders in terms of 'ambition, credibility and quality', and which will see over a quarter of a million sustainable and 'dignified' jobs created between 2021 and 2030.
During Climate Week, Sánchez called for 'brave action' and warned that 'the planet is running out of time'.
“We need our planet to be able to survive for future generations – we have the future in our hands and we have the opportunity to do something about it, but we also have the immense responsibility of shaping the future we all want without leaving anyone behind,” Sánchez said.
He stressed that 'all the world's governments' had an 'obligation to respond' to the wake-up call given to them by the younger generation, and that Spain wanted to be among those countries leading policies for planet protection.
“I want my country to be part of the change,” he concluded.
Sánchez also spoke about humane solutions to migrant crises, and the value of universal and accessible healthcare.
He also met with three young Spanish activists – Patricia Ramos, plus Claudia Reigosa of the Youth Council and Alejandro Quecedo of SEO Birdlife.
Related Topics
ACTING president Pedro Sánchez promised 'urgent' measures to address climate change during the New York-based United Nations summit – after world leaders were given a dressing-down by Swedish sixth-former Greta Thunberg (pictured).
The youngster, who calls her Asperger's her 'super-power', started out last August as a lone protester in front of national Parliament in Stockholm and has since rallied children and teens all over the globe to join her Fridays for Future campaign holding politicians to account over their failure to treat global warming as an emergency.
She led the Youth Summit two days before the main event yesterday (Monday), where young adult representatives from 60 countries discussed strategies to present to national leaders.
Spain's representative is Patricia Ramos, 19, a medical and musical student at a Madrid university who has successfully campaigned in her home city for safer streets for women and for health professionals to detect and report cases of female genital mutilation (FGM).
Greta told participants at the main summit that they had 'stolen her dreams and her childhood' with their 'empty words', and said if they let her generation down, she would 'never forgive them'.
The teen activist said people in the third world were already 'suffering and dying' and that the planet was 'in the beginning of a mass extinction' but that 'all they could talk about' was 'money and fairytales of eternal economic growth'.
“How dare you!” She raged, in tears.
Spain's caretaking president, in response to Greta's scathing and impassioned speech, announced the country would contribute €150 million to the United Nations' 'Green Fund'.
Pedro Sánchez spoke of an 'unprecedented climate emergency' which 'forces us to act now', in a 'fair' manner and 'without leaving anyone behind'.
“In great paradigm changes, there are always victims and losers; the idea is that there should not be either and that the challenges we face do not take their toll on the weakest,” Sánchez said in his speech.
Along with Perú, Spain is heading up a coalition in favour of a fair energy transition and, between the two countries, they have managed to get another 40 nations on board and committed to developing sustainable plans including fair, dignified and 'green' jobs.
Spain will contribute €150m over the next four years to the UN's Green Fund for Climate, a pot which supports action needed to mitigate existing damage to the environment and to help developing and third-world countries to adapt to the climate change which has already occurred.
Sánchez assured those present that Spain would ratify the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol signed in 2016, which requires countries it covers to reduce their hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) production and consumption by over 80% in the next 30 years.
The president admitted that other countries were planning to contribute more than Spain's €150m, but points out that the effort Spain has made to find this money has been greater because there is 'no greater margin' as the national budget is still up in the air due to its not having had a government since the end of March.
This is still €30m more than Sánchez's predecessor, Mariano Rajoy of the right-wing PP, pledged in 2014.
Spain will hand over another €2m to the UN's Adaptation Fund, which is aimed at helping the world change its practices to survive the already irreversible impact of global warming.
“We won't be able to claim ignorance when, in the future, we're asked why we didn't do everything in our power,” Sánchez continued.
Spain is seeking to become 'carbon-neutral' by the year 2050 and has pledged to slash emissions by 20% by the year 2030, and for 74% of electricity generated to come from renewable sources by then.
To achieve all this, Sánchez's socialist government has recently approved a 'Green New Deal' which, out of all the 28 member States of the European Union, has been the 'most approved-of' by the bloc's leaders in terms of 'ambition, credibility and quality', and which will see over a quarter of a million sustainable and 'dignified' jobs created between 2021 and 2030.
During Climate Week, Sánchez called for 'brave action' and warned that 'the planet is running out of time'.
“We need our planet to be able to survive for future generations – we have the future in our hands and we have the opportunity to do something about it, but we also have the immense responsibility of shaping the future we all want without leaving anyone behind,” Sánchez said.
He stressed that 'all the world's governments' had an 'obligation to respond' to the wake-up call given to them by the younger generation, and that Spain wanted to be among those countries leading policies for planet protection.
“I want my country to be part of the change,” he concluded.
Sánchez also spoke about humane solutions to migrant crises, and the value of universal and accessible healthcare.
He also met with three young Spanish activists – Patricia Ramos, plus Claudia Reigosa of the Youth Council and Alejandro Quecedo of SEO Birdlife.
Related Topics
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