The Minister of the Environment, Cristina Narbona, inaugurated today in Madrid the eighth National Congress of the Environment (CONAMA), a meeting forum sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment, and which in this edition aims to mobilise society towards sustainable development.

The opening ceremony was also chaired by the president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre; the president of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), Heliodoro Gallego; the Councillor for the Environment and City Services of the Madrid City Council, Paz González; the president of Unión Profesional, Carlos Carnicer, and the president of the CONAMA Foundation, Gonzalo Echagüe.

In her speech, the Minister of the Environment described as satisfactory the evolution recorded in the last two years, since the last edition of the Congress, in the response of citizens and administrations, social organizations and businessmen to the great environmental challenges, and underlined the steps forward that administrations and companies have taken in this regard.

The Minister also referred to the transposition of the Aarhus Convention through the law that guarantees the right of all citizens to access information, participation and justice in environmental matters, and which, she said, constitutes a real tool at the service of a deepening of democracy and a better defence of citizens’ rights. such as the right to unpolluted air, to a sufficient quantity of quality water, to be free from noise pollution or to the preservation of biodiversity as a guarantee of the present and the future.

Cristina Narbona also mentioned the draft Law on Environmental Responsibility, on which the Government is working and which has already obtained the approval of the Economic and Social Council, as well as the creation of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for urban planning and the environment. In addition, the Minister pointed out that the Government is finalizing the bill on sustainable rural development to guarantee the rights of rural citizens in our country to enjoy the facilities and opportunities enjoyed by urban citizens.

However, the Minister pointed out that all these regulatory advances would not be enough without raising public awareness of sustainable growth. Cristina Narbona has indicated that old paradigms that until now have sustained very unsustainable patterns of behavior in terms of climate change, water or soil urbanization are disappearing, and has added that the notable increase in citizen participation and mobilization is essential for the country to follow the same path as other countries towards a more lasting development. fairer and healthier.

On the other hand, within the activities framed in the National Congress of the Environment, Cristina Narbona has sponsored the official presentation of the Spanish Federation of Environmental Associations (FEAMA), recently constituted, and which brings together entrepreneurs from the environmental goods and services sector.