Spain is increasing its protected area and reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, among other advances, according to the 2019 Environmental Profile of Spain (PAE) report presented this morning by the Vice-President and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera.
Spain is increasing its protected area and reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, among other advances, according to the 2019 Environmental Profile of Spain (PAE) report presented this morning by the Vice-President and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera.
“It is a very valuable document, because it allows us to make solid decisions based on knowledge and the ability to project, and identify the points in which we must make more effort,” said Teresa Ribera. “A well-informed society is the best tool to build resilience,” said Ribera, who also explained that the Ministry is working to incorporate other indicators that allow us to have a more complete picture of the variables that relate health and the environment.
This study is carried out annually, in compliance with the obligation established in the Aarhus Convention, with the aim of bringing environmental knowledge closer to citizens and encouraging their participation. In its 16th edition, with a global focus, it consists of a first section dedicated to the relationship between environment and health, and a second chapter organized around four areas of knowledge (air, climate, economic sectors and sustainability) in which 14 environmental and sectoral topics are grouped, and in which the content of environmental information is structured through 71 indicators.
In addition, it includes a specific section on the Autonomous Communities with disaggregated information on socio-economic aspects, protected land area, land use, air quality, electricity from renewable sources and circular economy, and incorporates, as a novelty, indicators to improve knowledge on the demographic challenge.
The preparation of the PAE has specialized technical support and contributions from various ministries, institutes, agencies, autonomous bodies, NGOs and other reference agents on environmental information, as well as with statistical sources of international reference.
GHG REDUCTION
The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Advance reflects gross emissions of 313.5 million tonnes ofCO2 equivalent in 2019, which represents a decrease of 6.2% compared to the previous year and 29.3% compared to 2005. However, in 2018 Spain contributed 7.9% of the total GHG emissions of the Member States of the European Union, making it the 6th emitting country although, per capita, it is in 18th position, below the European average.
Emissions from industry (2.9%), agriculture (1.4%), residential, commercial and institutional (3%) and the use of F-gases (5.2%) decreased in 2018, while those from the waste sector (0.7%) and transport (0.7%) increased slightly.
With regard to emissions of atmospheric pollutants, those of ammonia (NH3) exceed the limit established during the period 2010-2018, with an excess of emissions of 25% on average over the established emission ceiling. In terms of regional air quality (background pollution), sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions have been significantly reduced in recent years, while particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) have experienced an increase in their average concentration.
To improve air quality, the first National Air Pollution Control Programme was approved in September 2019, with a set of measures aimed at the sectors that will reduce the levels of pollution of harmful compounds and substances, protect the health of people and ecosystems and comply with the requirements established for Spain in the Directive on National Emission Ceilings for 2030.
PROTECTION FIGURES
With regard to the protected land area, in 2019 it reached 33.6% of the Spanish territory, which represents an increase of 2.5% compared to the previous year, while the marine area amounted to 12.2% after the expansion of the Cabrera Archipelago National Park, which represented an increase of 2% compared to 2018.
There was also an increase in 2019 in the area incorporated into Biosphere Reserves, which reaches more than 12.4% of Spain’s total: of the 18 reserves in 12 countries added in June by UNESCO, three of them belong to Spain (Alto Turia, La Siberia and Valle del Cabriel), and three others have increased their extension and changed their name.
FOREST SITUATION
The General Forest Fire Statistics show a downward trend over the last decade in terms of the number of fires and large fires and the areas affected by both. However, there is evidence of a progressive increase in the average area affected by large forest fires that, in general, cause greater damage to the natural environment and associated socio-economic systems. To improve the management of forest fires and reduce their impacts, in 2019 the document “Strategic Guidelines for the Management of Forest Fires in Spain” was approved.
With regard to defoliation (leaf loss), the results reflect a greater decline in trees in 2019 than that recorded on average in the last five years. This could be due to the fact that periods of drought are increasingly extreme, recurrent and prolonged, which makes it difficult for forest stands to recover.
SOIL EROSION
As for the data reflected in the 2019 National Soil Erosion Inventory, around 25% of the erodible soil area in Spain suffers from medium and high erosion processes (soil losses of more than 10 tonnes per hectare per year). In this regard, the Council of Ministers announced last January the development of a Strategy to Combat Desertification within the Government’s Declaration on the Climate and Environmental Emergency, which will be followed by a new National Programme to Combat Desertification, both key instruments to reduce these processes. Likewise, the National Inventory of Soil Erosion has just been completed.
MARINE WASTE AND LITTER
Since 2011, Spain has generated, on average, less waste per inhabitant than in the EU. In 2018, Spain contributed 8.9% of all EU municipal waste, ranking fifth among Member States. That same year, the deposit to landfill was approximately 51% of the waste generated, a figure higher than the European average, although it maintains the downward trend of recent years from the 58% recorded in 2014.
To improve this situation, this year Royal Decree 646/2020, of 7 July, has been approved, which regulates the disposal of waste by landfill. In addition, Spain has the Circular Economy Strategy “Circular Spain 2030” and a draft Law on Waste and Contaminated Soil in process.
In the field of waste that ends up in the sea, in 2019 104 sampling campaigns have been carried out on 26 beaches of the 5 marine demarcations within the framework of the Marine Litter Monitoring Programme. In these, an average abundance of 327 objects per campaign has been found, with a variability ranging from 647 objects in the demarcation of the Strait and Alboran to 118 objects in the South Atlantic demarcation. The total number of campaigns carried out during the period 2013 to 2019 amounts to 708, with an average abundance of 337 objects per campaign. The typology of objects found is very wide, but the presence of plastics (71.8% of the total) is particularly noteworthy.
MOBILITY AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE
With regard to mobility, the passenger car fleet grew in 2018 by 9.4% compared to the previous year, amounting to 24,074,151 vehicles. 1.2% of these registrations corresponded to alternative fuel vehicles, a figure that continues to increase. That same year, around 15 million vehicles had an environmental label, although only 1.9% of them had an ECO label and 0.2% had a ZERO label.
Although 2020 is not among the data valued in this Environmental Profile, data from the vehicle manufacturers’ association reflect that between the months of January and November 2020, registrations of electric vehicles have reached 15,517 units, 39.3% more than in the same period of 2019. Already in that year, this figure grew by 72% compared to the equivalent months of 2018, registering 11,148 units sold.
The Government has developed multiple measures to promote the transition to clean mobility in a planned manner, such as the draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition, which is currently being processed by parliament, the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan or the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change, as well as the approval of lines of aid such as the MOVES I Programme. the MOVES II or the MOVES Singulares Programme.
This year’s Environmental Profile includes, for the first time, indicators to measure the demographic challenge. In Spain, cities concentrate 54% of the population in 5% of the territory and intermediate areas group 32.8% of their inhabitants in 22% of the area, while rural areas only host 13.2% of the population in 73% of the territory. Almost half of our country is below the threshold that the EU considers at risk of depopulation.
In the last decade, 85.6% of municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants, 73.7% of municipalities with 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants and 51.2% of municipalities with 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants have lost population.
To respond to this problem, the Government created the General Secretariat for the Demographic Challenge. Along these lines, the executive is working on the approval of the National Strategy for the Demographic Challenge, a document agreed with the autonomous communities that aims to lay the foundations for achieving social and territorial cohesion by reactivating the areas most affected by depopulation and reducing the urban-rural gap.
The PAE is available, in Spanish and English, on the website of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge through the following link. In addition, it can be accessed through an application available for smartphone and tablet, adapted to Android and iOS systems.
