Spain renews commitment to fight climate change

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy renewed Spain's commitment to fight against climate change and reiterated his promise to push for a specific law on the matter.

Rajoy is in Marrakech for the UN Climate Change Conference, along with more than 70 heads of state and government, Efe news reported on Tuesday.

The Spanish Prime Minister hailed the Paris Agreement signed almost a year ago on climate change, calling it the biggest environmental challenge facing the world.

"Now we have to move from agreements to action. Only in this way will we achieve ... making life on the planet healthier for current and future generations," he said.

As a sign of his commitment, Rajoy said that one of the first moves of his new government was to send the Paris Agreement to Parliament for ratification.

The move was delayed as Spain was paralyzed for 10 months due to the absence of a fully functioning government in Madrid.

On climate change, he said, all political elements within Spain were sensitive.

He hoped that the ratification process would move quickly.

He was speaking to the media after the meeting and was accompanied by Spanish Agriculture, Food and Environment Minister Isabel Garcia Tejerina.

Rajoy also noted that Spain was already on the road to fulfilling the greenhouse gas emission objectives for 2020 and was working to fulfil the ones for 2030, a move which he called "ambitious".

He reiterated his promise to send Parliament a climate change bill incorporating all the necessary commitments and instruments for the Spanish economy to transform itself.

He, however, did not set a specific date for ending hydrocarbon use in Spain, but he insisted that his country would comply with the objectives set for 2020.

The Paris Agreement includes no legally binding emissions goals, but merely a promise by each country to try to fulfil the goals established under it.

--IANS

in/