The challenge of producing in a sustainable way for the environment and at the same time being productive is far from being a reality in Catalan industry. An aspect in which the former presidents of the Generalitat, José Montilla and Artur Mas, agreed yesterday, who considered that Catalonia “has not done well” in the transition to green energies in recent decades. The warning was sent in one of the debates organized as part of the Industry and Energy Forum 2023, which was held yesterday at the DFactory in Barcelona.
“Catalonia has not done its homework as it should have”, commented Mas, although he recalled that the community was a pioneer in Spain during the eighties and nineties, but that in recent years it has slowed down in achieving of this goal. In this sense, he affirmed that the community has “attributes and assets” to be attractive. “But I don’t know if he has the will”, he said.
In a similar line, the former Minister of Industry José Montilla expressed himself, who commented that the installation of renewable energies “stopped” coinciding with the beginning of the discourse of the theories of degrowth. And although he acknowledged that some projects generate social rejection, he was also convinced that “political courage” is needed to push forward the energy transition process of Catalan industry.
Because of all this, the two former political leaders warned that Catalonia will not be able to achieve the decarbonisation goals set for 2050. “You see what has been done in recent years and, at this rate, it is impossible to achieve”, he said Montilla Should this prediction be confirmed, Mas proposed delaying the closure of the nuclear power plants, and also warned that “not having energy sovereignty”, as was evidenced following the war in Ukraine, may have “a price very high”.
In the event, organized with the collaboration of the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB) and Foment del Treball, the mayor of Barcelona, ??Jaume Collboni, also took part; the Business Councillor, Roger Torrent; the special delegate of the State to the CZFB, Pere Navarro, and the leader of the PSC, Salvador Illa.
The former Minister of Health also stated that “Spain is on the right track” in terms of decarbonisation. “The path is well laid out and the data certifies it.” However, he was less optimistic about the energy transition in Catalonia, which in recent years has not been going “the way it should go”. Renewable energies represent 15% of the energy mix – a percentage that exceeds 40% in Spain – and the trend is “going down”. That is why he urged the political actors to “assume responsibilities” and “make decisions”.
Illa shared a round table with Ruud Kempener, a member of the cabinet of the EU Energy Commissioner, and professor Mariano Marzo, who asked the EU to be more self-critical about its energy policy. “The effort to decarbonise that we have to make is so enormous that we cannot afford the luxury of scorning technologies because they do not match our ideological convictions”, he declared.
In another round table that dealt with the challenges of the industry, the Minister of Business, Roger Torrent, recalled that the Government proposes to increase the weight of renewable energy in the energy mix.
The day was closed by the acting Minister of Industry, Héctor Gómez, who was “convinced” that the funds for the second call for the so-called Perte del vehicular electric e connected will be “exhausted” and explained that the Executive is already working on the design of a third call that will exceed 1.2 billion euros.
