The Environment Versus the Society

How does a society move away from fossil fuels, without abandoning those who rely on the industry for their income? Teresa Ribera, Spain’s Minister for Ecological Transition, aims to answer the question in a podcast.

How does a society move away from fossil fuels, without abandoning those who rely on the industry for their income?

The answer is dialogue and engagement with communities, according to Teresa Ribera, Spain’s Minister for Ecological Transition. “We [environmentalists] cannot convince anyone by saying ‘for the sake of your planet you need to lose your job’,” she said in a podcast hosted by Man Group’s Co-Head of Responsible Investment, Jason Mitchell. “We need to pay attention to people’s concerns in every community, so we are perceived as engaged people, helping to provide the new reality.”

The ‘new reality’ she alludes to is the EUR250 million package of funding which Spain will invest in former mining regions over the next decade.1 Spain closed most of its coalmines at the end of 2018. The package aims to support the 1,000 Spaniards who were reliant on the mining industry, either by retraining them or by offering them early retirement. “We need to strengthen the solidarity policies, so as to strengthen people’s belief that institutions can deliver,” Ribera said.

Ribera’s comments echoed those made by Reinhard Buetikofer, Member of the European Parliament and Co-Chair of the European Green Party, in another podcast hosted by Mitchell. “If we just focus on an environmental perspective without taking account of social concerns, why would people listen if they get the impression that we’re not listening to them?” Buetikofer said in the podcast. Instead, society as a whole would benefit if we thought about what other kinds of businesses we could create in the region and how we could use the competencies that the mine workers have in other industries that are less harmful for the environment, he said.

Figure 1. Spain’s Energy Mix (GWh)

Source: Red Electrica de Espana, Preliminary Report 2018.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/26/spain-to-close-most-coal-mines-after-striking-250m-deal

 

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