Spain seeks to pass new climate law to reach net zero by 2050

The draft law proposals would ban all new coal, oil and gas projects with immediate effect

Spain has announced it is seeking to pass a new climate law to ensure it can cut its emissions to net zero by 2050.

The draft law proposals would ban all new coal, oil and gas projects with immediate effect in order to rapidly reduce Spain’s greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth before 2030, relative to 1990 levels, as well as increase the renewable share of the country’s energy mix from around 50% to 70% by this time.

They would also ban all new vehicles that produce carbon emissions by 2040, support the expansion of electric vehicle charging point infrastructure, introduce urban low-emission zones, bolster biodiversity efforts, set clean fuel goals and ban new fossil fuel exploration.

The bill, which is expected to be sent by the government to parliament today and follows a public consultation started in 2019, also aims to slash power consumption by 35% by 2030 through a range of energy efficiency measures.

The plans to transition to a greener economy are expected to require in excess of €200 billion (£178.9bn) in investment by 2030 and create up to 350,000 new jobs in the clean economy each year.

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