Spain is decisively committed to becoming one of the countries to head up public policies on sustainability, which is reflected in international indicators.
The latest indicator to state this is
The Green Future Index – a research programme by ‘
MIT Technology Review Insights’, drawn up by the prestigious
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which measures the degree to which countries are developing their industry, agriculture and society towards clean energy.
In its 2021 edition, our country is ranked in 18th position out of a total of 76 economies around the world (which account for 95% of global GDP), thus placing Spain in the bloc of Green Leaders according to MIT – the 20 countries that are making the most progress and have the greatest commitment to building a low carbon emission future.
Iceland is in first place – with 6.45 points – thanks to an ambitious decarbonisation programme developed over the last two decades and its development of green hydrogen for industry. It is followed by Denmark, with 6.44 points and Norway, with 6.2.
Spain, for its part, scored 5.42 points, similar to the United Kingdom (5.44) and Switzerland (5.4), France (5.98), Ireland (5.95), Finland (5.9); Belgium (5.63), the Netherlands (5.62), Germany (5.55), Sweden (5.54), Luxembourg (5.3) and Austria (5.47), which are the other countries that highlight a clear European presence (15 out of 20 countries) among the Green Leaders in the ranking. Costa Rica, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore and Uruguay are the only non-European countries in the top 20.
In contrast, Qatar (2.6 points), Paraguay (2.7) and Iran (2.9) are the countries with the worst results in the study.
In the top 10 on climate policies
Within the categories analysed in the study, Spain particularly stands out in the heading on Climate policy, where it was ranked in ninth position, with a score (6.2) that was similar to Ireland, Norway and Belgium, thus placing it among the countries with the best performance in climate change policies, carbon pricing and sustainable agriculture. In this regard, the Green Future Index underlines the recent publication of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (Spanish acronym: PNIEC) and the roadmap to achieve climate neutrality in Spain by 2050.
Under the heading of Sustainable Innovation – which evaluates the number of renewable patents, investment in cross-border green energy initiatives and investment in foodtech – Spain was ranked in 12th position.
However, Spain still has room for improvement and some way to go in the other three categories analysed by ‘MIT Technology Review Insights’: Green Society – sustainable construction, recycling, reforestation and the reduction of the consumption of meat and dairy products – where it was ranked in 38th position; Carbon Emissions - where it was ranked in 44th position; and Energy Transition – which evaluates the way in which renewable energy is growing and contributing to the energy mix, where it was ranked in 67th position.
The research by ‘MIT Technology Review Insights’, headed up by Ross O’Brien, was carried out through research into and the analysis of such data bases as those of the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the World Bank and the FAO, among others, and through interviews with international experts on climate change, green energy and technologies that drive decarbonisation.
With a focus on sustainability and the energy transition
Spain is firmly committed to sustainability. In order to comply with the 2015 Paris Agreement and the United Nations 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development, Spain has developed a Strategic Energy and Climate Framework presented by the government in 2019. This is an opportunity to modernise the Spanish economy, create jobs, develop the rural environment, improve public health and position Spain as a leader in renewable energies and technologies, which will set the course for the next decade. The key elements of this framework are the Draft Climate Change and Energy Transition Act, the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 and the Just Transition Strategy.
By approving the
Hydrogen Roadmap, presented in October 2020, Spain also aspires to becoming one of the main international proponents of this
sustainable energy vector, with tremendous possibilities both to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and for economic growth. Spanish companies such as Iberdrola, Repsol, Acciona and Naturgy are already heading up some of the
largest projects in Spain and in Europe in this field, which could turn our country into the European green hydrogen hub.
Without forgetting the attraction of Spain for investors in renewable energies – our country is
among the 10 countries with the best conditions for investment – a fact that has turned Spain, a major player in photovoltaic and wind energy, into one of the countries to receive the most investment in this field in recent years.