Green investment in Spain will account for 37% of the Economic Recovery Plan.

The Spanish government announces the mobilization of 140 billion euros, following the European distribution agreement, of which more than a third will be allocated to green investment.

On Wednesday morning, October 7th, Pedro Sánchez, the President of the Government of Spain, presented the Economic Recovery Plan to address the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This plan, which will have a significant impact on Spanish green investment, is the result of negotiations among various European governments within the European Union in Brussels. It anticipates the mobilization of €140 billion in public funds, which, according to Sánchez, could multiply into “up to €500 billion in private sector investment” as a result of the multiplier effect of these investments.

Heinvestment plan, which will take place in the period 2021-2026,It will be based on four main pillars aimed at “the second major modernization of the Spanish economy,” as stated by the Prime Minister. These four cross-cutting themes are the ecological transition, the digital transformation, gender equality, and social and territorial cohesion. Of this amount, 72 billion euros will be disbursed as grants, and the remainder as loans. The ultimate goal is to “increase the potential growth of the Spanish economy to over 2%.”

Following Sánchez’s announcement, and as the afternoon wore on, the four Deputy Prime Ministers (Carmen Calvo, Nadia Calviño, Pablo Iglesias, and Teresa Ribera) outlined some of the main points of this plan, among which the following will stand out:with 37% of the funds, green investment in the Spanish economy.Thus, electric mobility, the implementation of renewable energies, the renovation of homes for energy efficiency, and ecological recovery stand out as the main targets of this strategy. This commitment stems from the European agreement that gave rise to the Next Generation program, which clearly stipulated that the countries receiving these funds must allocate that amount to projects related to climate change and the environment.

Some of the key figures include 250,000 electric vehicles on Spanish roads by 2023, as well as the installation of 100,000 electric charging points to lay the foundations for this type of electric mobility. This will be coupled with investment in renewables with the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 and the renovation and retrofitting of half a million homes to ensure their energy efficiency.

The Green Deal and the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan as a backdrop

Green investment in Spain will be framed within the so-called Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan, presented last May, which aims to establish strategies for decarbonizing the Spanish economy by 2030. This financial injection would strengthen the plan, whose guiding principle is…Green Deal, or European Green Pact,which aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.

This plan sets 2030 as an “intermediate target,” by which emissions must have been reduced by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels within the European Union. According to Sánchez, this target could be brought forward to 2023 as a result of investments.