María García of Ecologistas en Acción, is participating in the name of the Plataforma per la Qualitat de l’Aire to evaluate the draft law on climate change in Catalonia.
Climate change and Air Quality are two sides of the same coin. Greenhouse gases and air pollutants often come from the same sources and are generated mainly in the big cities. Some air pollutants also act as a climatic pollutants called Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), which account for 40% to 45% of global warming, while CO2 explains the remaining 55% to 60%. The mutually reinforcing processes of climate change and air pollution are the result of the same problem, a system that is highly dependent on fossil fuels.
The Platform for Quality Air (PQA), the main alliance of the CAPTOR project in Catalonia (Spain), was convened by the Parliament of Catalonia to present their position on the Catalonian climate change draft law. Maria García, from Ecologistas en Acción, representing PQA, called on regional lawmakers to include Air Quality as one of the main policy considerations in climate change regulations, along with Energy Transition policy, defining objectives every 5 years, specific, compulsory regulations with annual indicators and a road map to target sector and inter-sector actions. She also requested that sector activities undergo deep revisions by proposing several points that the law should include based on actions that are effectively being taken in other European cities and countries.
The future climate change law in Catalonia must set climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives to facilitate the transition to a low carbon society. Similar laws are not found in many other countries and Catalonia will be a pioneer in Spain.
To read a transcript of the speech, go to: pj-llei-canvi-climatic (pdf-document)