Mikel Jauregi: "76% of citizens in the Basque Country are concerned about climate change, a mandate to move forward in the deployment of renewable energy"
25/10/2024
The Regional Minister of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, Mikel Jauregi, has released data from the latest study of citizen perception on climate and energy, in which 75% of the Basque population believes that the energy and climate transition not only involves challenges, but will also bring new economic opportunities for the Basque Country.
According to the Climate and Energy Ecobarometer, 58% of citizens are in favour of having a renewable generation farm in their area, while 72% believe that it is necessary for all of us to give up comforts in order to act against climate change.
Regional Minister, Mikel Jauregi stated that "society must be made aware of the urgent need to implement new renewable generation projects".
Coinciding with the International Day against Climate Change, the Regional Minister of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, Mikel Jauregi, has assessed the results of the latest Climate and Energy Ecobarometer (a study of citizen perception on energy transition and climate change) carried out by the Basque Government's Sociological Prospecting Office, in collaboration with the Basque Energy Agency-EVE and the Public Environmental Management Company-Ihobe. The General Managers of both public companies, Mikel Amundarain and Alex Boto, also participated in the presentation.
One of the main results of the study is that 3 out of 4 people in the Basque Country think that the energy and climate transition will bring new opportunities for the Basque economy. Jauregi, the Regional Minister highlighted that "as a country, we cannot afford to have only 8% of energy generation from renewables. To give an example, the Basque Country has the full industrial chain to design, plan, build and operate a wind farm, and it is time to take a qualitative leap forward with new wind farms in our territory. 75% of the Basque population believes that the energy and climate transition will bring new opportunities for our economy and it is time to take advantage of them. It is up to our generation to provide a solution to climate change. It is now and it is us.
The regional minister also called for responsibility and shared commitment between citizens and institutions in the deployment of renewables through major new projects. "In contrast to the growing climate denialism in other countries, 76% of citizens in the Basque Country are concerned about climate change. We enjoy a huge level of citizen awareness to face a historic moment. We must take advantage of this majority support to make a qualitative leap by deploying new renewable energy projects. In recent years, we have made great progress in energy efficiency and self-consumption, but we need to implement wind and solar projects on a larger scale. We cannot supply our industry merely with solar panels on the rooves of our houses.
According to the Climate and Energy Ecobarometer, the Basque population ranks the seriousness of climate change with 7.5 points on a scale from 1 to 10. The most widespread feelings of Basque people regarding climate change are "powerlessness" (49% include it among the top two feelings), "indignation" (39%) and "fear" (31%). The consequences that are considered most likely in the Basque Country are more frequent heat waves (86% consider it very or fairly likely), a rise in sea level (82%) and an increase in the frequency of flooding (78%).
Jauregi highlighted how some of the initial effects of climate change are already being perceived in the Basque Country, "we are increasingly aware of the extreme phenomena derived from climate change, with heat waves in summer and continuous episodes of heavy rainfall leading to flooding in winter. The energy transition is fundamental on this path. Not only our economy, but also our food, our health, our biodiversity and our natural environment, and ultimately our very survival depends on it.
Top rated types of energy
When asked about the types of energy that should be promoted in the Basque Country, the Basque population most frequently mentioned solar energy (8.1 on a scale from 0 to 10), marine energy (7.9), wind energy (7.7), and geothermal energy (7.5), followed by biomass (6.5), hydrogen (6.4) and natural gas (5.5). According to the Basque population, oil derivatives and nuclear energy are the two types that should be promoted the least (3.9 and 2.6 respectively).
Another interesting fact is that almost 7 out of 10 people (69%) believe that the impact of renewable energy facilities should be analysed carefully, even if this means slowing down the fight against climate change.
Regional Minister, Mikel Jauregi stated that "society must be made aware of the urgent need to implement new renewable generation projects". 58% of citizens are in favour of having a renewable generation farm in their area, while 72% believe that it is necessary for all of us to give up comforts in order to act against climate change. "We understand these figures to be a citizen mandate to move forward on this path, but we are also aware that we have to increase education and communication to make this percentage of support grow and to make citizens truly aware of the social, economic and environmental benefits that renewable energy will bring".
On the other hand, most of the people surveyed agreed with the measures they were asked about to fight climate change, specifically: forcing homeowners' associations to have facilities to generate the energy they consume (58% fully or quite agree), banning the entry of polluting vehicles into cities (56%), putting higher taxes on vehicles that pollute more (56%), and building more green areas, eliminating parking spaces (55%).
Jauregi also acknowledged the efforts made by Basque industry. "The industrial sector in the Basque Country, led by the Basque Net Zero Industrial Super Cluster initiative, has been working side by side for decades in order to reach net zero emissions by 2050, making a major commitment to decarbonisation and energy self-sufficiency through renewable resources. The energy transition is a shared challenge that concerns us all, and just like industry, the rest of the sectors and society as a whole must advance along this path, each in their own sphere, so as not to be left behind".
"As a country, we cannot afford to be left behind and remain energy dependent on third parties. We have recently suffered the consequences of this dependence, with gas-related price escalations weighing down our economy, the competitiveness of our businesses and the pockets of our families. The time has come to make a firm commitment to renewable energy to slow down climate change, but also keeping the future energy sovereignty of the Basque Country in mind".
ASTEKLIMA, Climate and Energy Week
In this respect, Jauregi has underlined the "need to take advantage of the new tools provided by the Energy Transition and Climate Change Law, approved by a vast parliamentary majority last February, 82% of the chamber, to increase public awareness". ASTEKLIMA, the Basque Climate and Energy Week, has been held from 18th to 27th October, promoted by the Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, through EVE and Ihobe, in order to put the energy and climate transition challenges on the public agenda.
"The success or failure of the fight against climate change will depend on the ability to promote ambitious transformative projects and the ability to rally support. It is a shared challenge that should be tackled on a multi-level scale. We must communicate the scale of this great challenge and make each and every person in this country a key player. Every gesture, every action counts, no matter how small", added Jauregi.
About the study
The citizen perception study on energy transition and climate change is the third in the series carried out by the Basque Government, following on from those of 2017 and 2021. The fieldwork was carried out between 9th and 20th September 2024, by means of individual telephone interviews, using a structured and closed questionnaire, with a representative sample of the population of the Basque Country.
The sample, aimed at a population over the age of 18, included a total of 1,845 interviews for the whole of the Basque Autonomous Community: 436 in Araba, 768 in Bizkaia and 641 in Gipuzkoa.
More information in the following study published on the Ihobe website: Climate Change and Energy Transition 2024.
