The Balearic government yesterday unveiled its green manifesto for 2050. One of the highlight policies is the phasing-out of diesel vehicles, as the government sets about reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions, improving its green footprint and mitigating the effects of climate change.
The 'Fight Against Climate Change' was presented by the president of the Balearics, Francina Armengol, accompanied by the minister for transport and energy, Marc Pons, and the director-general for energy, Joan Groizard. In short, from 2025 no new diesel vehicles will be permitted in the Balearics. By 2035 that same rule will apply to petrol-fuelled vehicles. The main objective is that. by 2050, 100 per cent of the vehicles on Balearic roads, including hire cars, will be electric. Also, by 2025 all street and road lighting will be replaced by LEDs; solar panels will be installed on all buildings with roof spans of more than 1,000 square metres – car parks, hospitals, supermarkets and sports stadiums, for example; and coal plants will be phased out.
The car-rental companies will have to start progressively switching over their vehicle fleets from 2020 in order to meet the 2050 deadline. The new restrictions will also apply to visitors coming to the region by ferry with their own vehicles. At the presentation, Groizard said that the Balearics is the region in Spain with the most electric vehicle recharging points and that the government is investing ten million euros in expanding the network. In order to enforce the fight against climate change, the government is going to create a Balearic Institute for Energy.
Armengol explained that the Balearics is going to set the bar very high with this pioneering plan, and she knows that central government in Madrid is not going to approve. But there are other regions in Spain which have congratulated the Balearics for its bold move and may well follow the region’s example in defiance of Madrid, where the central government is still in favour of using fossil and carbon fuels while taking a gradual approach to tackling climate change.