Renewables: We desperately need an agreement

Wind farm in Castellfollit
19/07/2025
3 min

From the renewable energy community, we eagerly awaited an agreement on Decree Law 12/25 on renewables. We desperately wanted it because we are aware ofthe great lack in which we find ourselves after years of immobility. Surprisingly and with great sadness, we have discovered that there is no agreement, and that we are once again returning to what, on a practical level, is a moratorium on renewable energy. A colossal disaster, in short.

We desperately need an agreement. And many of us think that the space for this agreement to be reached is greater than they would have us believe. In part, because denying clean, cheap, and local energy for so many years is extremely costly. How long will we live off toasting political nihilism? Pretending that this is a game of cards like yet another masterstroke doesn't help (nor does it help, honestly). Neither does presenting a decree that cannot be approved. The negotiation was so advanced that one is left staring into space, wondering what went wrong.

I was saying that many of us think that the space for consensus is broad, and I'll explain this in a personal way. In our family, we have two expert economists who dedicate ourselves to climate emergency issues. My uncle, Francesc Reguant, who works in the agri-food sector, and I, who study energy transition issues. We're both dismayed by the climate risks we're already beginning to experience: he by the lack of food security, and I by the lack of energy security and decarbonization. And both of us, without a doubt, are the most stubborn members of the family—you can ask them.

Reading the news, one might think my uncle and I can't even stand each other. Because agriculture and renewables are at odds, right? Well, no. He looks at the numbers and projections and understands that solar energy is necessary and that solar panels on roofs won't get us anywhere. Perhaps his heart tells him that all agriculture should be protected, but climate impacts make dry farming increasingly erratic and unviable. I look at the numbers and projections and understand that agriculture will increasingly need the support of irrigation to be productive or even exist. Perhaps my heart tells me that the decree must be approved at any price, because the delay is so long; but I listen.

Ultimately, we conclude that protecting irrigation more explicitly, unblocking renewables in other parts of the country, is compatible and appropriate; a good bridge to meet. We are both aware that, along with water and shelter, energy and food are essential for life.

Indeed, an agreement is not only viable, but absolutely necessary. The high dependence on energy and food in Catalonia makes us extremely vulnerable to the climate change we are experiencing. It is necessary to protect and incentivize irrigation and the lands that can benefit from them in order to develop them as a public good of general interest. We also need renewable energy as a public good of general interest, even if they occupy spaces that make us uncomfortable or look ugly. We must sit down with as many people as possible to make the decree a reality, always remembering that a consensual agreement is infinitely superior to the absence of what each person might consider their ideal decree.

The decree could not be voted on in time. Technically, it could be done until Monday, but it seems there is no extraordinary plenary session. I thought extraordinary plenary sessions were for extraordinary situations, and this one is, but we will wait patiently until September. We'll be working together these weeks until we reach a valid agreement, even if it's not perfect. We can't afford anything else.

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