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YouthWiki

EACEA National Policies Platform
Spain

Spain

9. Youth and the World

Last update: 29 March 2021

According to the Youth Report (2020) (Informe Juventud en España 2020) the attitudes, values, and behaviors of young people are associated with the macro-social and political contexts such as the organisational and political networks of the groups in which they are inserted.  In the area of global sustainability, Spain is part of various international treaties and has a Master Plan of Cooperation (V Plan Director de la Cooperación Española 2018-2021) that started in 2001 and its is currently in its V edition approved for its period 2018-2021. It recognizes the eradication of poverty, in all its dimensions, as a necessary condition for achieving sustainable development, eradicating inequality, hunger and pursuing social justice in regards to the four spheres of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: persons, planet, prosperity and peace.

The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID)) is the Spanish cooperation management body oriented towards the fight against poverty and sustainable human development. The Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (Ministerio de Transición Ecológica y Reto Demográfico), through the general secretariat of the environment) wants to promote a pro-environmental action between individuals and social groups, to achieve informed actions towards a sustainable society in the vital context of its citizens: home, work, school, leisure and community.

On 11 January 2021, the Resolution of 30 December 2020, of the Directorate General for Environmental Quality and Assessment, was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), formulating the strategic environmental declaration of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030.
This plan is one of the Spanish Government's instruments for meeting the goals and objectives set by the European Union in relation to energy and climate policy.
Some of the main objectives of this plan set for 2030 are:
- 23% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to 1990.
- 42% of renewables in the final use of energy.
- 39.5% improvement in energy efficiency.
- 74% of renewable energy in electricity generation.

The Spanish Sustainable Development Strategy (Estrategia Española de Desarrollo Sostenible) establishes actions for the achievement of a sustainable consumption and production; sustainable construction; sustainable urban mobility; social sustainability and global sustainability.

In recent years, climate change has increased its visibility in the media and the public agenda, mainly because the widespread increase in temperatures, natural disasters and environmental deterioration across the globe have highlighted the negative effects of climate change and the severe environmental problems. For example, the decrease in water resources, the regression of the coast, the loss of biodiversity and the increases in soil erosion processes.