Spain will aim to achieve a circular and carbon-neutral economy by 2050 to minimize its environmental impact, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Thursday.

According to the government’s Spain 2050 report, which is meant to launch a collective debate around the nation’s post-pandemic future, the southern European country will need a significant shift to cope with the climate emergency.

As per current projections, Spain will be “warmer, more arid and unpredictable” in 2050, the report said, which highlights that 70% of Spanish territory will face droughts in that scenario.

Key economic sectors for Spain, namely agriculture and tourism, would suffer serious disruptions, while 20,000 people could die every year due to rising temperatures.

Spain will suffer the most in Europe when it comes to access to fresh water, the report added. Running water in homes might not be affected, but resource management would need to undergo crucial changes nonetheless.

To avoid this scenario, the report suggests moving towards a circular and carbon-neutral economy and “radically changing how we generate energy, how we move, produce, and consume goods and services.”

The transformation will involve investing in sustainable energies and electric vehicles, reinventing production processes, reducing waste, encouraging ecological farming, and “green” taxation reform.

Green development will have to be accomplished in record time, while “maintaining competitiveness” and “leaving no one behind,” said Sánchez.

The European Commission has set a similar EU-wide objective of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as well as an intermediate 55% reduction target by 2030. EFE