Repsol Foundation and the Basque Government will collaborate in the joint development of actions to “promote, disseminate and promote energy efficiency and environmental sustainability”. Among other things, they have signed an agreement for the development of energy efficiency plans, energy saving and the promotion and deployment of renewable energy in public buildings and the conduct of energy studies.

As a result, Repsol and the Government have shown their intention to promote “innovative projects in the field of energy”, especially those related to digitisation to “advance” decarbonisation and training, knowledge and awareness activities in the field of energy sustainability, as the Government has pointed out.

This agreement is part of the Basque Energy Sustainability Act 4/2019, the Euskadi Energy Strategy for 2030 and the Basque Climate Change Strategy for 2050. Repsol is the largest oil and gas company in the State and, for the time being, the largest greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere in many territories, the most polluting.

Repsol is among the 90 companies that have produced two-thirds of the atmospheric gases that have been emitted from the industrial revolution to the present day, and the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement contain 46 in the list of 100 transnational companies responsible for 71% of global emissions.

Repsol wants to turn this picture around and its goal is to become a zero-emission company by 2050. To do so, it seems that the road will be long. Indeed, for the time being, it has hardly reduced emissions in its activity, it has not stopped foreign prospecting and the alternatives put on the table for the future are not very promising. One of the bets of Repsol is “green” hydrogen, for example, in the Basque Country itself, which has created the Basque Hydrogen Corridor, powered by Petronor – Repsol; Petronor is the branch of Repsol (Kutxabank represents 14% of the company, the rest of Repsol). This is the report written by Pello Zubiria on the subject.

“Difficult times come”

At the signing of the convention, lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, made statements. Among other things, he pointed out that energy saving and diversification of energy sources will have to be deepened, which will be forced by the “difficult times ahead”. He also stressed that if the situation worsens, supply restrictions and increases in energy prices cannot be ruled out.

Faced with this, he raised the need to accelerate the energy transition, talked about the importance of individual and collective commitment and highlighted the deployment and use of renewable energies, the diversification of energy sources, savings and efficiency.