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Ivie
VALENCIAN INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
Spain faces important social and environmental sustainability challenges to keep in the path of development
A new study of the Ivie for Funcas analyzes if Spain's economic growth is sustainable compared with its neighboring countries

Environmental pressure on land, rapid increase of energy consumption, low productivity growth and the consequences of population aging are some of the main weak points which Spain faces to achieve sustainable development. The study conducted by the Ivie on behalf of FUNCAS, The sustainability of the economic growth in Spain, has been directed by the Professor at the University of Valencia and Ivie researcher Ernest Reig. This publication analyzes sustainability in a broad sense and details a number of economic, social and environmental aspects applied to the Spanish economy and society, always taking as reference the nearest surrounding countries which make up the European Union.

In the case of environmental issues, special attention is placed on environmental pressures related to the use of natural resources and material flows and with changes in land use, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The study also gathers the results for Spain on several global environmental indicators. An eco-efficiency indicator is proposed and quantified that allows to compare the degree in which different countries, including Spain, manage to combine the increase of GDP with the minimization of environmental pressures.

Some of the conclusions found in this study are:
  • From an environmental viewpoint, the strong increase of artificial land use (especially on the coast), the rapid growth of energy consumption, as well as the increase of C02 emissions are some of the weaknesses of Spain's economic growth.
  • As opposed to other countries, during the last years the Spanish economic growth has been accompanied by an increase in gas emissions and in the use of natural resources, making the environmental pressure on nature very intense.
  • The social dimension of sustainability shows that Spain's main weaknesses are due to the consequences of the aging population and the difficulty to continue reducing the inequality indexes and lowering the poverty rate.
  • From an economic perspective, some of the most important challenges Spain faces are the increase of productivity and sustainability in public finances.
  • The increase of artificial land in Spain in the last two decades is equivalent to a surface area larger than the Basque province of Alava.
  • Spain must improve its results of air and water pollution, increase the protection of biodiversity and reduce the use of natural capital per inhabitant, which is measured through the ecological fingerprint and, at present, surpasses the average level of Western European countries.