The Canary Islands Ministry of Ecological Transition has participated in an official event of the COP 27 Climate Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) related to transition and energy efficiency in island territories around the world. This activity also included representatives from the governments of the Balearic Islands and Taiwan and other international organizations such as the RMI Global South Program.
This discussion and exhibition table was entitled 'Energy infrastructure, governance, regulatory framework to promote the transition and resilience of the islands' and served for each territory to share examples of sustainable electricity infrastructures and success stories related to renewables and emissions reduction.
The minister, José Antonio Valbuena, presented the current energy map with which the regional government is working and the different temporary milestones that have been set for 2030 and 2040, the date on which it is intended to achieve climate neutrality in the economic sectors of the archipelago.
Valbuena recalled that the Canary Islands have a double insularity, unlike the Balearic Islands, as they are not connected to any point on the Iberian Peninsula nor can they connect all their islands to each other, although significant progress has been made in interconnections such as La Gomera-Tenerife or Lanzarote-Fuerteventura. "This double insularity puts us at a disadvantage compared to other archipelagos that can count on backup energy in the event of zero energy or any type of incident, hence our insistence on approving a specific regulatory framework that allows us to compensate for this circumstance with other measures."
These assessments were complemented by the presentation of the strategies that make up the current Canary Islands Energy Transition Plan (PTECan) and the future Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition of the Canary Islands, which is ready to be approved in the first parliamentary sessions of December.
