For decades, the environment was a topic that divided society and, in the eyes of many, classified it into different categories: environmental awareness was associated with medium-sized businesses, with freelance work and a high level of education. In recent years, however, concern for the environment has become more prominent in the public eye, more present in the news and colonizing the programs of political parties. And in Spain, in this very long election year, it will have a special weight in many speeches. Environmental awareness is no longer limited to certain social classes.
“What happened is climate change,” replies environmental sociologist José Manuel Echavarren. If environmental values used to be unlocked through education, now they emerge as a logical consequence of people’s daily experiences, explains this professor at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville. In particular, the aftermath of heat waves has meant that concern for the environment is no longer just a matter for activists looking to protect marine and plant life. It’s no longer about saving a polar bear, now the consequences are on our doorstep and are directly related to a country’s economy and production model, which has forced the political classes to take a clearer stance on the issue.
The American political scientist Ronald Inglehart (1934-2021) popularized the distinction between materialistic and post-materialistic values in his studies of Western post-war societies. The materialistic values would be those centered on labour, wages and economic production, which would have more acceptance among the working class. Post-materialists like freedom of speech, feminism or the environment would be more strongly embraced by the urban, educated and intellectual middle classes.
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“The environment is by no means a post-materialist value,” insists Cristina Narbona, President of the PSOE. “If the main goal of the left is equality, we must make it clear that this includes sustainability. This is the right approach,” affirmed the environment minister from 2004 to 2008. Narbona believes that there is “a growing demand” from citizens for action to be taken on climate change. “People see that kids have more allergies, more bronchiolitis,” he says. And he points out that “we also need to look at mortality from contamination,” which he says affects people on lower incomes more. Narbona also points out that “employment is being created with the ecological transition, and this refutes the misconception that has been circulated in recent decades that environmentalists are holding back progress.”
A firefighter works to put out the fire in Sierra Culebra (Zamora) on June 16, 2022. Emilio Fraile (Europa Press)
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Unidas Podemos MP and founder of the Alianza Verde party, Juan López Uralde, also believes that climate change should be a “core issue” in his political space and that this is already “taken for granted”. “The discussion between material and post-material values seems a bit artificial to me,” stresses López Uralde, who cites the example of the heat waves suffered in recent years as a practical and tangible fact on the part of citizens. “In the past, protecting the environment was a post-material value,” continues López Uralde, “but now it is directly related to the quality of life, which in turn is related to material values.” “Therefore, it must be a priority issue for us. And we’re going to try to include it in the campaign because we also think that’s an area where we’re winning because on the other side [en los partidos de la derecha] there is no suggestion,” he confirms.
Héctor Tejero, deputy for Más Madrid in the regional parliament, considers climate change to be the most important issue of all because “it affects livelihoods”. “Our main goal as parties is to articulate an ecological discourse for the underclass and the working class,” says Tejero, who thinks it is “imperative” that the left can clearly state that climate change should be of major concern to most disadvantaged. And while he doesn’t think this is the most important issue for citizens just yet, he understands that the left now has a golden opportunity to adopt the green flag forcefully. “Now is the best time to connect the issue of climate change with work and business,” says Tejero. “At Más Madrid/Más País, we don’t believe that climate change is for posh people. That’s a prejudice. Is breathing clean air or eating good food just a rich thing?” he asks.
Regarding the importance it will have in the forthcoming election campaigns, Tejero shares an opinion with López Uralde: “I don’t know if it will be an issue in the next parliamentary elections, it depends on the agenda, but we will try So be it,” he says. In the only electoral debate of the November 2019 campaign, no block was devoted to the issue of the environment and climate change. Tejero believes that this will not happen in the next campaign.
The first time the term “environment” appeared in the name of a ministry was in 1993, during Felipe González’s last electoral term. At that time it occupied an insignificant position, it was the third pillar of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. There is currently a ministry with the Ecological Turnaround label, which also has the rank of Vice President. The nominal change also reflects the societal changes that have taken place in this area. According to poll experts, it seems unlikely that a new left-wing party with a majority commitment will emerge today without including climate change as a central axis in its election offer. For analysts, the question is no longer whether or not to defend the existence of climate change: this is a screening of the past. The question is what measures will be taken to deal with the consequences.
The Barasona reservoir at the foot of the Aragonese Pyrenees dried up last December PEDRO ARMESTRE (GREENPEACE)
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