The involvement of all actors in decarbonisation is essential, according to MIVAU

During the presentation ceremony of AESAH, institutional representatives of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU), the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), the Representation of the European Commission in Spain, and the delegate of the Housing Policies Area of the Madrid City Council, Álvaro González López, intervened, stressing that the challenges of "urban rehabilitation operations" are of vital importance for the city council.

A roundtable addressed issues such as the need for a fair, efficient and accessible energy transition, consumer protection and the role of green molecules—both gases and liquid fuels of renewable origin—in the decarbonisation of Spain's housing stock. OCU's Energy project officer, Cayetana Crespo, highlighted the need to involve consumers in the process of decarbonising buildings. "We have to inform that it is necessary to act, that the building stock is quite inefficient and that it is the consumers who are going to feel the benefit (of having decarbonising energy solutions)," he explained.

In this sense, the director of the Innovation and Sustainability in Building Division of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, Ainhoa Díez de Pablo, stated that "the involvement of all agents" in the decarbonisation process is fundamental, and that "only by focusing on one or two technologies we are not going to achieve what we need". This is a position shared by the representative of AESAH, Isabel Ortiz, who indicated that "we have to offer a wide range of alternatives so that citizens can choose what best suits them, depending on their economic and material possibilities". 

Clear rules

In this regard, Alfredo Garzón Gómez, head of the area of the Deputy Directorate-General for Energy Efficiency and Access to Energy, pointed out that, from MITECO's point of view, "the biggest challenge is to translate general obligations into specific things that are useful for users and companies", working so that "the regulations are clear and leave no doubts", especially regarding the use of boilers, for any of the agents involved in the decarbonisation of households.

For her part, during the closing ceremony, the Economic Advisor of the European Commission Representation in Spain, Anna Armengol Torío, stressed that the European Commission is "delighted to listen to the voices of industry, it being clear that the decarbonisation of households is key to decarbonising the local, regional, national and European economies".