7 February 2007

MADRID — Climate change is "humanity's most important challenge," Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said after meeting with former U.S. vice president Al Gore.

The premier told Efe that he and Gore had "agreed on the emergency situation civilization is experiencing" as a result of global warming.

Zapatero said that this government will see to it that Spain's educational institutions have access to Gore's Oscar-nominated documentary on climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth."

The Socialist prime minister called the meeting "most interesting" and praised Gore for his "great leadership work on humanity's most important challenge".

Zapatero told his visitor "what the plans and activities of the Spanish government are to confront climate change".

He said that he and Gore agreed to hold further discussions in two or three months to evaluate the strategy the Zapatero administration plans to launch in the coming weeks.

"I want to express my gratitude for this meeting and for this cooperation," said Zapatero.

The Spanish government is finalizing its national strategy to combat climate change, a draft of which will be presented next Tuesday.

Among the initiatives is the first national plan to allocate emission rights, for the first time limiting the carbon dioxide emissions of about 1,000 Spanish energy and industrial institutions.

Gore has dedicated the past few years to spreading the word and increasing public awareness about the current global climate situation, and he has spoken at about 1,000 meetings and conferences all over the world to alert people to the effects of global warming on the planet.

In Madrid to address a conference on energy, municipalities and global warming, Gore has been nominated for this year's Asturias Prize for international cooperation.

The Asturias honors, awarded on behalf of Spain's Crown Prince Felipe, are the Spanish-speaking world's equivalent of the Nobel prizes.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news