Today in Cancun, Ignacio Galán, chairman of IBERDROLA, urged the world’s governments to support private companies in their attempts to combat climate change during a speech made at the Green Solutions @COP16 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Galán, who took part along with other international energy leaders in the inaugural convention panel entitled Re-assessing public-private initiative for the implementation of climate change solutions, underscored that the “first reason for failure is inaction” and that “it is vital to take prompt action if we are to effectively deliver our targets. The sooner we act, the simpler and less costly the measures will be”.

IBERDROLA’s chairman said that “taking on the climate change challenge requires both public and private players to assume commitments”, noting that the “commitments undertaken by private companies cannot be achieved unless the public sector promotes suitable policies and mechanisms to guarantee the necessary regulatory framework and legal security”.

Ignacio Galán said that IBERDROLA “has already spent a decade anticipating the power supply’s sustainability requirements by investing in energy which is clean and environmentally-friendly” and that thanks to this strategy, which has made it the world leader in wind power, with capacity of 12,500 MW, and a very low-emission mix(*), it is “poised to contribute to transformation of the prevailing energy model.”

In this regard, he reiterated the public promise made by the company to mark the Copenhagen summit held one year ago, namely to bring IBERDROLA’s carbon emissions per kilowatt hour 20% below those of the European sector in 2020, a target that is equivalent to “cutting emissions in 2020 by 30%” with respect to 2007 levels.

Key mechanisms for combating climate change

IBERDROLA’s top executive listed some of the more effective ways of cutting global carbon dioxide emissions. Specifically, he upheld that because “energy efficiency and decarbonisation measures in the energy and transport sectors are the most effective while generating the fewest economic ramifications”, there is a need to extend the principle of “he who contaminates pays, which has been so obviously applied in the power sector”, to these sectors.

Galán also stressed that although “the climate change challenge is a global problem and therefore warrants a supranational approach”, the “main line of initiative in the power sector must be direct cuts at the national level, implying a shift towards low carbon emission technologies, namely renewable and nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage”.

Secondly, IBERDROLA’s chairman called for a “CO2 price to act as a basic signal to encourage the development of competitive and clean energy technologies”, against the backdrop of a “global, integrated and fair emissions trading market, which is capable of generating the necessary resources to finance the new investments required”.

Galán also noted that emissions trading “can be complemented with the so-called flexibility mechanisms, so long as they remain supplementary in nature”. To wrap up, IBERDROLA’s Chairman flagged the US Stimulus Bill, which awards aid directly to the renewable sector, triggering installation of some 16,000 MW in the US in just two years.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Particularly, this press release does not constitute an offer to purchase, sell or exchange or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, sell or exchange any securities in the United States of America. The shares of Iberdrola, S.A. may not be offered or sold in the United States of America except pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act or pursuant to a valid exemption from registration.