The Region of Murcia pollutes beyond its possibilities. At least that’s how it can be deduced from the data of a study on ‘Greenhouse gas emissions in Spain’ published this Wednesday by BBVA Research. As stated in the work, it is among the autonomous communities where there is a gap between what it releases into the atmosphere and its contribution to the country’s economic activity. And it is that the sectors that generate the most emissions are not necessarily those with the highest added value.
A fact that is clearly verified in Murcia, where the greater weight of the most polluting sectors in this area becomes a determining factor. It must be taken into account that only four productive branches -agriculture, energy, transport and manufacturing- represent 90% of the emissions generated (excluding those direct from households), when in reality their weight in GDP is close to 25%. .
Because contrary to what can be assumed, the report reveals that the global weight of the activity of the regions is not the only determining factor. For example, Madrid and Catalonia are the communities with the greatest difference between their contribution to GDP and the weight of the emissions they generate, the latter being much lower. On the contrary, Asturias, Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha are the ones that generate the most emissions in comparison with their contribution to national wealth.
So the Region of Murcia is located just behind these last autonomies that register a negative balance, along with Aragon, Extremadura, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Galicia, Andalusia, among others. In this sense, the connection between per capita income and the intensity of emissions also depends on factors such as the income threshold from which emissions are reduced, the productive structure, as well as the balance and energy mix.
Higher rent
According to the so-called Environmental Kuznets Curve – an empirical relationship between emission intensity and per capita income – the communities with the lowest income are in the “ascending” section, compared to those with the highest income and more tertiarized, which are in the lower part. descending (Madrid and the Basque Country); although the curve is practically flat.
In Spain as a whole, the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions had been decreasing almost uninterruptedly since before the pandemic, mainly due to the greater weight of renewables in global energy production and the commitment to greater efficiency.
From the BBVA research service they emphasize that commerce and hospitality, public administrations and real estate activities are the sectors with a low weight in total emissions in relation to their high contribution to economic growth.
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