The Spain Climate Scorecard 2024 Leader Award is for Teresa Ribera Rodriguez. Ribera was born in Madrid in 1969. She got a bachelor’s degree in law from Complutense University of Madrid (1992) and a Diploma in Constitutional Law and Political Science from the Centre for Constitutional Studies (1993). Her political and professional career started in 2004 as Director-General of the Spanish Climate Change Office. She was the State Secretary for Climate Change and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). She became Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenges in 2018.

Since December 2024, Teresa Ribera has been the new Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just, and Competitive Transition in the European Union (EU). Her task is to ensure that Europe stays on track for its goals set out in the European Green Deal while driving the decarbonization and industrialization of the EU economy.

She also coordinates the work of the EU Clean Industrial Deal, helping to unlock investment, boost clean tech, and put in place conditions for companies to grow and compete. She guides the implementation of EU laws to help reach EU 2030 climate targets. She also works to reduce energy prices, end EU fossil fuel dependence, invest in clean energy infrastructure, and address energy poverty.

Ribera has twice served as Spain’s environment minister. In her second stint, under current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, she took on the broader role of minister of ecological transition and rose to deputy prime minister in his government. In that job, she oversaw the closure of Spain’s coal industry and negotiated the phase-out of nuclear power by 2035.

One of Ribera’s notable achievements is her role in developing Spain’s National Energy and Climate Plan. This ambitious plan sets a roadmap for Spain’s transition to a carbon-neutral economy by 2050, with targets for reducing emissions, increasing renewable energy capacity, and improving energy efficiency. Ribera played a key role in negotiating this plan, which has been widely praised for its ambition and vision.

This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard Spain Country Manager Juanjo Santos.