A just climate transition aims to advance the development of a decarbonized economy by creating the right conditions to ensure that no industry, territory, or social group is harmed in the process—including workers, vulnerable communities, suppliers of goods and services (especially small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs), and consumers.

EU Regulation 2021/1056 establishes the Just Transition Fund (JTF) in Spain, aimed at supporting the population, economy, and environment of territories undergoing economic and social transformation as they transition toward a climate-neutral European Union.

For the 2021–2027 period, the Just Transition Fund (JTF) has a total budget of €17.5 billion, primarily focused on addressing polluting industries. However, the transition encompasses many other horizontal components that should be clearly understood to avoid misconceptions that could later lead to a political backlash. In a transformation such as the green process, public involvement and information are crucial so that citizens have a clear picture not only of the benefits but also of the sacrifices and costs associated with the transition. For this purpose, only 0,3 billion have been committed.

To raise public awareness about this new reality, the Institute for Just Transition (ITJ) was created. It is an autonomous body under the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), established on April 28, 2020 (Royal Decree 500/2020. The ITJ’s objective is to identify and implement measures that ensure affected workers and regions receive fair and supportive treatment during the transition to a greener, low-carbon economy, thereby minimizing negative impacts on employment and depopulation in these areas.

However, the Just Transition Observatory (JTO), a government body, surveyed in 2024 to measure public awareness of climate change and the just transition. The results were concerning: although over 80% of the population is aware of climate change, 44% are unclear about what the terms ‘ecological transition’ or ‘just transition’ mean, and 50% believe it will have a negative or very negative impact on their cost of living. This perception rises significantly among the most vulnerable populations.

The result of the OTJ also shows the Spanish reality of several demographic groups facing limited or no access to affordable renewable energy, transportation, and waste management services. These issues are deeply intertwined with socio-economic inequalities, legal barriers, rural isolation, and in some cases, marginalization based on cultural or immigration status. These inequalities have a profound impact on health, mobility, education, and dignity.

Picture: Friends of the Earth. 2023

Demographic Groups Facing Inequalities and Lacking Access

1. Low-Income Households in Urban and Rural Areas

• Location: Urban peripheries (e.g., outskirts of Madrid, Barcelona), rural interior (e.g., Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura).
• Socio-Economic Profile: High unemployment, precarious jobs, high energy bills, little to no savings.
• Cultural Traits: Often found in older populations in rural areas, and younger, immigrant-heavy populations in urban peripheries.
• Reasons for Lack of Access:
  • Can’t afford upfront investment in solar panels or energy-efficient appliances.
  • Renters have limited control over energy infrastructure.
  • Older homes with poor insulation and outdated energy systems.
  • In rural areas, transport networks are sparse or unreliable.

2. Roma (Gitano) Communities

• Location: Concentrated in parts of Andalusia (e.g., Seville, Córdoba), Valencia, and Catalonia.
• Socio-Economic Profile: High levels of social exclusion, education and employment barriers, substandard housing.
• Cultural Traits: Strong communal ties, historical marginalization.
• Reasons for Lack of Access:
  • Discrimination and informal housing are not connected to formal energy grids.
  • Limited digital or bureaucratic literacy impedes access to renewable energy subsidies or social services.
  • Irregular income makes consistent bill payment difficult.

3. Migrant Communities

• Location: Urban areas (e.g., Madrid, Barcelona), agricultural zones (e.g., Almería, Murcia).
• Socio-Economic Profile: Seasonal or informal work (especially in agriculture), language barriers, limited rights.
• Cultural Traits: Linguistic and cultural diversity; often transitory or undocumented.
• Reasons for Lack of Access:
  • Often housed in informal settlements or temporary accommodations lacking basic utilities.
  • Face legal and systemic barriers to accessing subsidies or public transportation passes.
  • In remote farming regions, there is no viable public transportation to access healthcare or schools.

Those groups may rely on butane gas canisters, diesel generators, or old electric heaters. Others rely on illegal grid connections, especially in informal settlements or shantytowns. In rural areas, firewood is still used for heating. Solar panels are rare due to their high cost and the lack of property ownership, although small-scale pilot projects exist in some communities. Spain has one of the highest rates of energy poverty in Europe, particularly during the winter months. This leads to respiratory illness due to cold or indoor smoke, stress, poor mental health, and social isolation.

Furthermore, school and work absenteeism due to a lack of transportation or digital disconnection is a reality and limits job opportunities and access to education or healthcare. Member states can supplement the JTF with other European funds, such as the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, and the NextGenerationEU Funds. The last one, in particular, has been allocated to improve green infrastructure and public transport, especially in underserved regions, including urban mobility plans and rural transport enhancements, although implementation is uneven. Many other issues related to climate justice need to be addressed, such as waste management gaps, particularly in informal settlements, where poor sanitation is prevalent. The distance to collection points often increases illegal dumping or burning.

In summary, although policy frameworks and funds exist, the focus on achieving a just climate transition appears misguided. The civilians lose again against the companies that, as always, set the just climate agenda and funds. The proof is that Spain recorded one of the highest energy poverty rates in the EU in 2023, reaching 20.8%. The National Strategy Against Energy Poverty (ENPE) for 2019–2024 is now outdated, which worsens the situation. Furthermore, the targets outlined—aiming to reduce these figures by at least 25% and ideally 50% compared to 2017 levels—still seem far from being achieved. Despite this, the ENPE 2025–2030 is already underway.

In Europe, the situation is not much better. In 2023, 10.6% of the EU population was unable to keep their home warm, an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous year.

The National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) provides subsidies for home retrofitting, particularly for low-income households, such as the “Bono Social Eléctrico” (Electricity Social Tariff), which offers discounts on electricity bills for vulnerable populations. However, gaps in implementation and accessibility mean the most vulnerable groups are still falling through the cracks, and bureaucratic and digital hurdles prevent many from applying, especially non-Spanish speakers or undocumented residents.

The energy transition will only be fair if all citizens have access to affordable and sustainable energy sources. To achieve this, deep legislative reforms are needed at the European, national, and regional levels to eradicate energy poverty and achieve climate justice. Electricity consumption is not a right reserved for a minority; it is an essential good for the functioning of society. Legally, it should be recognized as a human right. However, it is not included in the catalogue of fundamental rights in the Spanish Constitution. This will only be possible if universal access to electricity is recognized as a basic human right, regardless of the geopolitical, social, and economic scenarios the world may experience. From today’s climate perspective, and given the challenges posed by climate change, this is an urgent necessity. There is a pressing need to recognize access to electricity as a constitutional right, with all the legal guarantees that this entails. Only in this way can we simultaneously address social and environmental injustices, as well as the inequalities brought about by energy poverty. Moreover, this would help increase the resilience of the most vulnerable groups in the face of extreme climate events.

Nevertheless, although there is a lack of governmental coordination for climate justice with the most vulnerable population, here are some good examples of programs that are taking place, helping them to achieve better climate justice:

 

1. Catalonia (Barcelona) – Urban Energy Equity

 Success Story: “Punts d’Assessorament Energètic” (Energy Advice Points)

• What It Is: Public energy support offices in Barcelona that offer advice and help with accessing energy subsidies.
• Target Group: Low-income, elderly, migrant, and unemployed residents.
• Successes:
  • Help residents negotiate with power companies to avoid shut-offs.
  • Assists in applying for the Bono Social.
  • Offers legal and technical support to improve energy efficiency in homes.
• Impact:
  • Over 40,000 households assisted since 2017.
  • Notably helped reduce energy poverty in districts like Nou Barris and Ciutat Meridiana.

2. Basque Country – Rural Mobility and Green Energy

 Success Story: Bizkaibus & Rural Solar Integration

• What It Is: Integrated rural-urban public transport + local solar cooperatives.
• Target Group: Aging populations and rural villages in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa.
• Successes:
  • Improved rural bus routes tailored to elderly and low-mobility users.
  • Local energy co-ops (e.g., Goiener) support shared solar energy without needing home ownership.
• Impact:
  • Increased energy autonomy in small towns.
  • Expanded community participation in renewable energy decisions.

3. Andalusia (Seville & Córdoba) – Roma and Migrant Inclusion Projects

 Success Story: “Barrios en Transición” (Neighborhoods in Transition)

• What It Is: A community-based project improving energy, waste, and housing access in marginalized Roma neighborhoods.
• Target Group: Roma communities in Seville’s Polígono Sur and Córdoba’s Las Palmeras.
• Successes:
  • Introduced solar-powered street lighting and small-scale PV systems.
  • Waste recycling workshops and community clean-up days to address illegal dumping.
  • Partnerships with social workers to help residents access subsidies.
• Impact:
  • Reduced illegal electrical hookups.
  • Improved sanitation and local safety.
  • Built trust between marginalized groups and city authorities.

4. Navarra – Cooperative Renewable Energy Models

Success Story: Energy Cooperatives like Som Energia

• What It Is: Citizen-owned renewable energy networks.
• Target Group: Rural residents and low-income members.
• Successes:
  • Allows residents to pool resources to install and benefit from solar or wind.
  • Transparent pricing, no market speculation.
  • Offers education and local training on energy sustainability.
• Impact:
  • Increased access to renewables, even for renters and non-tech-savvy people.
  • Reduces household bills and promotes environmental awareness.

5. Castilla y León – Waste Management in Sparsely Populated Areas

 Success Story: Mobile Waste Collection & Biogas Pilot Projects

• What It Is: Regional initiative using mobile recycling units and organic waste-to-biogas projects.
• Target Group: Elderly and isolated residents in low-density towns.
• Successes:
  • “Ecopuntos móviles” (mobile eco-points) visit remote villages on a weekly basis.
  • Biogas plants convert agricultural waste into usable energy.
• Impact:
  • Reduces illegal dumping and open burning.
  • Provides local renewable fuel for farms and households.

Lessons Learned Across Regions

• Community trust is crucial: programs work more effectively when locals are involved in planning.
• One-size-fits-all doesn’t work: successes are tailored to local social, economic, and geographic contexts.
• Barriers persist: Bureaucratic red tape, language access, and digital exclusion can still limit the reach of these projects.

 

Access to essential services, such as renewable energy, public transportation, and waste management, remains unequal across Spain. Vulnerable groups—including low-income households, rural residents, gitano communities, and migrants—are disproportionately excluded, exacerbating poverty and social marginalization.

The general impression is that the Spanish strategy for a just transition is well defined in terms of what to do, but not so much in terms of how to achieve it. The business community, especially small and medium-sized companies, and regional governments are complaining about the lack of information regarding awarding procedures, technical requirements, and other crucial elements that would enable them to be prepared when the funds become available. Strategic projects appear to be defined top-down, and the way medium-sized companies (or EU companies, which are exempt by law) can benefit from the funds remains unclear at this stage. The governance structure of the Spanish national plan for a climate justice transition is quite weak. It is an administrative superstructure with no clear operational functioning or well-defined accountability. The choice of the Secretariat General for Structural Funds of the Ministry of Finance as the managing unit does not seem like a good idea. Finance is a department made for control, not spending, and EU funds are, above all, economic policy tools (Real Instituto Elcano, 2024).

Climate justice, therefore, is not only an energy and environmental issue, but also a matter of human rights, equity, and social justice. It is as human to enjoy a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as it is to have universal access to affordable and sustainable electricity. While the former is universally recognized as a human right, the latter remains so. This is the missing cornerstone needed to give shape and credibility to a truly just climate transition.

OTJ surveys reveal public mistrust, bolstered by the abusive practices of large energy companies, which continue to apply exorbitant and disproportionate rates to citizens, like electricity bills. The biggest paradox is that the higher the proportion of renewable sources in the country, the higher the power bill becomes.  The 2030 Agenda is far from becoming a reality. There is a goal for an efficient, intelligent, fair, and inclusive energy model that leaves no one behind. However, the central issue remains unaddressed. There will be no European Green Deal without a climate, social, and economic transition that ensures dignified living conditions for all.

The urgency to abandon fossil fuels must be matched by the urgency to end the violation of the right to energy supply. Eradicating energy poverty and delivering climate justice must be viewed as a global challenge. Only by recognizing renewable energy access as a new human right will the green transition be perceived not as a threat, but as an opportunity to improve everyone’s life.

(Excerpt from the newspaper El País, April 17, 2025, written by Nuria Encinar Arroyo – lawyer, actuary, and PLGP at IESE.)

 

Policy Recommendations

 

1. Make renewable energy access a universal right: Include it in the Spanish Constitution.
2. Decentralized fund management: Create an agile, transparent, and bottom-up definition of projects that can be reached by the groups closest to the people who will suffer the most from the ecological transition, ensuring climate justice.
3. Scale Up Community Energy Co-ops: Support decentralized, citizen-owned renewable energy to reach rural areas, renters, and non-homeowners.
4. Simplify Access to Subsidies: Streamline Bono Social applications in rural areas and suburbs and improve outreach in multiple languages.
5. Boost Rural Transport Funding: Expand flexible, demand-based transit models in aging rural communities.
6. Invest in Circular Waste Solutions: Mobile recycling and local compost/biogas projects can bring waste management to remote areas.
7. Integrate Cultural Mediation: Include Gitano and migrant representatives in program design to ensure accessibility and trust.

 

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