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24.05.2020"If we accelerate clean energy provision we could create 300,000 jobs immediately"
In an interview with national newspaper El País on Sunday 24 May as part of its Jobs and the Crisis series, Iberdrola group chairman Ignacio Galán explained that “we will emerge from this crisis greener or not at all”, an opinion shared by all European Union and United Nations leaders and participants in the forums in which he has taken part.
Galán says he is sure that if the National Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) scheduled for 2030 is brought forward, it will change a set of rules that will speed up red tape and make way for the creation of 300,000 jobs, which would be a lifeline to emerge from the crisis.
Another key area is investment. “We need to invest and invest wisely to emerge from the crisis”, he said. Galán believes that “unnecessary spending impoverishes and wise investment creates wealth, a future and jobs”. But to achieve this, “we need to do everything within our power to attract investment by providing a stable, predictable legal framework”.
When it comes to the crisis caused by the pandemic, Galán says that he feels “tremendously proud of the way that the Iberdrola team has behaved”, by guaranteeing power, purchasing medical supplies to meet existing needs, etc., all while safeguarding highly vulnerable people.
To counteract the financial impact of the pandemic, Iberdrola has brought forward orders for 4.2 billion euros, speeding up investment and committing to hiring 5,000 people this year.
What’s more, he says, “with around 150 health measures, isolation, shift work, etc. our rate of infection is ten times lower than the average in the countries where we operate".