Jacob Petrus: "In the United States, Canada and Europe there is a respect for the environment that does not exist in developing countries"

The presenter of RTVE's Aquí la Tierra, Jacob Petrus, visited the microphones of the Atalayar programme on Capital Radio, which is broadcast every Monday from 22-23:30h. During his intervention, Petrus explained the commitments made by the United States at the climate summit that took place last week. In addition, the geographer argued that, if the current economic model based on hydrocarbons were to change, our country, due to its geographical configuration, could become one of the leaders in renewable energies. On the other hand, Petrus assured that between electricity and hydrogen lies the fuel of the future, leaving open the question of which fuel will finally prevail. 

Jacob Petrus, born in the Barcelona town of Manresa in 1976, graduated in Geography from the University of Barcelona with a degree in Climatology. After collaborating with several PRISA group media (El País, Cadena Ser, Localia, CNN+), he was head of meteorological information at Telemadrid for 9 years before joining the RTVE El Tiempo team. Currently, since May 2014, he has been the presenter of Aquí la Tierra, the informative magazine show that deals with the influence of climatology and meteorology on a personal and global level. He has also been collaborating with GEO and Muy Interesante magazines.

What did the United States commit to at last week's "impromptu" climate summit? A summit that was a stepping stone to COP 26 in Glasgow.

It was not really improvised at all because everything was perfectly calculated. In fact, it is a convention that was organised by the United States and it was Joe Biden who invited the other presidents of nations, around 40, to participate in this conference in a virtual format, in the context of the pandemic we are in. The commitment made seems to me to be quite important, let's remember that Biden has committed himself to reducing emissions by 50% by 2030, taking 2005 levels as a reference; to get an idea, this means doubling the Paris Agreements. In my opinion, he has gone too far, but there is no harm in going too far in this respect. It is clear that they are making far greater commitments than they asked for in the Paris Agreement. This is clearly a change of policy on climate change, a radical shift from that of the Trump administration. Therefore, let's say that he has organised a conference in which he takes on the role of leader in the fight against climate change. On top of this, it does so with commitments that oblige the rest of the countries to commit to other spectacular figures, such as carbon neutrality by 2050, which is a commitment that should be highlighted.

In addition to what it means returning to multilateralism in the face of climate change, something that Donald Trump had completely broken, which means cutting emissions, does this imply a major transformation of the US economy?

Let's look at the ways in which the Biden administration is pursuing this carbon neutrality. Beyond the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, which is the gas that causes the greenhouse effect, plus water vapour, which is natural but generated by humans. Carbon dioxide is the gas that causes climate change; with respect to these levels, this 50% reduction has been committed. Moreover, this carbon neutrality means that by mid-century the United States would emit the same amount of carbon as it would sequester from the atmosphere. It is not yet clear what methods it will use to capture that CO2, we will have to look at what we call carbon sinks, the most romantic figure being the planting of trees that sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Although we assume that there will be a much more important technological development there, which I personally think is the most interesting geopolitical part. Developed countries have a choice in the coming decades to change their economic model, not to base it on oil and natural gas, but on renewable energies. This implies a renewal of the whole system. In his closing speech at the summit, Biden spoke of many jobs that we could not even imagine today and that will be key in the future. It is clear that in developed countries, the United States, Canada and Europe, there is a respect for the environment that does not exist in other countries, even in developing ones. In this case I am talking about China, India and possibly there is a choice of economic model in which the United States could be a leader.

For those of you who make Aquí la Tierra, a magnificent programme, have you toasted with champagne to celebrate this summit? To the issues discussed there and to what it means, the goal of a clean future for the Earth, which is the main motto to your programme.

Yes, of course, yet such summits often make a lot of noise and not much of a difference.

Is it hard to apply this to the real world?

We attend a lot of summits. In fact, almost every year such summits are held and in the end it is very difficult to take action. I personally prefer to see where the positive message is in all this, we are not just talking about cutting CO2 emissions, we are talking about a change of model. The fight against climate change can only be achieved from within the system; we currently have a system based on hydrocarbons. That is to say, either we change the system or else the current economic model will make it very difficult to combat climate change. This means changing a model in which Spain could be one of the leading countries. Our country has a geographical configuration that would allow us to be a leader in renewable energies. In the solar sector, obviously, due to the number of sunlight hours we have and the amount of unpopulated territory available in our country. But we could also be leaders in wind energy with the kilometres of coastline we have. I may be overoptimistic, but I believe that the only way to combat climate change in the future will be through these small steps that we seem to be starting to see.

If the United States or the European Union have a strong will and determination to take important decisions, but China, Russia or India do not go hand in hand, then there is little to be done. These countries argue that since they have come later to development, it is now their turn to develop.

Naturally, fighting against this reasoning is quite difficult. Indeed, they consider that everything that has been issued by the developed countries also has the right to go down that road. That is why I insist that it is an environmental problem that cannot be solved with the current system and that we should find other ways, other sources of energy. In this case, if the model changes, which I believe we are in the ideal context for the developed countries, the Western countries, to be able to develop through renewable energies, they would leave these other countries on the sidelines. A great many things would have to be changed because, for example, it makes no sense for the European Union to promote a cut in CO2 emissions that affects all member countries, but then feed our industry with products produced in countries that do not cut CO2 emissions. Global balance is the important thing here; Europe's actions are meaningless if the rest of the countries do not do the same. So, beyond the will, beyond how nice it is to ask India, China or Brazil to cut their emissions, we should make an effort so that, at a legal level, everyone has to make a greater commitment. We must remember that the amount of CO2 emitted by China in absolute terms, not relative terms, is far greater than that of the European Union. 

I would like to insist on the issue of changing the model; Biden, in his proposal, consciously seeks to change the model. And it seems to me that cutting emissions, especially in the means of transport, is a first step.

If society accepts it and follows it, of course, it will be the way forward in the fight against climate change.

Will electricity or hydrogen be the fuel of the future?

That is really the question; I don't know which one will prevail in the end.