The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) is the department of the

Government of Spain gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , d ...

responsible for developing the government policy on fight against

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, prevention of

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, th ...

, protecting the

natural heritage Natural heritage refers to the sum total of the elements of biodiversity, including flora and fauna, ecosystems and geological structures. It forms part of our natural resources. Definition Heritage is that which is ''inherited'' from past gener ...

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

and

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of ...

for a more ecological and productive social model. Likewise, it is responsible for the elaboration and development of the government policy against the country's demographic challenges (

population ageing Population ageing is an increasing median age in a population because of declining fertility rates and rising life expectancy. Most countries have rising life expectancy and an ageing population, trends that emerged first in developed countries ...

, territorial

depopulation A population decline (also sometimes called underpopulation, depopulation, or population collapse) in humans is a reduction in a human population size. Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth's total human population ...

floating population Floating population is a terminology used to describe a group of people who reside in a given population for a certain amount of time and for various reasons, but are not generally considered part of the official census count. A population is usual ...

effects, etc.). It corresponds to the MITECO the elaboration of the national legislation on waters and

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

, climate change,

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

and

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of stu ...

; the direct management of the hydraulic public domain (all types of

surface A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...

and

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

), of the maritime-terrestrial public domain (

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potent ...

inland waters According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a nation's internal waters include waters on the side of the baseline of a nation's territorial waters that is facing toward the land, except in archipelagic states. It includes wa ...

, natural resources of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, as well as

beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells ...

and coasts); the representation of the Kingdom in the international organizations corresponding to these matters; as well as the coordination of actions, cooperation and agreement in the design and application of all policies that affect the scope of competences of the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

and the other public administrations, encouraging their participation through the cooperation bodies and instruments adequate. Likewise, it corresponds to the Ministry the development of the national

and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

policy, together with the measures aimed at ensuring the energy supply, guaranteeing a correct regulation of the

sector Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a po ...

and the analysis and monitoring of these markets, together with mining competencies, all within the framework of the ecological transition. The MITECO is headed by the Ecological Transition Minister, who is appointed by the

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

at request of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. Other high officials of the ministry are the

Secretary of State for Energy A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...

, the Secretary of State for Environment, the Secretary-General for the Demographic Challenge and the Under-Secretary of the Department. The current minister is

Teresa Ribera Teresa Ribera Rodríguez (born 19 May 1969) is a Spanish jurist, university professor, and politician who has served as the Minister for the Ecological Transition of Spain since 2018, after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez coming into power followi ...

since 2018.

History

The history of environmental policy in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

reaches back to the 18th century, when the Ordinances for Conservation and the Increase of the Marine Mountains and for the Increase and Conservation of Forests and Plantings were promulgated (1748). The Royal Decree of November 9, 1832, gave the newly created

Ministry of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

jurisdiction over the planting and conservation of the

mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

and

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s, as well as the irrigation and drainage works of marshy lands. A year later, the Directorate-General for Forests was created, the first administration dedicated to the conservation of nature. By Royal Decree of 31 May 1837, it was established that the mounts and plantations which belonged the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

and of unknown owner, as belonging to the

Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by th ...

, they would be administered by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

. The government body entrusted with this task was the Directorate-General for Forests. In 1855 the Forestry Advisory Board was founded. In the 20th century, the competences in the environment were varying in rank, being mere commissions, directorates-general or even secretaries of State. All these competences of the ministry were varying between the ministries of

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

and

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by ...

, until 1993 when the term "Environment" reached the rank of ministry, creating the ''Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Environment''. But it was not until 1996 when the Environment obtained its own ministry during the presidency of

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spain. A member of the Fre ...

, creating the Ministry of Environment that was in force until 2011 (in 2008 the Ministry assumed the powers in Rural and Marine Environment). In 2011, the new prime minister

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party le ...

merged this ministry with the Ministry of Agriculture, creating the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (2011-2016) and later the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment (2016-2018). In 2018, with the arrival of

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having p ...

to the premiership, he regained the ministry's autonomy by creating a ministry focused on carrying out an

energy transition The energy transition is the process of downshifting fossil fuels and re-developing whole systems to operate on low carbon energy sources. More generally, an energy transition is a significant structural change in an energy system regarding ...

towards more ecological means of production, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition. For this purpose Sánchez appointed

as minister and her ministry assumed for the first time responsibilities on energy policy, a policy that historically belonged to the ministries of

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

Economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

. In 2020, in order to improve the environmental policies that this department was doing, the Prime Minister promoted minister Ribera to the rank of

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and it trusted her the responsibilities on the different demographic challenges that Spain had. Nowadays, the official name ( in Spanish) is Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico as a new, changed name from the previously named Ministerio del Medio Ambiente.

Denomination of the Ministry

Despite its long history, the agency did not reach the rank of ministry until 1993: * Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Environment (1993-1996) * Ministry of Environment (1996-2008) * Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (2008-2011) * Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (2011-2016) * Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment (2016-2018) * Ministry for the Ecological Transition (2018-2020) * Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (2020-) The MITECO Teresa Ribera 2018

Structure

The Ministry's structure is: * The Secretariat of State for Energy ** The Commissioner for the Promotion of Sustainable Energy in the Islands, created to coordinate and promote public policies for

sustainable energy Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as green ...

in the Balearic and

Canary Canary originally referred to the island of Gran Canaria on the west coast of Africa, and the group of surrounding islands (the Canary Islands). It may also refer to: Animals Birds * Canaries, birds in the genera '' Serinus'' and ''Crithagra'' ...

archipelagos. ** The Directorate-General for Energy Policy and Mines **The Deputy Directorate-General for Energy Foresight, Strategy and Regulation * The Secretariat of State for Environment ** The Directorate-General for Water ** The Spanish Office for Climate Change ** The Directorate-General for Environmental Quality and Evaluation ** The Directorate-General for the Coast and the Sea **The Directorate-General for Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification * The General Secretariat for the Demographic Challenge. **The Directorate-General for Depopulation Policies *The Undersecretariat for the Ecologial Transition ** The Technical General Secretariat **The Directorate-General for Services **The Deputy Directorate-General for International Relations

Ministry agencies and enterprises

* National Parks Autonomous Agency. *

State Meteorological Agency The State Meteorological Agency (, AEMET) is a state agency of the Government of Spain responsible for providing weather forecast, warnings of hazardous weather and assisting the administrations in such matters. The AEMET is part of the Secretaria ...

. * Institute for Just Transition. * Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy. * City of Energy Foundation. * Biodiversity Foundation. * National Company of Radioactive Waste. * Strategic Reserves of Petroleum Products Corporation.

Ministers of Environment

Reign of
Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...
(1975-2014)

Reign of
Felipe VI Felipe VI (;, * eu, Felipe VI.a, * ca, Felip VI, * gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, an ...
(2014-present)

References

External links

Ministry of Environment
{{authority control

Environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

Environment of Spain Environment ministries

Ministries established in 1993 1993 establishments in Spain