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 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 pr ...

coming into power following the successful

no-confidence motion A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

against

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 lead ...

. In 2020, she was appointed Fourth Deputy Prime Minister and in 2021 she was promoted to Third Deputy Prime Minister. Between 2008 and 2011 Ribera held the position of Secretary of State for Climate Change in the second administration of

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 not ...

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...

. Between 2014 and 2018, she was director of the Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations, based in Paris.

Early years and education

Ribera graduated from the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

with a degree in legal studies, with further studies at the Center for Constitutional Studies attaining her another degree in constitutional law and political science.

Early career

Ribera belongs to the Superior Body of Civil Administrators of the State of which she has been a surplus official since 2012. Ribera has been an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

of the Department of Public Law and Philosophy of Law at the

Autonomous University of Madrid The Autonomous University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; UAM), commonly known as simply la Autónoma, is a Spanish public university located in Madrid, Spain. The university was founded in 1968 alongside the Autonomous Universi ...

.CV Teresa Ribera
Ribera has held various technical positions in public administration, such as the position of Chief of Coordination of the Ministry of Development and of Technical Adviser in the Cabinet of the Assistant Secretary for the Environment and Head of the Compliance and Development area. Between 2004 and 2008 she was general director of the Office of Climate Change and between 2008 and 2011 she assumed the Secretary of State for Climate Change (in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment) during the government of president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

International work

Ribera is also a member of several advisory councils, including the Global Leadership Council of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN), the global climate change advisory council of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

, and the Momentum For Change initiative of

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

(UNFCCC); belongs to the international council of the BC3, to the advisory council of the Institut pour la Recherche du Développement (IRD) and to the patronages of Fundipax and

Fundación Alternativas Fundación Alternativas (in English ''Alternatives Foundation'') is a Spanish progressive think tank created in 1997 in Madrid which aims to discuss issues of interest to citizens and act as a channel of political, social, economic and cultural ...

. In September 2013, she began to collaborate with the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), based in Paris, and in June 2014 she assumed its direction. The organization is dedicated to the analysis of strategic issues related to sustainable development, climate change, protection of

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'') l ...

, food security and management of the urbanization process. In May 2014, the prosecutor's office denounced the development of a gas storage site, called Project Castor, which was halted because of

seismic Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

activity. Environmental ''prevaricación'' was alleged, and one of the accusations was directed against Teresa Ribera, because when the project was approved by the Government in 2008, she occupied the State Secretariat of Climate Change and was the person who signed the

environmental impact assessment Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...

by which the project was authorized. In 2015, 18 people were charged from the

Geological and Mining Institute of Spain The Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (Spanish: ''Instituto Geológico y Minero de España'') is a research institute located in Madrid, Spain. It is run under the auspices of the Ministry of Science. In collaboration with the Spanish Geol ...

and the General Directorate of Quality and Environmental Evaluation. However, they held posts of a technical nature and no politicians were charged, including Ribera. In 2015, she joined

's expert panel to prepare the Socialist Party's electoral program.

Political career

Minister for the Ecological Transition

In June 2018, it was announced that Ribera would be the Minister for the Ecological Transition of the Sánchez government, following the

motion of censure A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

that the

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

presented against the previous government of

( PP) and that was approved by the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

. On 1 June 2018, Sánchez appointed her as Minister in new

Spanish government 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 , da ...

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, and h ...

sanctioned by

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

of June her appointment as holder of the portfolio of Minister for the Ecological Transition. On 7 June she took office as Minister before the King at

Palace of Zarzuela The Zarzuela Palace ( es, Palacio de la Zarzuela ) is the residence and working offices of the reigning monarch of Spain (King Felipe VI), although the official residence of the Spanish royal family is the Royal Palace of Madrid. The Zarzuela Pal ...

. The first measures that Ribera carried out as minister was to end the so-called "sun tax" to allow the free production of power in an effort to increase ecological power and to reduce the price of electricity. In an effort to end coal pollution and to transform the power production of

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") , i ...

, Ribera reached an agreement with unions to close most of the coal mines that still survived in the north of the country by making an investment of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

250 million to avoid a fall in the miners’ standard of living and to restore the environmental balance of the area. In a letter sent to their counterparts in the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

–

Miguel Arias Cañete Miguel Arias Cañete (born 24 February 1950) is a Spanish politician who served as European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action in the Juncker Commission from 2014 and 2019. A member of the People's Party, Arias served as Minister for Ag ...

and

Pierre Moscovici Pierre Moscovici (, ; born 16 September 1957) is a French politician who served as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 2012 to 20 ...

– in May 2019, Ribera and Budget Minister

María Jesús Montero María Jesús Montero Cuadrado (born 4 February 1966), is a Spanish hospital administrator and politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) who has been serving as Minister of Finance and Civil Service under Prime Minister Pedro Sá ...

called on the European Union to assess a potential

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...

on power imports to protect the bloc’s interests and help it to pursue its environmental targets amid growing public concern over climate change. Under Ribera's leadership, the Spanish government stepped in to host the

2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP25, was the 25th United Nations Climate Change conference. It was held in Madrid, Spain, from 2 to 13 December 2019 under the presidency of the Chilean government. The conferenc ...

after riots over inequality prompted Chile to withdraw with just one month’s notice.

Deputy Prime Minister

On 13 January 2020, Ribera assumed the office of Fourth Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge before the King in Zarzuela Palace in the Sánchez second cabinet. It was the first time in the

history of Spain The history of Spain dates to contact the pre-Roman peoples of the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula made with the Greeks and Phoenicians and the first writing systems known as Paleohispanic scripts were developed. During Classical A ...

that a government would have four vice-presidencies. In April 2020, the Prime Minister commissioned Ribera to carry out the plan to ease the lockdown, that is, the way in which the country would exit the

State of Alarm In Spain the state of alarm (''estado de alarma'') is the lowest of the three degrees of state of emergency that allows the government to perform actions or impose policies that it would normally not be permitted to undertake. It is regulated in t ...

activated due to the COVID-19 viral pandemic. For this objective, Ribera organized a group of experts in all areas, from economics to epidemiologists. In statements to

EFE Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major multimedia news agency in Spanish language and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was created in 1939 ...

news agency in April, Ribera said that the recovery should be done with "green" and "solidary" measures. She then called for a "

Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...

" for Spain to both further environmentalism and help the country get out of the national lockdown. She stated in May that tourism, which accounts for 12% of Spanish GDP, was of "particular concern" when it came to the impending

economic recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

in Spain due to the coronavirus. On 15 December 2020, Ribera was one of the first European ministers to declare that if it was not possible to make the

Energy Charter Treaty The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is an international agreement that establishes a multilateral framework for cross-border cooperation in the energy industry, principally the fossil fuel industry. The treaty covers all aspects of commercial energy ...

compatible with the

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, Climate change a ...

, there would be no choice but to withdraw from it. In July 2021, after the resignation of Second DPM Pablo Iglesias, Ribera's post was suppressed and she was appointed Third Deputy Prime Minister. In May 2021, the Spanish parliament passed the Climate Change and Energy Transition Act. In late 2021, the cabinet approved Ribera’s 16.3 billion euro energy plan, which is to allocate 6.9 billion euros ($7.8 billion) to renewables, green hydrogen and energy storage over two years and to attract another 9.45 billion euros in private funding under its COVID-19 recovery plan. Ribera, along with Shauna Aminath, led the working group at the

2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP27, was the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference, held from 6 November until 20 November 2022 in Sharm El Shei ...

that facilitated consultations on

mitigation Mitigation is the reduction of something harmful or the reduction of its harmful effects. It may refer to measures taken to reduce the harmful effects of hazards that remain ''in potentia'', or to manage harmful incidents that have already occur ...

Recognition

* 2018 – Climate Reality Project Award in the category of 'Public Personality', awarded by the

Climate Reality Project The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cli ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ribera, Teresa 1969 births 21st-century Spanish politicians 21st-century Spanish women politicians Complutense University of Madrid alumni Deputy Prime Ministers of Spain Government ministers of Spain Living people Members of the 13th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Autonomous University of Madrid faculty Spanish jurists Environment ministers of Spain Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Women government ministers of Spain Women members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 14th Congress of Deputies (Spain)