Views: 40

It seems like the Balearic Government is obsessed with rewarding environmental offenders. The draft law up for discussion in Parliament tomorrow includes new and alarming environmental rollbacks.

Some of the proposed changes from PP-Vox include putting the definition of “general interest” into the hands of each Island Council, making it easier to renovate buildings outside of zoning regulations, and allowing building violations on rural land to be left unpunished after a certain period.

Additional rollbacks include relaxing the obligation for tourist rental vehicles to switch to less polluting models, delaying the ban on single-use plastics, and removing requirements for solar panel coverings in parking lots—all steps backwards on sustainability.

Previously, a related decree law suggested allowing construction in flood-prone areas. After the recent disasters in Valencia, that proposal has been omitted, but the draft law still calls for a review of flood zone boundaries across the Balearic Islands—an unsettling sign, as it seems intended to reduce flood zones where conflicts of interest exist.

It is worth noting that the Balearic Climate Change Experts Committee, a collegiate body advising the Government, has already urged this draft law to be stopped due to its potentially harmful impact on addressing climate change. The committee has also called for the Balearic Climate Council to convene first.

This collection of legislative changes strikes a serious blow to the Government’s announced Sustainability Pact. While discussions are ongoing in workgroups, the Government itself is implementing drastic legislative changes that undermine the potential outcomes of those discussions.

Our society urgently needs public institutions to abandon environmental denialism and stop legislating in ways that reward violators.

We call on civil society, social stakeholders, and the business community to raise their voices and demand an end to this shameful approach to governing against the common good.