Spain’s sustainability observatory closes due to lack of funding
Spain’s sustainability observatory closes due to lack of funding
The short lived but prestigious Observatorio de la Sostenibilidad en España (SEA) announced its closure, due to the non-renewal of its funding agreement with the Environment Ministry. Its website, containing reports and important information on Spain’s state of the environment and sustainability policies was also shut down.
Established in 2004, as a joint initiative of the Environment Ministry, the Biodiversity Foundation and the Fundación General of the University of Alcalá, served as a focal point for important information on sustainability policies and indicators. It also provided the Spanish civic society with much needed tools for informed participation in environmental decision making.
The annual budget of SEA amounted to around 600,000€, but in 2012 the Environment Ministry provided only 280,000€.
According to a statement by NGOs WWF Spain-Friends of the Earth-Ecologists in Action-Greenpeace & SEO/Birdlife, “the closure of this body is a clear manifestation of a rollback in environmental policies, that is in no way justified by the current economic crisis.
Sources: WWF Spain-Friends of the Earth-Ecologists in Action-Greenpeace & SEO/Birdlife (in Spanish).