Catalonia approves its first carbon budgets with a limit of 161.6 million tonnes of_CO2

The 2026-2030 carbon budgets set for the first time a maximum limit on greenhouse gas emissions and sectoral targets with annual evaluation
Catalonia has taken a historic step in its climate policy on Thursday with the approval in Parliament of the first carbon budgets in its history. The Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, Sílvia Paneque, stressed that this instrument “turns the ecological transition into effective and verifiable public policy”, and not into a sum of “symbolic gestures” without real impact. Paneque stressed that there is “scientific talent, innovative capacity, a dynamic productive fabric and a committed civil society”, and that these assets allow progress towards “a solid and socially just transition”.

A binding emissions cap for the period 2026-2030

The 2026-2030 carbon budgets establish for the first time a maximum limit on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Catalonia: during the five-year period, the total may not exceed 161.6 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. The document is aligned with the objectives of the European Union and specifies the proportional part of the reduction effort assumed by Catalonia, as established by the Climate Change Law. The councillor insisted that the ecological transition “is not a superficial tweak, but a structural change”, and stressed that this tool allows us to know the maximum volume of emissions admissible in a specific period, sector by sector, forcing deviations to be corrected if they occur.

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