Catalonia must reduce its emissions by 8% each year to reach climate neutrality by 2050
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(25/04/2025)
Starting today and year after year, Catalonia must effectively reduce its emissions by 8% in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and ensure the social and economic implications of the transition in the present and medium term. This is one of the main conclusions of the first carbon budget proposal for the country that the Experts on Climate Change Committee (CECC) has submitted to the Government of Catalonia.
News
|
Research
25/04/2025
Starting today and year after year, Catalonia must effectively reduce its emissions by 8% in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and ensure the social and economic implications of the transition in the present and medium term. This is one of the main conclusions of the first carbon budget proposal for the country that the Experts on Climate Change Committee (CECC) has submitted to the Government of Catalonia.
The proposal, which is an innovative tool for effective planning towards climate neutrality, recommends promoting public transport, reducing the overall demand for energy and materials, electrifying industry and substantially increasing the use of renewable energies given the important contribution of the transport, industry and power generation sectors to this end.
The CECC is an independent body formed by UB professors Montserrat Termes, from the Faculty of Economics and Business, Salvador Lladó, from the Faculty of Biology, and Olga Margalef, from the Faculty of Earth Sciences, and experts Frederic Ximeno, director of the Climate Action Area of the Metropolitan Area; Carme García, , ecological and energy transition advisor at the Viladecans Town Council; Jordi Solé, researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) and the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), and Marta Torres, director of the Climate Programme at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris.
The CECC is an independent body formed by UB professors Montserrat Termes, from the Faculty of Economics and Business, Salvador Lladó, from the Faculty of Biology, and Olga Margalef, from the Faculty of Earth Sciences, and experts Frederic Ximeno, director of the Climate Action Area of the Metropolitan Area; Carme García, , ecological and energy transition advisor at the Viladecans Town Council; Jordi Solé, researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) and the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), and Marta Torres, director of the Climate Programme at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris.
The CECC proposes an average annual reduction of 8% in greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2035. This contrasts with the annual average between 2015 and 2019 — emissions increased by 1% — and with the 0.2% reduction in 2022 (last year for which data is available).
Carbon budgets are a planning instrument in Law 16/2017 on climate change; they are therefore a necessary requirement, independent of the governing team, and they set the direction in terms of climate policy. The proposal makes a recommendation regarding the total volume of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that Catalonia can emit between 2021 and 2035 — specifically, 403 megatons of CO2 equivalent — in order to achieve a 67% reduction in 2035 (compared to 1990). This figure has been determined in line with the science indications to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement — and especially the goal on climate neutrality in 2050 —, considering the criteria of technical and economic feasibility in Catalonia.
To achieve these goals, ambitious public policies are needed in energy, mobility and green taxation, public and collective transport, and building renovation. Priority investments in renewable energies are also needed, as well as policies under processes of citizen and business participation that promote sustainable consumption patterns and a just eco-social transition. The budget proposal was presented yesterday in the boardroom of the UB’s Faculty of Economics and Business.
Further information
To achieve these goals, ambitious public policies are needed in energy, mobility and green taxation, public and collective transport, and building renovation. Priority investments in renewable energies are also needed, as well as policies under processes of citizen and business participation that promote sustainable consumption patterns and a just eco-social transition. The budget proposal was presented yesterday in the boardroom of the UB’s Faculty of Economics and Business.
Further information
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