Government to spend €58M on climate emergency measures

The Catalan government has announced plans to spend 58 million euros on measures aimed at tackling the climate emergency it declared earlier this week.

Following other political institutions in Europe, on Tuesday the government made a commitment to "adopt the necessary measures" to mitigate climate change.

On Thursday, the executive announced new measures targeting industry and transport, including a 5,000-euro subsidy for people or companies who buy a new electric car.

Called MOVES, the subsidy will go into effect next Tuesday, as long as a series of prerequisites are met, such as offsetting the purchase with a vehicle over 10 years old.

Some 3.3 million euros have been set aside for the MOVES plan, 1.3 million for private individuals and 2 million for companies renewing their vehicle fleets.

Also included in the plan is the installation of charging stations, electric bicycle rental systems, and sustainable mobility plans for companies.

In all, the spending commitment will see 8 million euros devoted to transport, with the remaining 49.5 million going to industry, with the funds coming from the European Union.

The money set aside for industry will be largely spent on incentivizing companies to invest in more sustainable equipment and in installing energy-saving systems.