Catalonia struggles to meet emissions targets with just 0.9% decline in 2024

Greenhouse gas emissions in Catalonia fell by just 0.9% in 2024 compared to the previous year.

This is a much lower decline than in 2023, when emissions decreased by 5.4%.

According to estimates from the Catalan Public Emissions Monitor, the territory emitted 37.9 million tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalents), down from nearly 38.3 million tonnes of CO2e in 2023.

The Public Emissions Monitor has warned that Catalonia is "far from" meeting the targets set by the government, and even further from the recommendations of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the authoritative scientific body on climate change.

To meet the targets, the Catalan Public Emissions Monitor notes that between 2025 and 2030, emissions would need to be reduced by about 10 million tonnes of CO2e, which would require an annual reduction of 4.5% from the levels estimated for 2024.

The goal for 2050 is to achieve carbon neutrality, meaning that only emissions that cannot be eliminated would remain, and those would be offset by an increase in the carbon-absorbing capacity of ecosystems.

"There is a long way to go by 2030, and even more so by 2050," the Public Emissions Monitor report warns, emphasizing that it is "urgent to reverse trends and adopt transformative measures, particularly in sectors that have not yet made structural changes, such as transport."

The emissions estimate is based on data from the energy, industry, transport, residential, services, agriculture, livestock, and waste sectors. The most recent official emissions data is from 2022, when 40.4 million tonnes of CO2e were emitted. The data for 2023 and 2024 is based on projections.