The European Union and the United States have burned more fossil fuels in 2025 than the previous year and have increased their CO₂ emissions, contrary to the downward trend of the last two decades. This is revealed in the annual Global Carbon Budget 2025 report, an analysis of CO₂ emissions prepared by the Global Carbon Project, which is being presented on the occasion of the Brazil climate summit, COP30, and which, for the first time, projects emissions for 2025. According to the study, the world as a whole will emit 1.1% more CO₂ in 2025 than in 2024, continuing the upward trend in global emissions, which are expected to reach at its peak before 2030 if we want to keep global warming below 1.5°C as called for by the Paris Agreement.

Made on the basis of the recommendations of the Committee of Experts on Climate Change To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, as set by the European Union, the Government will approve Catalonia's first carbon budget this Tuesday. Although it is years late—the 2017 climate change law stipulated that they would be approved— before 2021–, this roadmap with the greenhouse gas limits that different economic sectors can emit into the atmosphere should reach Parliament in the autumn, according to Silvia Paneque, Minister for Ecological Transition and Government spokesperson.

Since May 1, owners of one or more vehicles can consult the provisional list of vehicles (the register) subject to the tax on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions for the 2024 fiscal year. The information is available through the portal My ATC space, at the electronic headquarters of the Catalan Tax Agency (ATC), using a digital ID (IdCAT Mobile or another digital certificate). To check a single vehicle, basic access is maintained using the owner's NIF (Tax Identification Number) and registration number. If any data changes are necessary, objections can be submitted until June 5th.

The European Commission has made public the aid it grants to 77 projects that are committed to decarbonization, one of the chosen ones being the storage of CO₂ that the energy company Repsol is considering opening underwater, in a cavity located 50 kilometers from Amposta. In total, the European Union Innovation Fund will provide Repsol with €205 million if it decides to move forward with the storage facility. However, first, the State must grant the company a research permit—which has already been requested—and the conclusions of this research, which could last up to four years, must be favorable both for the environment and for the return on investment that it would represent for the company. "We are very pleased and proud to receive this European support for the TarraCO₂ project," stated Javier Sancho, director of Repsol's industrial complex in Tarragona, although he made it clear that "the project is still in a very early phase." Sancho also stated that "without technologies such as CO₂ capture and storage, key sectors such as petrochemicals, steel production, and cement are at risk of relocation."

One of the main fears that until recently most car manufacturers in Europe had was the so-called CAFE regulation (clean air for Europe, or Clean Air for Europe), an anti-pollution plan that planned to reduce CO₂ emissions this year by 15% compared to 2020 levels. In other words, manufacturers had to face a maximum emissions limit of 93.6 grams of very high emissions this year in 2025.

It is difficult to understand the ultimate meaning of Catalonia's High Court's ruling annulling Barcelona's low emission zone (LEZ), in a city with very high pollution rates and which has been in the European spotlight over this issue for some years now. In fact, the Catalan capital is one of the European cities with the highest vehicle traffic density. The High Court should not ignore that the European courts have opened a sanctioning procedure against Spain for the fact that both Barcelona (and several cities in its metropolitan area) and Madrid exceed in a "systematic and continuous" way the limits on nitrogen dioxide emissions (NO2). The LEZ that is now endangered –although not suspended, since there is room for judicial appeals– was a response to this justified and logical European pressure. Moreover, the European Environment Agency has warned that the LEZ is not enough. All this should be known by the judges of the Catalonia's High Court, whose ruling contradicts this environmental and judicial reality at European level.

The Government has decided to implement the tax on CO₂ emissions emissions from motor vehicles -which affects cars, motorcycles and vans-, which will start to be paid in autumn. On average, the tax will involve the payment of €35 per year for cars and €26 for motorcycles, with which the Government expects to collect €67.3m this year, an amount that will increase to €145m in 2022, when the level of emissions required to be exempt will be lowered.