11.7 million to decarbonize Catalan industry before 2030

The Government of Catalonia has approved a temporary programme funded with a maximum of 65 staff and €11,686,510.87 from the Climate Fund to deploy decarbonisation and the transition towards a clean industry before 2030. This is established by Agreement GOV/197/2026, of 28 July, published in the Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC) number 9719, of 30 July 2026, at the proposal of the Minister for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition.

The programme arises to respond to the simultaneous nature of regulatory obligations and strategic commitments with binding deadlines before 2030: the carbon budgets approved by the Parliament of Catalonia on 4 December 2025, Directive (EU) 2024/1785 on industrial emissions, the European Clean Industrial Deal framework, Directive (EU) 2024/2881 on air quality, Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 on nature restoration, the National Pact for Industry (PNI) 2026-2030, the Integrated Energy and Climate Plan of Catalonia 2030 (PINECCAT30) and the Circular Economy Roadmap for Catalonia (FRECC2030). The Government maintains that these tasks generate new functions for the Directorate General for Climate Change and Environmental Quality that cannot be assumed by structural staff and require prior diagnostic and implementation work of new procedures and tools.

Funding and duration

The programme is assigned to the Directorate General for Climate Change and Environmental Quality of the Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, with a temporary approach and subsequent transfer to ordinary operations. Main figures:

Maximum estimated amount: €11,686,510.87 for the period 2026-2029, charged to the Climate Fund (line 87) and to the directorate general’s budget (code AVEHIC-FC).
Maximum duration of three years, with effectiveness starting two months after the creation of the programme.
Actual filling of positions is conditional on sufficient credit in budget items.
The Department of Economy and Finance is authorised to approve the necessary budget modifications.

Selection of 65 staff

Annex I of the agreement sets out the distribution of the 65 positions, mostly technical profiles from the superior and management administrative bodies and higher qualifications (environmental scientists, biology), with administrative positions and allocations to the territorial services of Penedès, Alt Pirineu i Aran and Central Catalonia. Selection is governed by the principles of merit, capacity, publicity and competition, and is structured through the offer published on the ATRI portal, in accordance with the Government Agreement of 13 June 2017 on temporary staff appointments and contracts.

Five measurable milestones

Annex II establishes a system of indicators to assess the activity and performance of the programme, structured around five milestones:

Integrating decarbonisation, carbon budgets and air pollution reduction into territorial planning.
Ensuring environmental permits aligned with a clean industry within competitive timeframes for businesses.
Defining protocols to optimise environmental monitoring and control, with pilot tests for inspection and restoration of degraded areas.
Establishing mechanisms for agile responses to environmental non-compliance.
Promoting sustainable industrial competitiveness, green public procurement and eco-labelling within the framework of the PNI, the Clean Industrial Deal and the FRECC.

The agreement, signed by the Secretary to the Government, Javier Villamayor Caamaño, sets indicators such as the annual reduction of over 2% in greenhouse gas emissions or 70% of environmentally friendly specifications in the public sector. For Catalan companies, the programme implies a more agile and predictable environmental processing horizon at a time when European regulations are raising sustainability requirements: the internal capacity to be consolidated must ensure that, once completed, the ordinary structure assumes the new regulatory framework without losing the pace of the transition.

Source: Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya, no. 9719, 30 July 2026, Other provisions, pp. 1-7 (official reference: Agreement GOV/197/2026).