Cambio climático en tiempos de emergencia. Las comunidades autónomas en las veredas del "federalismo climático" español

Abstract

The latest national and subnational legislative developments in the field of climate change and energy transition are taking place in a context of climate emergency to which a health crisis has added, what shows the causal relationships between pollutants of anthropogenic origin, climate change and the increase in pandemic or epidemic events that require urgent measures by public authorities. Against this backdrop, climate emergency is considered a true constitutional emergency and the evolution of the political and legal framework in which the subnational laws have opened the way to a difficult but necessary climate federalism is observed.

Climate Governance and Federalism in Spain

“…Only three ACs -Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Andalusiahave reinforced their legal framework by enacting their own climate change laws. These laws were enacted even before the central level adopted the general law on climate change in 2021 (Cocciolo 2020). Although these regional laws display different approaches to climate strategy, all of them have created similar administrative bodies for coordination purposes within the public administration and for communication with civil society and committees of experts.…”