The granting of a license for oil exploration off Aljezur, in the Algarve, was considered the worst subsidy for fossil fuels in Europe, in a “prize” awarded by the European Network for Climate Action.
Francisco Ferreira, president of Zero – Sustainable Terrestrial System Association, revealed that, among the eight countries selected for the final vote on a European scale, «in first place, with the gold medal, was Portugal», due to the oil prospecting hole in the sea, off Aljezur.
This is the second time that the European Network for Climate Action (CAN Europe), which brings together 140 organizations from more than 30 countries and to which Zero belongs, promotes the European award for the worst subsidies to fossil fuels (European Fossil Fuel Subsidies Awards 2018).
«It was considered that the granting of the license corresponding to the title of private use of the maritime space» off Aljezur «clearly represented a situation of stimulating the use of fossil fuels in the future» by the Portuguese Government, explained Francisco Ferreira.
At issue is the license granted to the Galp/Eni consortium to carry out a research drilling off Aljezur and eventually proceed with oil exploration.
The specialist in climate change added that the awarding of this first prize to Portugal "will have enormous visibility on a European scale and will be dramatic from the point of view of policy makers, particularly in Brussels, and very embarrassing for our country."
This is because Portugal "is seen as being at the forefront of the fight against climate change, one of the most ambitious countries in terms of energy efficiency, renewables, breaking records in this matter and receiving international praise."
But, on the other hand, in a kind of «Schizophrenia», it is also «the country that receives a gold medal invoking the investment that will start to be made in fossil fuels, completely contrary to what has been the hallmark of Portugal, namely by seeking to be carbon neutral in 2050», criticized the president of Zero.
Also on Saturday, in Lisbon, around two thousand people, representatives of environmental and civic associations, along with some political parties and local councilors from the Algarve, participated in a demonstration calling for the cancellation of oil prospecting off Aljezur.
The initiative was organized by a platform that brings together 32 of the main Portuguese organizations for the environment and the defense of heritage, national and local, civic movements, mayors and political parties.
The starting point of this demonstration was the common position taken in Loulé on 22 February, and subscribed by various organizations, all business associations in the Algarve, the Tourism Region, academics and personalities from various backgrounds, as well as by the majority of mayors of the Algarve and Southwest Alentejo.
However, it ends this Monday, the 16th, the public consultation period to decide whether the oil drilling project off Aljezur should be submitted to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure. All entities on the platform, as well as the Algarve Tourism Region itself, have already appealed for everyone to participate in this public consultation.
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