Loulé is one of the «good examples» that Portugal has for the “race” for carbon neutrality in 2050. This was one of the ideas highlighted by João Pedro Matos Fernandes, Minister of Environment and Climate Action, at the opening of the III Municipal Conferences of Loulé Sustainability and Climate Action, which took place this Friday at the Cineteatro Louletano.
This is an annual event “that brings together specialists around the actions developed by the City of Loulé in an increasingly pressing matter, but also local authorities and technicians involved in the process”, explains the municipality of Loulé.
Matos Fernandes took this opportunity to talk about the political commitment reached about two weeks ago for Europe to have a Climate Law, being the first continent in the world to assume that it is carbon neutral in 2050.
“Europe is on a very good path and this happened under the auspices and great commitment of all of us during the Portuguese presidency of the European Union. Portugal deserved to be in the presidency of the Council on the day this law was approved because it was also the first country in the world to assume that, in 2050, it will be carbon neutral. Portugal already has a good handful of good examples and Loulé
is one of them», he praised.
Before the audience "which has been dedicated to working together", the minister made clear the responsibility of local authorities in creating policies that respond to the issue of climate change.
“We only win this challenge if the municipalities have the commitment and model that Loulé has”, he said.
During the session, Sérgio Barroso, from the Center for Regional and Urban Studies and Development, Lda, presented the Municipal Climate Action Plan for the Municipality of Loulé, a strategic document that combines the issues of adaptation and mitigation, converging these on the principle of sustainability .
«Some of the priority measures and actions were presented to respond to the extreme phenomena expected for this territory in the coming years, such as frequent drought periods, increased temperature or extreme precipitation episodes that could lead to floods. Basically, the intention is to transform Loulé into a more resilient territory to climate change» explains the Loulé Council.
Miguel Freitas brought to this session the Sustainability Agenda “Forest, Biodiversity and Rural Development in the Municipality of Loulé 20-25” – Evaluation, Mapping and Valuation Program for Ecosystem Services in the Municipality of Loulé.
This, explains the municipality, is «a work that is being developed with a focus on the interior and on 93% of the municipality's territory, which corresponds to an agroforestry area».
It is also “a comprehensive process, which addresses matters such as resilience to forest fires (for which the Municipality has already channeled 3 million euros), actions related to landscape management (in which Salir is the only national territory included in a European project ) or the enhancement of the Mediterranean Forest, already underway in partnership with the Manuel Viegas Guerreiro Foundation. All these themes will be an important contribution to the aspiring Geopark Algarvensis».
At the end of the session of these Conferences, Mayor Vítor Aleixo expressed the importance of involving in matters of climate emergency, not only the entire municipal organic structure, but also civil society, school communities or entrepreneurs, in a total of more than 60 participating entities in the Local Council for follow-up to EMAAC.
"There is a siege being mounted to raise awareness with regard to climate policy and sustainability policies," he said.
At the conclusion of the work, the municipal responsible assured that these journeys are to continue, because the path they want to take involves «adapting the lives of institutions and our community to the demands of the sudden change in the climate, which endangers our lives in this world".
Loulé Council recalls that, among the projects related to environmental policies, “the planting of 400 trees in the next 5 years, the creation of a park of 600 public bicycles in Quarteira, Vilamoura, Loulé and Almancil and the creation of a local nature reserve in the Almargem area'.
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