A creation of the Lagoa dos Salgados Nature Reserve, located on the coast between the municipalities of Albufeira and Silves, is one of the six most positive facts in the Environment in 2021, according to the balance of the year made by ZERO – Associação Sistema Terrestre Sustentável.
In a year that ends with the prospect of Legislative Elections soon, ZERO has identified the six most positive facts, as well as the six most negative facts of 2021.
The environmental association also presents six challenges for 2022, which "are expected to be worked on by the Assembly of the Republic and the future Government, with the objective of leading Portugal to sustainability".
Thus, the first positive fact is the approval by the Assembly of the Republic and the promulgation by the President of the Republic of the Basic Climate Law.
This is followed by the definitive closure of the two coal-fired power stations – Sines and Pego – and the entry into force of the citizens' right to take their containers and packages when they go to a ready-to-eat/take-away shop or when they go to buy meat, fish, bread, charcuterie, etc. (since July this year).
ZERO also highlights the creation of the Lagoa dos Salgados Nature Reserve, «a claim of many years of various environmental organizations, which shows that the political power, when committed, manages to counteract movements incompatible with safeguarding the public interest».
Another positive fact is that, "finally and after six years, the so-called law on mines was regulated (Law No. 54/2015, of 22 June), putting an end to the application of an obsolete 30-year-old legislation."
The sixth positive fact is the approval of the extension of the warranty period for products to 3 years (entering into force from January 1, 2022), «which can be a stimulus to promote their durability».
But, in ZERO's opinion, there were also six negative environmental facts, in 2021, in Portugal, starting with the question of the Recovery and Resilience Plan foreseeing «investments with negative environmental and climatic impact, namely with more investment in the highway and in construction of an unnecessary dam (multi-purpose use of the Pisão-Crato)'.
According to the association, "the focus on promoting a more diversified and resilient forest was also due to underfunding and measures of almost zero effectiveness, such as the reinforcement of the primary fuel management network."
The second negative fact refers to the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy for Portugal, which, according to environmentalists, «has very little strategic: it does not meet the objectives of the European Strategy of “Prado à Prato” and has more than a billion euros that may come to subsidize bad investments or generate harmful effects for society, for nature and for the climate».
ZERO also points out the Government's failure to approve and implement several promised national strategies, including the National Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty and the National Noise Strategy, as a negative fact.
Another negative fact is the «inability shown by the Government to implement the Return Deposit System for disposable packaging, which was approved in 2018 by the Assembly of the Republic and which should come into operation in January 2022, but of which it is not yet known how will be structured'. So, asks ZERO, what is the result? «Portugal will continue to waste 4 million packages a day for at least another year».
The “policy to promote the installation of mega solar parks in a case-by-case assessment, with significant negative impacts on populations and natural values” is also negatively evaluated. According to the environmental association, this denotes "the lack of a national strategy capable of responding to the need for much more solar energy, ensuring sustainability criteria."
Linked to this issue is another, equally negative: the Government's delay in transposing the Renewable Energy Directive into national legislation, which should have taken place by June 30, 2021, to enter into force in January 2022.
Finally, the sixth negative environmental fact is “the maintenance of the perverse subsidy to the incineration of urban waste through the Environmental Fund, completely distorting its objectives”.
But at the same time, ZERO launches six challenges for the new year of 2022, the first of which is that «the Assembly of the Republic and the future Government assume for Portugal the purpose of promoting an Economy of Welfare, based on a vision where the economy is at the service of human well-being and respecting the limits of the planet».
The second challenge is that «the new head of the Environment and Climate Action portfolio has the capacity and courage to integrate the environment as a cross-cutting issue in other policy areas, in order to lead Portugal towards a path of sustainability. Instilling greater transparency in the management of the Environmental Fund must also be a priority».
ZERO also challenges the start of «the studies provided for in the Basic Climate Law to anticipate Portugal's climate neutrality target for 2045 or even earlier».
DE also challenges that the Portuguese Environment Agency – a decisive public body for the promotion of public policy in environmental matters – “to register strong improvements in its performance, guaranteeing the unequivocal application of the planning and legislation in force, particularly in the disoriented waste sectors, resources, environmental impact assessment and noise'.
Another challenge involves the «definition of ambitious targets for the reuse of beverage packaging by the agents who should be involved in its definition (beverage producers, retailers, restaurants, etc.), promoting employment and preventing the production of waste».
Finally, ZERO launches the challenge of «implementing an effective water resources management policy that takes into account the issues of efficiency of use, water scarcity, climate adaptation and articulation with Spain».
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