José Apolinário, president of the Algarve Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR), defended, this Thursday, May 26, the creation of a green agenda for tourism in the region.
The measure was defended at the opening session of the Conference “Smart & Sustainable Cities and Tourism Challenges” held in Portimão.
«The proposal for the allocation of funds from the Regional Operational Program 2021-2027 defended by CCDR Algarve places more than 40% of the 780,3 million euros to be managed in the region in the objective of “Environmental Sustainability”, stated José Apolinário, referring that «we want to accelerating the climate transition and decarbonisation, strengthening and adding the European Funds managed in the region to other sources of financing and other ongoing investments with an impact on decarbonisation and the climate transition, the most significant of which is the investment in the electrification of the railway line do Algarve, which we all hope will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2024».
Added to this is the purchase of «battery-powered public transport vehicles or the promotion of active mobility, smooth mobility and micromobility».
“Climate transition is a global, national, regional and local urgency. Climate change is the great challenge for the future of the European Union", underlined the president of the CCDR and responsible for the management of European funds allocated to the Regional Operational Program, adding that Portugal has proposed to "achieve carbon neutrality in 2050, reduce GHG emissions between 45% and 55% compared to 2005 and reduce primary energy consumption by 35%, improving energy efficiency'.
In the Algarve, «at our scale, at a municipal and regional scale, we have to contribute to containing the increase in average temperature that, among other effects, causes the rise in the average level of sea water, with climate models pointing at a global scale to an increase in the average level of sea water between 0,29 meters and 0,59 meters in the year 2100», he defended.
«We know, scientific data tell us, that the temperature has increased, we have periods of more severe drought, less rainfall, especially in the south, and that there is a huge exposure to coastal erosion, namely in the Sotavento of the Algarve and between Foz do Minho and Nazaré», added José Apolinário.
The «sustainability of tourism in the region, the adoption of a green agenda for Algarve Tourism must go hand in hand with the requalification and improvement of the positioning of Algarve Tourism in the country and in the world: with better efficiency in the use of energy by the tourism, in promoting the use of renewable energies in strategic subsectors for the region such as nautical tourism, in the efficient and intelligent use of water by tourism companies, in the use of treated wastewater in green spaces (we only use 4% of the water treated), in the circular economy, in the reduction, classification and treatment of waste, in the complete elimination of the use of single-use plastics, in the innovation around the use of new fuels and batteries», he added.
«Pursuing this path also involves training actors and training professionals in the sector, in order to ensure adequate skills that help to achieve this goal», said the president of CCDR Algarve, stressing that «almost 40% of the territory with the status of environmental protection give us a distinctive strategic value, a brand, which qualifies and differentiates our offer, products and makes it imperative to adopt more sustainable practices».
«It is important to ensure and promote the involvement of the local population in these processes and practices, providing spaces for meeting, opportunity and participation. Their involvement and perception is crucial in the assessment and monitoring of the carrying capacities of the territory and the destination", said Apolinário before an audience of mayors, decision-makers and businessmen.
The Conference “Smart & Sustainable Cities and the Challenges of Tourism”, which took place over two days in the Auditorium of the Portimão Museum, was part of an initiative resulting from the partnership between the Portimão City Council, the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, GEN Portugal and the Creative Territories.
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