COP31: Minister for the Environment asks for action, because objectives already exist

A minister for the Environment and Energy argues that at the climate summit starting Monday in Turkey it is necessary to “pass the big declarations to action” because the objectives already exist.

“ We have objectives, which are important objectives, we have to comply with them, and therefore move from the big statements to the action”, said Maria da Graça Carvalho in an interview with the Lusa Agency on the 31st UN climate meeting (COP31), which takes place in Turkey from 9 to 20 November.

The main objective of the UN climate meetings is to lead the world to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduce global warming. So far emissions have been growing and warming has also been growing, as indicated by the latest report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in the original acronym.

Maria da Graça Carvalho recognized that it is not a good augury and pointed to targets of the report such as that emissions fall 18% by 2030 and 45% by 2035. They are goals, he said, in line with the National Plan for Energy and Climate and with national objectives.

“ We want to comply and we are complying with what was promised in terms of climate change in the Paris Agreement. Now, worldwide, it is not being like this,” he pointed out, stating that waiting for COP31 to reverse the trajectory and reduce emissions. Not because it was promised in the Paris Agreement (in 2015) but because “it is essential for the world”.

As objectives already outlined in previous COPs are essential, which must now be strengthened and recalled, to triple renewable energy, or to pay more attention to adaptation, also tripling global funding by 2035.

Portugal, said Maria da Graça Carvalho, did not need to set a goal to get there, “because the amount of storms of the beginning of the year caused funding for the resilience of the territories, adaptation to climate change, more than triple.”.

“ I've been doing the accounting, only in our Ministry have we invested, both on the coast, in the repair of the damage, in the rivers, in the dams, in the electric lines, a little above EUR 1,000 million. It’s much more than triple what we did last year.”.

Portugal, he recalled, is very exposed and the fight against climate change is a difficult war, “because on the other hand there is something we do not control.”.

Last week, he said, he was concentrated in northern territories almost going into severe drought. And there's no doubt that within a week there could be a flood in this region, and then it dries up again.

Maria da Graça Carvalho highlighted her role of helping in transition, in industry or in buildings, or in transport and said she believed that the high prices of fossil fuels can be a motivation for this transition, remembering that the sales of electric cars set records.

COP31 happens at a special moment, the high price of fossil fuels, after the elections in Brazil and the United States, when others are almost happening (Spain and France), making the international meeting “interesting” also from a political point of view.

Interesting, too, added, the emphasis on the sea component, brought by Australia, surrounded by small States very exposed to climate change.

The question of the oceans, important for Portugal, had already arisen in previous conferences and Maria da Graça Carvalho emphasized the importance of this connection with the climate. In fact, I said, desertification and biodiversity should also be more present, issues that “were born” at the first Earth Summit in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, when the “conferences of the parties” (COP) of climate, biodiversity and desertification were created, the first annual and the other biennials.

“ This COP should be a COP of action, move from intentions and goals and ambitions to concrete action ", defended the Minister of the Environment.