Environmentalist association Zero considered the Lisbon Climate Contract fundamental, but warned that the plan cannot be a catalogue of good intentions. The entity requires measurable targets, credible funding and priority for reducing car traffic to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.
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22/10/2026
by
Lusa
A environmentalist association Zero said today that the Lisbon Climate Contract, for climate neutrality by 2030, “is undoubtedly fundamental”, but warned that “can’t be just a catalogue of good intentions” and defended the definition of priorities.
“ This ambition is fundamental, but a real climate contract cannot only be a catalogue of good intentions and must be a commitment to measurable results,” said Zero’s president, Francisco Ferreira, in the debate “The Climate Contract for Lisbon: challenges, opportunities and the path to climate neutrality”, held at the Municipal Assembly.
Francisco Ferreira also said that this must also be a contract “with credible and unexpected funding, with responsibilities that are identified by entity and a public accountability”.
Requested by the municipal group of the PS, the debate had more than a dozen invited actors, including the academy and civil society organizations, with the majority stressing the ambition of this municipal climate action plan and proposing the definition of priorities, considering that it is just over three years before the deadline.
Still without approval in the Municipal Assembly, the Climate Contract of the City of Lisbon 2030, proposed by the PSD/CDS-PP/IL governance and made possible in the camarário executive with abstention of the left parties, gathers “more than 600 commitments and about 150 mitigation, adaptation and transversal transformation actions”, predicting an estimated investment of 8.2 billion euros.
According to the Lisbon City Council (CML), the contract aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to 2002, strengthen adaptability and resilience to extreme climate phenomena and “ensure a fair and inclusive transition, combating inequalities and promoting social cohesion”.
At the beginning of the debate, the Councilman of Climate Action, Vasco Anjos (IL), said that the Climate Contract “is a document with history”, which takes advantage of previous efforts and covers several areas of action, stating that mobility is “one of the huge pillars of transformation” and ensuring monitoring the implementation of the measures.
From the team responsible for the Climate Contract, CML’s head of the Environment and Energy Division, Pedro Oliveira, revealed that Lisbon has already reduced emissions by 60% between 2002 and 2024 and, therefore, “the 80% path is already largely done”, although the closer to the goal, “the harder it will be to reduce emissions”.
The major challenge is the transport sector, which is responsible for 48% of emissions, according to data from 2024, Pedro Oliveira indicated, advancing that residential buildings and services account for 27% of emissions.
Among the actions planned to mitigate emissions are the expansion and modernisation of the Metro network (EUR 1,260 million (ME)), the metro-bus link between Lisbon and Oeiras (93.5 ME) and the electrification of the Carris bus fleet (160 ME), while the adaptation actions go through increasing the municipality's green area by 10% (200 ME), implementing the General Drainage Plan (185 ME) and creating the Lisbon Climate Fund (100 ME), according to the CML's manager.
For Zero’s president, “coherent data” on emissions reduction is needed, as well as knowing how much each measure of the Climate Agreement costs, when it will be completed and what results it will produce, including cost-effectiveness.
Francisco Ferreira stressed that the transport sector is decisive to achieve climate neutrality, stating that it is necessary to “effectively reduce car traffic” and create corridors. Continuous BUS and functional cycling networks, considering “hilarious” the implementation of Reduced Emission Zones, in particular the lack of update “since 11 years ago”.
“Only a car over the age of 26 can’t enter some areas,” he criticized, lamenting the option of “wanting more and more tourism” in the city, which will also be reflected in aviation, with pollution consequences.
Pedro M. Soares, a climatologist and researcher at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, considered the Climate Contract “a very ambitious instrument” and argued that the contribution of the transport sector to reducing emissions “is a very difficult challenge”, highlighting the need to prioritize actions and inform citizens about the cost-benefit for public health.
Also considering the ambitious document, Luísa Schmidt, sociologist and coordinator of the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, pointed out “incoherences” between what is proposed and recent actions of the CML, including the disinvestment in the BIP/ZIP program – Neighborhoods and Areas of Priority Intervention of Lisbon and the Participatory Budget, lamenting the “brutal gentrification that created a huge distortion in the sociological profile today of the city”.
From the Nature Protection League, Pedro Bingre do Amaral said that this plan could be “a great opportunity to bring native forest” to the urban grove, instead of bet on exotic species, as well as manage the small watersheds in the county, to prevent floods.