Portugal at COP29: climate ambition and international cooperation

Portugal will attend the 29th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP29), in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November.

The Portuguese Pavillion’s motto is "Investing in a Greener Future Together: It’s Worth it", focusing on seven areas: Climate Action, Energy, Water, Resource Efficiency, Biodiversity, International Cooperation, and People.

Over nine days, the Portuguese Pavillion will host 55 initiatives, including conferences, presentations and debates featuring the participation of various society sectors, such as local administration, NGO’s and companies. The pavilion will also hold joint initiatives with the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) and European institution representatives. 

Portugal’s goals for COP29, in line with the European Union priorities are first and foremost increasing the efforts of the countries to meet the Paris Agreement and limit global temperature rises to 1.5ºC. To do this, it is crucial that we up the bar on our New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) to fund the fight against climate change, which is currently set at 100 billion dollars per year. 

At the same time, it’s of the utmost importance to expand the donor base, that is, those who contribute to the funding, not just the developed countries, but also the developing countries with higher GDP and emissions levels per capita. Another of the goals is ensuring that public funding is a central component, complemented by more private investment, including innovative sources of funding.

"To move forward globally in terms of climate goals, it is fundamental that we increase the funding target for climate change, broadening the range of contributors for this. Currently, some of the greatest polluters in the world are not doing enough. The European Union has led this effort with funding and clear priorities. Now, we want to see the other major blocs and nations matching our level of commitment", stated Maria da Graça Carvalho, Minister of Environment and Energy. 

Up to date, Portugal’s international climate funding undertakings are at 68.5 million euros. Part of this sum, 12 million euros, lies in the conversion of Cape Verde’s debt into climate investment and another 3.5 million euros in converting São Tomé e Príncipe’s debt. Portugal has the ambition of being able to amplify those partnerships, especially with the CPLP countries after 2025. 

"The outcomes of this debt conversion into climate funding agreement are highly positive. At this moment, we have a tender running for a manifestation of interest for the repowering of the Palmarejo Photovoltaic power plant in Cape Verde, which shows the practical effects of the memorandum signed by both countries", Maria da Graça Carvalho said. 

Portugal also calls for an ambitious and solid outcome in terms of mitigation as part of its global outcome, including monitoring the progress of implementing the Global Stocktake (GST) and giving out ambitious signals on the upcoming presentation of the nationally determined contributions (NDC), next year. 

Portugal arrives at this 29th COP with a revised and more ambitious National Energy and Climate Plan (PNEC) with targets to increase the weight of renewables on the final consumption of energy from 47% to 51% and a target to cut emissions by 55% compared to the 2005 figures. The PNEC is lining up its strategy to reach carbon neutrality by 2045.