Government will promote participatory assembly focused on the Sustainable Development Goals

The Government is setting up an open meeting to civil society to listen, dialogue and collect contributions on the 2030 National Roadmap for Sustainable Development. This will be a participatory assembly focused exclusively on the subject which according to the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, "reflects on the one hand the centrality attributed to the subject by this cabinet and, on the other, is in line with the successive requests made by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres for the new generations and several sectors of society, especially DNGOS’s and charities to be heard and called upon to participate in the decision-making process ". 

The Government believes this is a fundamental strategic step towards defining a joint approach and for the country to be an example to follow, as development, sustainability, and the collective commitment and intrinsically tied.

Today, on National Sustainability Day, the Government reiterates its commitment to continue working towards ensuring the fulfilment of the UN 2030 Agenda to make Portugal a fairer, more inclusive, and more resilient country.  "The SDGs are a compass that guide us along this path, yet it is vital to bear in mind that real change is only possible when sustainability is integrated in public life, when each one of us is fully conscious that many of our everyday actions, no matter how insignificant they seem, have a huge impact", stated the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

In the last few months, the Government has implemented several measures in different areas that contributed to the country being an active agent in meeting the targets. Doubling the assignment of income tax to social welfare institutions, making medicine free for those who benefit from the Solidary Benefit for the Elderly, as well as reforming the Porta 65 programme,  putting youths first, are some of the examples of public policy in this field.