Portugal in the group of countries with the best climate performance

Following on from the disclosure of the Climate Change Performance Index for 2025 (CCPI), based on data from 2023, the Government notes that Portugal remains in the group of best-ranked countries, in 15^th out of 63 countries.

Portugal improved its ranking in terms of GHG emissions (from 16th to 15th), renewable energies (from 20th to 18th), and climate policy (from 20^th to 16th). It kept its position in terms of energy use (17th) compared to the 2024 CCPI (which uses data from 2022).

As for national GHG emissions, Portugal has been registering successive drops since 2005. The last data available, for 2023, indicate a continuing decreasing trend, with the data available to date, it is not possible to estimate with any degree in accuracy that there will be an increase in emissions in 2024.

In the exercise referred to as "approximated inventory" under the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action regulations drafted in July 2024 by the Portuguese Environment Agency, which represents a preliminary estimate only, a trend is identified of GHG emissions reduction in 2023 compared to the previous year. 

It is estimated this reduction is due to the evolution of the energy sector, especially the energy industry, as well as a rise in renewable power generation.

This trend is also confirmed by the significant reduction in the emissions already reported (in in March 2024) by the facilities covered under the EU Emissions Trading System. 

We also saw that there was a drop in industrial processing emissions, as well as a trend for reduction in agriculture, as seen in 2022. Furthermore, a rise in emissions is forecast for the transport sector, namely road transport and aviation, which reflects the challenges that need to be overcome for this sector’s swift decarbonisation. 

The transport and forestry sectors have been flagged by the Government as those where investment is needed to foster their decarbonisation, and several measures have already been planned or are under way:

- The Government presented in October a new Green Mobility package that seeks, among others, to foster the use of rail transport through a Green Rail Card and extending the free card to non-students. This package will boost the benefits offered for electric mobility, whether for passenger or freight vehicles.

- The Integrated Landscape Management Operations (OIGP) are an action instrument that allow for a structural landscape transformation as a response to the wildfires’ resilience needs and the economic and social development in vulnerable territories identified in the Integrated Landscape Management Areas.

- The Government is also implementing the Portuguese Voluntary Carbon Market with a view to supporting projects to reduce emissions or increase carbon capturing. These projects will also bring other social and environmental co-benefits such as fostering jobs, settling the population in rural areas and protecting biodiversity.

As for climate policy, the Government is undergoing a profound change to the Environmental Fund, the main vehicle to promote many such policies, supporting Portugal’s green and energy transition, offering it more robustness, namely through the new Climate Agency, which will manage the national funds in the field of the environment and energy.

When it comes to renewables, the country’s performance on this matter is still remarkable. The targets were revised with greater ambition in the PNEC 2030 (51% for the renewables quota in the end gross energy consumption until 2030, above the previous target of 47%). 

The Government reinforced its ambition to bring forward the carbon neutrality target to 2045 and to cut GHG emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels.

The Government is also committed to recovering the delay from the previous Government with regard to implementing that set in the Climate Act, with a focus on activating the Climate Action Board, the Climate Action website, which is already online, and implementing the resource efficiency programmes for Public Administration (ECO.AP2030). 

The National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy’s revision is also being prepared, as well as the Low Carbon Roadmap, pivotal instruments to achieve the climate targets.