Portugal at COP30 to transform ambition into global climate action

Portugal at COP30 to transform ambition into global climate action 

• Portugal attends the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which begins today in Belém do Pará, Brazil and runs through 21 November with a message of leadership, commitment, and cooperation, advocating concrete outcomes in the fields of mitigation, adaptation, and just transition.

• The Portuguese delegation, headed by the Minister of Environment and Energy Maria da Graça Carvalho boosts Portugal’s role as an active voice in global climate action and promoting innovating funding solutions.

Maria da Graça Carvalho: "Portugal represents a future vision based on clean energy, social justice, and cooperation among the peoples"

Portugal attends as of Monday 10 November the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), held in Belém do Pará in Brazil until 21 November under the motto "Ambition and Climate Action". The Portuguese delegation is headed by the Minister of Environment and Energy Maria da Graça Carvalho, who represents the Portuguese Government in the multilateral negotiations and high-level ministerial meetings.

COP30 is being held at a decisive time for global climate action, a year away from the review of the States’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and in a setting set by the need to strengthen international climate funding and cooperation between developed and developing countries. Portugal advocates that the conference’s success depends on the collective capacity to translate commitments into concrete outcomes in the fields of mitigation, adaptation, and just transition.

At COP30, Portugal calls on a solid outcome in terms of mitigation, aligned with the 1.5°C cap in average global temperature rise and a reinforced commitment to adaptation through policies that protect the populations, the territory, and the economy. Portugal arrives in Belém with a revised and more ambitious National Energy and Climate Plan (PNEC 2030) that sets a 55% emissions reduction target compared to 2005 and 51% renewables in the final energy consumption; and a Roadmap for Carbon Neutrality as a benchmark for public and private planning and investment.

In addition, the Portuguese Government has a consolidated climate strategy recognised internationally. Portugal was one of the first countries to set that target for 2045 and has been accelerating the energy transition by investing in renewable sources, efficiency, and technological innovation. More than two thirds of the electricity consumed in the country already comes from clean energy, one of the largest percentages in the European Union, and the national targets continue to become more ambitious with the aim of using 85% of renewable electricity by 2030.

The country combines this energy transition with social and territorial justice policies centred around fighting energy poverty, sustainable home rehabilitation, and promoting energy communities. At the same time, Portugal is boosting its adaptation to climate change via an integrated management of water resources, preventing floods, coastal protection and restoring natural ecosystems. These measures also have research and innovation programmes associated that involve universities, companies, and municipalities in practical solutions that can be replicated.