The report, prepared under the LIFE TogetherFor1.5 project, has been executed by a consortium of European civil society organizations, including the Portuguese environmental association Zero, which disclosed it today.
Titled ‘Is the Long-Term Strategies Process Working? Evidence and Recommendations from Selected National Cases,’ the document reviewed the drafting or revision process of long-term strategies in ten countries, including Portugal.
The report identified gaps such as a widespread lack of ambition, weak public participation, and poor alignment with other national climate plans, including the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs).
These gaps, according to the association’s statement, undermine efforts to achieve climate neutrality by mid-century or earlier, and to align with the Paris Agreement goals.
Of the ten countries examined, half had no strategy review plan. In several cases, public consultation was either basic or non-existent, coordination between different climate plans was lacking, and there was no connection between long-term strategies and legally binding targets or intermediate goals.
Portugal received a more positive assessment in the document, noting a participatory and transparent process in developing the Roadmap for Carbon Neutrality 2050 (RNC2050), which is “still relatively well aligned” with the 2030 targets and has initiated its revision to align with the revised NECP targets.
Zero warns that the concrete implementation of the measures “remains very uncertain” and requires political reinforcement.
“Zero believes Portugal is demonstrating the potential to develop a scientifically-based, transparent, and open climate strategy but acknowledges that planning is easy – implementation is the hard part,” the statement notes, warning that RNC2050 is not aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target.
The association states that achieving climate neutrality in the EU by 2040 is possible, beneficial for countries, and would save Portugal “16 billion euros.”
Zero further stresses the urgency of launching a public consultation for the Roadmap for Carbon Neutrality 2045 (RNC2045), which reflects Portugal’s commitment to anticipate climate neutrality by five years.
It emphasizes the importance of addressing, amid extensive rural fires emitting massive carbon dioxide amounts, how to ensure that the long-term carbon release into the atmosphere from forests, shrubs, and soils does not compromise the country’s climate goals, considering the destruction of a crucial carbon sink.
The LIFE TogetherFor1.5 project, co-funded by the EU, aims to accelerate EU climate action and align it with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to prevent temperatures from rising beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The initiative, led by CAN Europe (Climate Action Network), involves partners from 13 states.
