The Portuguese will have to get used to living with less water, warns the Minister of the Environment, who also leaves a warning to investors: the Government “has no type of limitation in the application of restrictions” on consumption.
In an interview with Agência Lusa, at a time when the country is experiencing one of the worst droughts on record, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, stresses that the most important thing is to have water for people to consume, and that if there is a shortage of water, the Government applies “the restrictions that are necessary”.
“It is not worth it, who promotes a certain type of investment or infrastructure, without taking into account that water is a scarce resource. And we do not have any kind of limitation to apply restrictions when necessary. That is what we have been doing,” said Duarte Cordeiro, warning that whoever invests without taking into account the scarcity of water can have consequences.
And I add: “It is important to explain that we will have to get used to living with less watereveryone, the agro-industrial activities as well, the economic sectors, and we all have to look at what opportunities we have”.
Responding specifically to golf courses, the minister asks investors to look at the territory and protect themselves. “Economic sectors that need water, it is good that they invest in what allows them to have water, which is capturing it in the sea, reusable water, taking advantage of efficiency… they really have to do it, it is not a matter of choice.”
Duarte Cordeiro was speaking to Agência Lusa about the United Nations Conference on the Oceans, which begins on Monday in Lisbon and lasts until Friday. As part of the conference, the largest ever held on the oceans, under the slogan “Save the oceans, protect the future”, a high-level symposium on water will be held, organized by the Government and to be opened by Duarte Cordeiro .
The symposium, explained the minister to Lusa, is “one of the most important parallel events associated with the Conference of the Oceans”. and goals “seek to build links between what is the importance of safeguarding fresh water” and the preservation of the oceans and the fight against climate change.
Portugal, defended the minister, has done work in this area, because it went from 15% of treated wastewater in 1990 to 99% today. “And this has an immediate impact on the level, for example, of blue flag beaches”, this year around 430.
In other words, he said, the treated water ends up in the sea, which is reflected in the quality of coastal waters, which is also reflected in marine biodiversity.
In the minister’s words, the symposium, in whose inaugural session four ministers and the UN Undersecretary General for Economy and Social Affairs, Liu Zheenmin, will participate, will also serve to discuss issues such as climate change, adaptation to water scarcity or new sources of extraction.
“The symposium is the link between fresh and salt water. We want to make a list of the importance of the treatment and preservation of fresh water for the quality of the oceans”, highlighted Duarte Cordeiro, adding that when talking about the decontamination of the oceans, the need to preserve biodiversity is important. have an understanding of the importance of water quality.
And this relationship with water is also linked, he added, to climate change, the rise in sea level, the impact on the coast, extreme weather events, but also the ability to adapt to situations of less water and drought managementalso topics of the high-level meeting.
At Monday’s meeting, the United Nations sustainable development goals related to water will be discussed, as well as the possibilities of cooperation between States. More than a dozen ministers and officials from international organizations participate in it, including the European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius.
Monday’s meeting precedes the UN Water Conference, in New York in March next year, and aims to contribute to the preparatory process for that conference, says the Portuguese minister.
Regarding the conference, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, recalls that, currently, 40% of the world’s population is affected by the lack of water, 80% of wastewater is discharged into the environment without treatment , and more than 90% of disasters are related to water.
In the interview with Lusa, Minister Duarte Cordeiro recalls that currently 34% of the continent is in severe drought and 66% in extreme droughtand says that an awareness campaign on the subject will begin in July.
And there is no doubt, these campaigns cannot stop. “All this work must have a dimension of continuity, we cannot say that we have to prepare for less water and not have constant awareness work.”
Source: Observadora
