Marcelo says that Portugal cannot stop or slow down on the road to sustainability

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said this Thursday, in Braga, that Portugal “cannot stop continuing on the path” of sustainability, and praised the fact that this is “a national priority with more than one decade”.

For the head of state, Portugal “had the courage to make this decision early”, thus taking advantage of other countries that “it took a while to understand the need for intervention against climate change, specifically in the field of energy”.

“[A sustentabilidade] has been a national priority for more than a decade, has passed through successive governments. Portugal had the courage to make this decision early. Betting on sustainability was a national merit”, he said.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered that it is now necessary to “continue with this priority”, resisting “the temptation” to stop or go back that could result from the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

“What we have is to maintain and accelerate, not stop or slow down”defended.

The President recalled that other countries that took longer to understand the need to intervene against climate change are now “looking for palliatives and patches.”

for Marcelo, there is no doubt that “the near future will impose respect for the objectives defined by Portugal and the European Union”. The head of state was speaking during the signing of the Braga Business Mobility Pact, a moment that he described as “historic”.

Signed by more than 30 entities, the pact aims to bring together companies, institutions and the municipality, with the aim of establishing an ecosystem capable of catalyzing mobility decarbonisation solutions that make it more inclusive and technological.

To achieve this objective, the project promotes the adoption of sustainable or inclusive mobility actions by the signatory entities.

This initiative follows the first Sustainability Report of the municipality, carried out by the Braga City Council, in 2019, according to which it was possible to determine that 65% of emissions come from mobility.