Lisbon, Sept. 10, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister for the environment and energy said in Lisbon on Thursday that Portugal needed to be self-sufficient in energy and water because it needed to anticipate when it might be necessary to «deal with other forces from other countries» that could pose challenges.

Maria da Graça Carvalho appeared on Thursday before the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee on National Resilience, Natural Disaster Prevention and Monitoring of the PTRR – Portugal, Transformation, Recovery and Resilience, where she gave an overview of the impact caused by the bad weather and the measures taken in response.

«The geostrategic situation is complex, and we never know when we will have to deal with forces from other countries that will cause us problems. The more independent we are in terms of water and energy, the better off we are,» the minister pointed out in response to MPs following the second round of questions.

On water, the minister advocated a balance between what is retained and what is not, explaining that excessive retention can also create challenges, such as a lack of sand on beaches or excessive salinisation.

«We must be very careful about interfering with nature,» she emphasised.

On electricity and energy, the minister said Portugal was already largely self-sufficient in terms of renewables and now needed to make progress on liquid fuels for transport.

The aim, as she pointed out, is to electrify as much as possible, but also to produce renewable fuels.

«We have to be more independent because one day we'll wake up and prices will have skyrocketed, or fuel simply won't be available,» she insisted.

PE/ADB // ADB.

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