Lisbon, Aug. 31, 2025 (Lusa) - A study by the Portuguese environmental association Zero concludes that the government allocates an "insufficient share" of European Union (EU) cohesion policy funds to reducing and preventing the impacts of climate change, it was announced on Sunday.
In a statement, Zero - Associação Sistema Terrestre Sustentável (Sustainable Earth System Association) calls for a "review of transport priorities and more funding for effective emissions reduction", considering it "positive not to fund projects associated with fossil fuels".
T he analysis takes into account the ‘green investments’ of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the EU's long-term budget, 2021-2027, and was carried out as part of the LIFE TogetherFor1.5 project, led by the organisation CAN Europe (Climate Action Network), which Zero is part of, and which ran from September 2022 for three years.
The association notes that the budget provides for €7.611 billion for Portugal to dedicate to the ecological transition, an amount that "falls short of the 30% threshold - €9.383 billion - that should be applied to climate action alone", adding that "Portugal's investment needed to meet climate targets in line with the European objective are estimated at around €175 billion by 2030, which shows a funding shortfall".
It praised the allocation of the largest share of investment, 43.3%, to "clean transport", considering that "the transport sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Portugal".
But Zero considers that "risks of low cost-effectiveness" persist, emphasising "the need to include climate cost-effectiveness metrics in the approval of projects, in order to ensure that every euro of public money contributes to measurable and lasting reductions in emissions".
It also mentions "potential non-compliance" with the European principle of "Do No Significant Harm" (DNSH).
The environmentalists point to the examples of the Lisbon Metro's red line, which "as it is designed (...) raises doubts about the cost-effectiveness of the investment", of the option for hydrogen road passenger transport vehicles, which they say raises "questions of efficiency", considering that the €22 million for alternative fuels is "clearly insufficient" compared to "the need for €130-150 million to make the public charging network for heavy vehicles viable, as required by European regulations".
Although they consider investment in Portugal's railways to be “highly necessary", they point out that modernisation and new connections “will only produce real gains with greater effective use”, recommending the reinforcement of digitalisation and signalling within the scope of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), “due to its high capacity and efficiency potential".
For Zero, it is also right to allocate the second largest share of green funding (21.3%) to energy efficiency, with Portugal "consistently being one of the last in Europe in terms of energy poverty". It notes, however, that there is an imbalance in the figures for housing and companies, the latter being "25 times higher".
Investment in the housing stock is worth €42 billion and should be increased, argues the association, noting that it is estimated that "major residential renovations will require €72 billion, or up to €120 billion if equipment is included".
With regard to renewable energies, Zero recommends "redoubling the focus on storage and networks", which it considers "key factors in making solar economically viable".
Public funding for solar energy should be "decentralised in artificial areas - motorways, industrial zones, irrigation canals, reservoirs".
"Zero calls for a re-evaluation of the internal distribution of funds, the reorientation of low-cost-effectiveness funds to areas with a greater net impact on reducing emissions and the integration of DNSH and climate criteria at all stages of the project cycle," reads the statement.
The environmental association recommends that the Portuguese government strengthen "public monitoring instruments, with regular reports on avoided emissions, infrastructure utilisation and financial execution", and promote citizen participation, for example in public consultations that can improve "the quality and legitimacy of investments".
It also advocates a more ambitious cohesion policy in the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034, "setting a 50% green integration target, the safeguarding of clear environmental targets and robust methodologies to identify truly green and fair investments".
The aim of the LIFE TogetherFor1.5 project, co-funded by the EU, was to accelerate the bloc's climate action and align it with the Paris Agreement's goal of preventing temperatures from rising more than 1.5ºC above the pre-industrial average.
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