Portugal began renewing municipal climate commitments for 2050 under the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. ADENE, as the national coordinator of the European initiative, contacted all signatory Portuguese municipalities with guidance to reinforce local climate action and to update institutional contacts after the 2025 municipal elections, according to a press release.
According to the same source, this new phase of the Pact comes at a critical moment for the country. The succession of storms that marked the start of 2026 underscored significant vulnerabilities in the face of extreme climate phenomena, but also showed that the communities’ ability to respond largely depends on municipal planning.
“Municipalities are on the front line of climate adaptation. Renewing this commitment for 2050 means strengthening the country’s capacity to respond to a climate that has already changed and that requires local leadership, strategy, and action,” says Nelson Lage, president of ADENE.
Local climate action in Portugal has been increasingly recognized at the European level. In 2026, Guimarães was named European Green Capital and Águeda received the European Green Leaf award, demonstrating the capacity of Portuguese municipalities to implement robust climate policies and to strengthen Portugal’s position in one of the largest European energy and climate networks.
In a decisive phase for local climate policy in Portugal, ADENE is preparing the territory for a new decade of greater ambition, investment, and responsibility in climate action. To this end, it has already sent guidelines to all municipalities to:
– proceed with the renewal of the commitment to the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy 2050,
– integrate the Municipal Climate Action Plan (PMAC), where applicable,
– and update the contacts and municipal representation on the MyCovenant platform.
This process will align the national territory within a context of greater investment, ambition, and requirements in energy, climate, and resilience policies.
Thus, ADENE is organizing, next Monday, March 23, between 10:00 and 11:30, a national online meeting aimed at all municipalities that have not yet completed the renewal of the commitment.
Cities concentrate population, critical infrastructure, and a significant portion of emissions, taking on a decisive role in climate adaptation and the energy transition. By coordinating this process at the national level, ADENE “contributes to strengthening the resilience of the territory, combating energy poverty, modernizing local infrastructures, and preparing the country for increasingly intense climatic phenomena.”
“With more than 11,000 European cities involved, the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is today one of the largest global alliances dedicated to local climate action, and Portugal has been establishing itself as one of the most active countries in this European network, and the renewal of municipal commitments for 2050 represents a decisive step to strengthen that leadership,” the note concludes.
