The environmental organizations Zero and Oikos today asked Portugal for a timetable for phasing out fossil fuels and a multi-year plan for climate financing, just days before the 31st United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP31) begins.
The two organizations, which held today an online briefing on expectations for COP26, argued in a statement that Portugal should set a date for the end of fossil gas in electricity production.
They also call for coherence in applying the Climate Base Law, noting that the Council for Climate Action is not yet operational and that the roadmap to advance carbon neutrality to 2045 remains to be presented.
The organizations call on the Government of Portugal to support the creation of a Lusophone Climate Fund and to broaden debt-for-climate investment conversions to other Portuguese-speaking countries, starting with São Tomé and Príncipe, after the Cabo Verde experience.
“I don’t expect a COP with grand announcements, but Antalya has to prove that climate multilateralism still yields tangible results,” said Francisco Ferreira, president of Zero, referring to the global expectations for COP31.
The two organizations want this to be the “COP of implementation.”
“Regarding the phasing out of fossil fuels, Dubai decided the what; Santa Marta began to discuss the how; Antalya has to begin to answer the when,” he said, referring to COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, the conference on the transition away from fossil fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia.
“While oil companies are posting record profits, the most vulnerable countries are waiting for a Loss and Damage Fund that has not disbursed a single cent,” stated, for his part, José Luís Monteiro, project coordinator at Oikos.
The two organizations will be present at COP31, which will run from 9 to 20 November in Antalya, Turkey, to monitor negotiations and keep in contact with the Portuguese delegation.
Zero and Oikos argue that countries should present national roadmaps to respect the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit, with developed countries leading the process.
Among the priorities also highlighted are the elimination of subsidies for fossil fuels and the strengthening of financing for adaptation, favoring grants that do not worsen the debt of the most vulnerable countries.
COP31 should address the gap between an increasingly evident climate crisis and an international response that is progressing, but not at the necessary pace.
Unlike other climate summits, this year’s does not point to a major announcement, instead aiming to implement matters already agreed.
Thus, moving from promises to action is, therefore, one of the mottos of COP31, co-chaired for the first time by two countries: Turkey and Australia.
