The environmental association Quercus yesterday appealed to municipalities to apply to Turismo de Portugal’s program for the creation of climate refuges against extreme heat and warned that there are still 108 councils without a Municipal Climate Action Plan (PMAC).
In a statement, the environmental group celebrates the initiative “Climate Refuge Network | Stay Cool”, launched by Turismo de Portugal, to which national municipalities can compete to “create or qualify accessible, safe and thermally comfortable spaces during periods of extreme heat”.
The notice, with a total allocation of one million euros, falls under the Grow with Tourism Program and is intended for municipal councils and parish councils, which can bid individually or in partnership.
Quercus appeals to the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) and the National Association of Parishes (Anafre) to encourage the municipalities to “a high participation in this line of support” and has offered to collaborate in the program’s execution as well.
According to the association, 108 councils still do not have a Municipal Climate Action Plan (PMAC) and, regarding Climate Change Adaptation Strategies, “all present the document, though a large part of these strategies assumes a time horizon of 10 or more years” and they are “frequently outdated in light of new projections of impacts and damages arising from climate change”.
In view of this scenario, Quercus proposes that a diagnostic report be prepared on the reasons for the PMAC non-compliance in the 108 municipalities lacking one and that the Government publish “a binding timetable with sanctions” for the 108 municipalities without a program, “setting a maximum deadline of 12 months for its approval, with quarterly public reporting of the status of each plan”.
The reduction, from 10 to five years, of the deadline for mandatory review of Municipal Adaptation Strategies, to avoid the misalignment identified in the Municipal Climate Action Map, is another proposal.
Quercus also seeks the requirement that all Municipal Master Plans (PDM) under revision include a minimum green space per inhabitant ratio, aligned with the World Health Organization’s recommendations (a minimum of nine square meters per inhabitant), and the establishment of a nationally binding target of 15% of the population with adequate access to urban green spaces by 2030, with priority recovery plans for municipalities currently below 5%.
