As a Portuguese Non-Governmental Organization, what is the importance of your presence at this annual United Nations conference of climate change?

Our organization, Quercus, is an independent association of political powers and economic powers. We give importance to our presence here because it is a way to show our work to the world. Allows us to make contacts with enterprises and organizations originary of different countries, exchange experiences and, at the same time, it also helps us in our internal work, once we can have some extra influence with the people assigned to the issues which we want to intervene on, in addition to the possibility of pushing and urging for new policies.

With regard to the Paris Agreement, do you consider the limit of 1.5 °C acceptable and to what extent is it achievable?

Thus, this value is very difficult to attain because when it was foreseen, in December of the last year, when the Paris Agreement was written in its final version, there was a series of information that wasn’t yet available, but in this moment it already is, since it was released by the United Nations climate agency. Therefore, today we know that the CO2 content in the atmosphere has already exceeded 400 parts per million (ppm) and this will make it virtually impossible to comply with the 1.5ºC limit, considering that we are reaching it already.

What strategies could be devised to fulfill this commitment in Portugal?

From 1.5ºC? Well, as a fact, addressing this commitment in Portugal doesn’t make any sense because the commitments have to be global, so if we stopped burning fossil fuels in Portugal right now, tomorrow we would be importing more expensive energy likely produced from the incineration of from fossil fuels.

The resolutions ought to be taken at a global level, or at least at the regional level, or else we wouldn’t be solving anything at all.

This afternoon in Lisbon and Porto, the event "Save the climate for oil" will be taking place, in which Quercus will participate. How do you relate to this manifestation and to what extent is it important?

Well, it’s important to raise public awareness, because what is happening at the moment is that the issue of climate change is complex and it is being addressed only in a political sphere or in the sphere of the NGO’s specializing in this issue. And the language is too hermetic and sometimes the common citizens, not intimately connected to the issue, don´t understand it properly. For that reason the way we share the facts about climate change and the measures taken has to be clarified. Nevertheless one issue that we are trying to share on the COP22 is the exploitation of oil in Portugal. It is an absolute nonsense that the Portuguese government talks about assuming commitments on burning less oil, and at the same time, continues with the interest of exploiting it. This situation is completely antagonistic, and our presence in the manifestation you referred previously is also important for people to be aware of this fact.

Anyone who visits you in COP22 is confronted with several postcards they are invited to right on. What is the concept behind these postcards and who do you intend to adress in this way?

Well, these postcards are addressed to policymakers, the prime minister, the environment minister, etc. And what we want is that they receive as many postcards as possible, so they understand that many people don’t want the exploitation of oil in Algarve to occur. Not only because of the opposition I already talked to you about, but also because of the risks that oil poses to the main activities of the Algarve, which are tourism and fishing. It is important to note that the petroleum extraction is a dangerous activity, since several accidents are constantly occurring.

We don’t think it is worthwhile to proceed with this activity in a region that is alive because of tourism, which is the main Portuguese export at this moment. Undoubtedly there is an element of hazard in this, considering Algarve’s subsistence.

Moreover, if we are to compare the business’ volume that may come from the exploitation of petroleum, with the business’ volume that already exists in the region due to tourism, the conclusion would be that it is not worth the risk.

What is there to expect when we talk about the environment and climate changes: a bright future, or a darker one?

In addition to the good intentions, which the Paris agreement represents, and the more or less diffuse goals that will be fulfilled in the long term, the truth is there are no concrete measures implemented yet, because to implement them an investment is needed. It isn’t enough for politicians to say "We are going to stop burning coal" for example. How much are governments willing to spend to make the transition from energy generated from coal, to renewable energy? The problem is that just talking about an issue doesn’t solve anything, we need real actions.

Young Reporters For the Environment (YRE)

Representatives of Portugal – Joana Pedro and Filipa Murta

Peace Summit of Emerging Leaders, Bangkok

Peace Summit of Emerging Leaders, Bangkok

9th USLS, Bangkok