Public policies and plans to encourage climate neutrality

The Climate Framework Law, which lays the foundations for the climate policy, is already being implemented in Portugal, with a promise to provide structure to the country´s climate policy. It contains various regulations and public policies to help tackle climate change and achieve sustainable development.

Several municipal and regional plans for climate transition are being developed, with a goal to be completed by February 2024. Many of these plans, regulations and policies focus on the real estate and construction industries. The primary objective of the Climate Framework Law is to obtain climate neutrality by 2050.


National Climate Energy Plan under review

One of the steps taken by the Portuguese government was the establishment of the Climate Action Council (CAC), which is in the process of being approved. The National Climate Energy Plan (PNEC) is still under review and should be sent to Brussels this month, revealed Ana Fontoura Gouveia in an interview with ECO.


Working alongside REPowerEU

The Secretary of State for Energy spoke about how, as part of the REPowerEU, which is the Joint European action on renewable energy and energy efficiency, the government wants to reinforce existing incentives to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, as well as bring in "additional resources".

She went on to guarantee that “even when we no longer have REPowerEU”, the government has at its disposal “the necessary tools for the implementation of energy efficiency changes that are needed in our buildings”. There is also plenty of work underway in terms of green taxation. Some of these proposals put forward were touched upon here.


Adjusting fiscal measures to suit different demographics

According to Ana Fontoura Gouveia, the government´s focus lies with “major energy consumers”. The government is also working to understand how these fiscal incentives could be adjusted to suit the needs of families, with the socioeconomic conditions at play kept in mind.

The Secretary of State for Energy went on to emphasise that “what we do know is that the tools we use need to be adapted to their demographic.” This is something that was seen recently with the Vale Efficiency in the RRP (Recovery and Resilience Plan), which is a program to combat energy poverty.

“The Vale Efficiency program is aimed at families in socio-economic need and, therefore, that often cannot make the necessary advance payments to invest in energy efficiency in their homes.”


Introduction of tax incentives only one part of the picture

Fiscal incentives also have to be considered in conjunction with other measures that exist, and not alone. The Government is acting, with the technical support of the European Investment Bank (EIB), to understand how to best design the proposed green tax mechanisms and how to adjust them to meet "best international practices".