The Council of Ministers of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) today reiterated the need to promote the adoption of renewable energies and cooperation between member states in the fight against climate change.
In the final declaration of the meeting, which took place in São Tomé, the ministers referred at various points to the effects of natural disasters and the initiatives underway or encouraged to mitigate them.
The heads of diplomacy of the nine countries reiterated ‘solidarity and support for the populations affected’ by phenomena that have caused human losses and worsened the living conditions of the populations, ‘especially in the province of Nampula, in Mozambique, and in Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil’.
They recalled the need for cooperation between CPLP members to combat climate change and promote the adoption of renewable energies and, in this context, welcomed the existence of innovative financing instruments such as the Climate and Environmental Funds, financed through bilateral debt payments, already formalised between Portugal and Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe.
The Council of Ministers advocated a review of the CPLP Strategic Energy Cooperation Plan (PECE-CPLP) and the need to hold a meeting of ministers in this area, noting that the ‘last meeting took place in November 2017’, almost seven years ago.
He also recommended that the 10th meeting of environment ministers be held ‘by the end of 2024’ and welcomed the degree of implementation of the 2023-2025 action plan, which aims to contribute to broadening the international projection of the CPLP, with the growing participation of member states in international meetings.
The activities carried out by Angola’s presidency of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OEACP) in the 2022-2025 triennium, aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change, among other objectives, were welcomed at the meeting in São Tomé.
The ministers also argued that ‘priority should be given to environmental protection’ within the scope of the CPLP Strategic Plan for Cooperation on the Environment (PECA CPLP), specifically ‘in the development of activities that contribute to combating the adverse effects caused by climate change, loss of biodiversity, increased pollution and generalised environmental degradation’.
Lusa
