Projects in ex-colonies should count toward EU climate goal, Portugal says

Portuguese Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho said the country should also get credit for planet-warming emission cuts that result from Portugal’s investments in renewable energy projects in Cabo Verde or São Tomé and Príncipe — the country’s former colonies. That should occur, she added, even if those projects are not regulated under the global carbon credit regime. 

“It’s very important for us that investments we do outside Europe can be counted for the [2040] target,” she told POLITICO in an interview in Brussels. “We have very good relations in terms of investments in renewables, mainly with Portuguese-speaking countries. … Every year we are investing between €12-14 million in Cabo Verde. We are now doing the same with São Tomé and Príncipe, so we want this also to be accounted for in the target.” 

Carvalho said that she would present this demand, alongside several others, to European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra and fellow conservative environment ministers on Thursday. 

Hoekstra’s headache

The string of Portuguese demands further complicates Hoekstra’s balancing act.

The commissioner has been holding talks with governments across the EU to build support for the 2040 emissions-reduction target, which the Commission wants to set at 90 percent below 1990 levels. So far, only a minority of countries are backing the target, and many say they can only consider supporting 90 percent if a number of conditions are met. 

In a separate interview with POLITICO on Thursday, Hoekstra declined to offer details on the talks with ministers. “There are several elements being discussed, floated, contemplated,” he said, but “in this phase I’m not going to publicly pick out elements to then say yes or no to.”