Yet more climate change wrangling

droughtriverClimate change remains a taboo subject for many people including the president of the United States, but at the recent Porto Climate Change Leadership Summit the keynote speaker, former Vice-President Al Gore, reiterated the alarming scientific evidence for global warming.

Meanwhile, a new analysis claims that the five largest oil and gas companies in the world spend nearly $200 million annually in lobbying to delay, control or block policies to tackle climate change. Millions of dollars are being spent on targeting Facebook and Instagram ads by the global oil giants and related organisations to promote the benefits of increased fossil fuel production, according to the report published by InfluenceMap.

Half Algarve’s coast under the sea by 2050

beachThe recently released Global Risk Report sponsored by the World Economic Forum revealed that “800 million people live in more than 570 coastal cities vulnerable to a sea-level rise of 0.5 metres”.

It did not say how many of these are in the Algarve. But it is astonishing that no media in Portugal reported this daunting risk.

ASMAA's year in review - "there was no oil drilling anywhere in Portugal during 2018"

OilReferendumSMALL"2018 was a watershed year for ASMAA as we progressed through the transformation process that started in 2017," writes Laurinda Seabra from the Association.

Anti-Oil Drilling Campaigns: as we have done since the creation of ASMAA, our primary focus continued to be the “Nem UM Furo” anti-oil drilling national campaign.

Multiple actions took place right throughout the year across Portugal. During the year many updating and feedback sessions where run in Alentejo, Algarve and Central Portugal.

'Up to the last drop' - the secret water war in Europe

water2In 2010, water was officially recognised as a universal human right by the United Nations. However, the European Union has yet to do the same.

The management of water has long been in the hands of private companies, but resistance to this profit-driven model has increased in Europe since 2000. Activists against water privatisation in Portugal, Greece and Ireland say that the EU applies pressure to privatise water services using the economic crisis as a pretext for the creation of a water market in Europe.

EU taking the lead on plastic waste

plasticatseaThe European Union is keen to lead the world in significantly reducing the immense problem of plastic litter.

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have reached a political agreement based on ambitious new measures proposed by the European Commission.

European Commission report on progress in the implementation of the EU Forest Strategy

eucalyptus'A new EU Forest Strategy: for forests and the forest sector'

Introduction: the EU Forest Strategy

In 2013, the Communication ‘A new Forest Strategy: for forests and the forest-based sector’ (‘the Strategy’) set a new EU framework to coordinate and ensure coherence in forest-related policies and enhance the contribution of forests and the forest-based sector to EU objectives. Sustainable forest management (SFM), the multifunctional role of forests, resource efficiency and global forest responsibility are its guiding principles.

Work on new eco-resort community in Castro Marim to start in 2019

Work on new eco-resort community in Castro Marim to start in 2019An €80 million investment putting sustainability at the top of the agenda and including a wellness hotel, low-density lodges and areas for detached homes will be set within an estate on the Guadiana River.

'Costa: you'll not win elections - sack more ministers !'

EN125RoadSurfaceFor years the EN125 has been a dangerous road. It's already the road to death! For years there was a project to repair and upgrade it. The A22 motorway across the Algarve was built using EU-funds and was never meant to be sold off but a foreign fund now owns the concession.

A minister said maintaining the EN125 by using a contractor friendly to PS+PSD, is expensive. If they did as in Germany, where maintenance is paid by the state but controlled by the Councils, it would cost half.