The author Luisa Schmidt analyses the state of sustainability in Portugal, drawing a picture that mixes serious problems with significant progress. She identifies the main problems as the disorderly development of coastal areas in the face of erosion and rising sea levels, the ongoing land-use disorder in forest areas despite the catastrophes since 2017, the lack of effective management of protected areas and biodiversity, and the growing dependence on road transport without progress in rail. Schmidt attributes these failures to the absence of effective planning and sustained land-use policies.
The article acknowledges, however, important advances achieved since the first decade of the 2000s, including the implementation of selective waste collection systems, the development of renewable energy with emphasis on wind power, the extension of drinking water supply to the entire country, the improvement in the quality of river beaches, the adoption of environmental rules by companies and industries, progress in environmental education, and the growing awareness of new generations about environmental problems.
For the next 25 years, Schmidt outlines several lines of hope: the decentralised expansion of renewable energy through collective self-consumption and energy communities, the development of a networked circular economy, the harnessing of the blue economy with the Continental Platform, the intelligent integration of environmental and economic values, serious investment in rail mobility, and the strengthening of local dynamics with greater participation from municipalities and citizens.
The article was written as part of the 25th anniversary of BCSD Portugal, an organisation that brings together companies and academics with recognised influence in the Portuguese business and academic sphere, and serves as a reflection on the last and the next 25 years of sustainability in the country.
