PORTUGAL CONDEMNS U.S

Presidential candidates in Portugal have condemned America’s intervention in Venezuela and its aggressive attitude towards Greenland.

 

This was the main topic of discussion when the candidates officially launched their campaigns on Sundy. Most of them described America’s actions, including the arrest of President Maduro, as a “violation of international law.” 

 

Protesters have taken to the streets of Lisbon to denounce the US actions which they regard as entirely illegal. Slogans displayed during the protests included “Latin America is not the United States’ backyard.”  Protesters have also demanded that President Trump pull back from his announced hopes in Greenland.

 

There is concern though some reassurances about the wellbeing of the Portuguese community in Venezuela.

 

AS for Trumps’s extraordinary wish to make Greenland part of the United States, this is strongly opposed by Portugal and the rest of the European NATO countries. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark and only the Danish government and Greenland people can decide its future.

 

If Trump and his associates do not agree and illegally occupy Greenland, the future of NATO and security in the western world will be at stake. 

 

On Tuesday, the Portuguese government signed a European declaration on Greenland’s autonomy and the need to maintain security in the Arctic following Trump’s threats.

SUNSHINE RETURNING SOON

 

Yellow weather warnings are currently in place due to heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas in several parts of Portugal including the districts of Lisbon, Coimbra and Faro, but sunshine is forecast to come back in the next few days.

According to the Portuguese Institute of the sea and atmosphere, the month of March last year was exceptionally wet. Significant rainfalls returned in the latter part of the year and on into the start of this year. Winds have been gusting at 80 – 110 km/hr especially in mountainous areas. Waves in the rough seas have been reaching 2.5 metres along the coast of the Algarve.

Winter weather will prevail, but is likely to settle down into more normal patterns.

 

URGENT AIRPORT DEBATE

Portugal’s Socialist Party (PS) has called for an urgent parliamentary debate about the centre-tight government’s plan to suspend the European border control arrangement at Lisbon airport. The centre-left Socialists have been highly critical of the government’s handling of border issues, accusing it of “unpreparedness” and “incompetence.” This, the PS is claiming, has led to chaos among passengers at the Lisbon airport terminal.  

 

AIRPORT ACTIONS u[DATE

 

 

The Portuguese government has suspended its relatively new entry-exit border system for nom-EU citizens after weeks of chaos for arrivals at Lisbon airport from non-Schengen counties.

 

Quite separately, strike plans by baggage handlers at all major Portuguese airports have been called off. The strike had been expected to proceed from December 31 to January 1 causing much disruption and delays if not some flight cancellations.

Travellers should keep checking to make sure that this situation remains stable. 

MAJOR FLIGHT DUSRUPTIONS

 The year is ending with disruptions for travelers to and from all of Portugal’s major airports.  A nationwide strike from Wednesday December 31 to Thursday January 1 is expected to affect flights to and from Lisbon, Faro Porto, Madeira and Porto Santo. Delays for domestic and international are expected for check-in services, baggage loading and unloading and aircraft turnaround times.   Ground handling workers are going on strike in protest over “uncertainty over job security” due to the Civil Aviation Authority tender for ground handling licences.   Not all flights are expected to be cancelled, but passengers are advised to keep well informed.    We will keep reporting here on any important strike developments.    By the way:  We’re back here again after the postponement to focus on my latest book, which is now being edited prior to publication. 

EU election’s impact on climate action

During and in the immediate aftermath of the European Parliamentary elections, most voters seem to have been preoccupied with what they consider the most pressing issues in their own country, namely the cost of living, immigration and defence.

Since then, it has become clearer that the existential threat of global warming will be partly helped, but also hindered, by the election results.

It will be helped that the two climate conscious centrist groups have an overall majority in the new parliament.  Ursula Von Der Leyen, the incumbent centrist leader of the EU Commission, the organisation’s top authority, is a firm believer in the bloc’s ‘Green Deal’ to do all possible to tackle the climate crisis and achieve net zero CO2 emissions as targeted. Portugal is among Europe’s most supportive countries in that goal with the elimination of fossil fuels.

The overall turnout for the elections was just over 50%^, about the same as in 2019. In Portugal, only 36.5% of eligible voters went to the polls. It was an even lower turnout elsewhere. This, and the fact that the Green parties did so badly in the elections, will hinder climate activism.

The Greens fell from fourth to sixth overall in the parliament by losing a third of their seats since the last elections in 2019. The loss was mainly in France and Germany, it is thought that the losses were due not only to the big gains by the far-right, but also because many younger voters did not vote at all.

Another setback has been the results for the European Renew party, which lost 23 seats and is reduced to 79, though it is still the third largest party after the two centrist groups.

The shift to far-right populism during the EU elections was particularly strong in Germany and France. It could make it much more difficult o progress with Green Deal policies, which may fizzle though not be ditched

The Green Deal, first announced in 2019, aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions levels by at least 55% by2030, compared to 1990 levels.

Climate scepticism seems to have been substantially increasing in Europe in recent years while more attention is focused on worries about the cost of living, in the face of inflation, immigration, especially from the Middle East and other non-EU countries, and defence due to Russia’s aggression.

As summer approaches, we are again going to be challenged by alarming if not cataclysmic temperature rises and associated extreme environmental disasters.

Grim news, but we must face the truth.

EXISTENTIAL CLIMATE RISK

Reviews claim that the 193 countries plus the European Union attending the latest United Nations conference on climate change failed to curtail the risk of an existential catastrophe.

COP30 in Brazil closed with disagreements, especially regarding the use of fossil fuels.

While relatively insignificant on the global stage, Portugal is among the most advanced in promoting renewable sources of energy and eliminating all fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

Positive aspects of the latest conference were the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund aimed at helping developing countries with the impact of climate change. A calmer attitude was also adopted towards the many thousands of Indigenous-led protesters in the streets of the Brazilian capital, Belém, demanding urgent climate change action with the phase-out of fossil fuels.

However, there was a very significant number of fossil fuel lobbyists at the conference, and notable absences particularly from the United States whose president is famously in denial about climate change.

More than 30 years of talks since the supposedly pivotal Paris climate summit, greenhouse gas emissions are still expanding — and thus global temperatures are still rising. The 1.5 °C level has been dangerously passed.

While there was much resistance to progress, there was also “a clamour for change inside the COP30 climate negotiations,” according to the Reuters News Agency.

Forbes has been emphasising how people aged 30 and under are investigating and developing possible climate solutions.

Another COP critic says, “we need to turn away from jamborees around negotiations into really focused efforts to accelerate implementation,” one European negotiator said. “This is probably the last of the old COP and the beginning of the new.