The Portuguese Government has placed its environmental policy, spatial planning and regional development at the centre of its strategy for the development of the Country, which means that environmental and spatial concerns in the different policies for each sector have to be supported within an integrated perspective. This objective is particularly important given that these areas also involve international commitments. In fact, environmental policy, spatial planning and regional development have the main aims of attaining sustained environmental convergence with Europe and the promotion of territorial cohesion at both a national and European level.

The Ministry of the Environment, Spatial Planning and Regional Development is the governmental department in Portugal which has the mission to define, carry out and coordinate environmental policies, spatial planning and urban and regional development, as well as globally coordinate cohesion policy in Portugal, from a sustainable developmental perspective and also one of cohesion and spatial competitivity.

In the area of the Environment, issues relating to water have been and continue to be one of the priority areas for Portugal. In fact, since the current Government took office it was decided to introduce a Law regarding Water as an absolute priority, and this was approved in the Council of Ministers on 5 June 2005, to commemorate World Environment Day. The Law concerning Water, which came into force on 30 December 2005, essentially ensures the transposition to national law of the EU Water Framework Directive and consolidates and clarifies the legislative position regarding the protection and sustained management of water resources.

Another document of crucial importance for the water sector which this Government has approved is the PEAASAR 2007-2013 - the Strategic Plan for the Water Supply and Sanitation of Waste Water for the 2007-2013 period. This strategy document will be of crucial importance for the Country to attain the more advanced European targets concerning the Water Supply and the Sanitation of Waste Water.

Portugal has taken great strides in the treatment of waste in the last decade. Open landfills have been closed, and a vast infrastructure to process and eliminate waste has been set up as well as selective collection systems for a variety of materials. The approval of a new Strategic Plan for Solid Urban Waste at the end of 2006 is of great importance for the future of the waste sector. This plan has set out the priorities to be followed in the area of solid urban waste, the steps to take and the targets to be reached within a ten-year period (2007 to 2016). The Government continues to be fully committed to achieving a satisfactory solution to dangerous industrial waste. In this scope the country has gone for an integrated solution based on the complementary nature of the Integrated Centres for the Recuperation, Utilisation and Elimination of Dangerous Waste and of co-incineration, as long as this is shown to be the most suitable technological solution.

   

Portugal is one of the countries of the European Union to have an extremely rich and diversified natural heritage. The Government is committed to giving a new impulse to the conservation of nature and biodiversity, and as such has restructured the public body responsible for the application of policy in this area.

The question of climate changes is a matter requiring particular attention in Portugal. This is perhaps the most significant global environmental problem of the century, and the one with the most profound social and economic implications. Portugal is one of the countries for which this issue is extremely important, both in the fight against Climate Changes and in the policies of adapting to extreme situations caused by the climate, such as droughts, floods, forest fires, coastal erosion, heat waves, etc. In 2005 Greenhouse Gas emissions were above the targets set by the Kyoto Protocol: a rise of 27% with regard to those of 1990. In view of this an update to the National Programme for Climate Changes was made and a plan with clear sectorial responsibility was passed in 2006. The Portuguese Carbon Fund was also established at this time, with the aim of filling the gap in the fulfilment of the target through investing in the flexibility mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol and in reducing emissions in Portugal.

As regards town and country planning, essential measures have been taken and large-scale reforms are underway. Of note has been the drawing up of a National Policy Programme for Spatial Planning. This document seeks to carry out the planning and development of national territory, define strategic options and a territorial model, and establish an integrated framework of commitments within a set of policies to carry out this strategy and its specified objectives. The Country thus has at its disposal a national reference framework to draw on when specifying other mechanisms of spatial planning management at the regional and local level, and in carrying out sectorial policies, as laid out in the framework of principles which form part of the European territorial agenda.

The Coastal area is an important priority area in the environmental policy for Portugal. The extensive coastal area of the country is subject to the dynamics caused by significant environmental impacts which require carefully planned activities in the field. At the planning level, the Portuguese Government has promoted the drawing up and public discussion of the Bases for an Integrated Management Strategy for the Coastal Area and started to draw up this Strategy. Priority action in the coastal area for the 2007-2013 period has also been drawn up. 



A policy of cities looking to the 21st century has also been a concern in Portugal. It is in the cities where nowadays most of the Portuguese population live and it is these cities which the country believes will provide the centres and leverage for their development. 40 urban renewal and environmental improvement programmes are currently in their final stages in various cities throughout the country, and are being carried out under the scope of a national programme (Polis Programme).

However, the Government has encouraged experimentation with new ways of intervening in specific urban spaces, based on intersectorial coordination and reinforcing the role of local partnership groups. The initiative, «Operations for the Betterment and Urban Reintegration of Critical Urban Districts», involves six ministries and various local authorities, and has started in a restricted number of urban districts which have been selected in such a way as to make institutional solutions viable and using innovative procedures and technologies in terms of the design, implementation and evaluation of public activity.

At the same time, the Government has published its main ideas concerning City Policy for the 2007-2013 period. This involves a strong and coherent City Policy, which is linked to innovative financing measures and suitable management and spatial government models.

The housing and urban rehabilitation policy is an essential component in dynamising the urban space. Porta 65 has been launched in Portugal with the aim of promoting a stronger, more dynamic and confident public-private property leasing market in this area.

Mention should also be made, in the area of city policy, of the introduction of changes in legislation which will facilitate urban rehabilitation, especially through support given to the rehabilitation of buildings. The aim is to rehabilitate currently poor housing rather than build new constructions and restore residential functions to the relevant areas of Portuguese cities.

As regards Regional Development, the Government's activity in the last two years has been strongly marked by the carrying out and reprogramming of the third Community Support Framework (QCA III) and by the preparation and submission to Brussels of the National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN) and the corresponding 18 Operational Programmes in partnership with the European Commission operating in parallel with the other Member-States.

It is important to underline that Portugal has decided to carry out a significant paradigm change with regard to community funds, in line with the reformist spirit of the renewed Lisbon strategy. Thus a significant reorientation has been carried out in the application of community funds, which show a significant aim and requirement for the responsibilities which the QREN and Operational Programmes must ensure in the next phase of the programming, which is shared by all our European partners.

It will thus be possible to carry out the three main thematic agendas in Portugal with the support of the Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund: Human Potential, Competitive Factors and Valorising the Land. These three thematic agendas have been operationalised, regarding the main guidelines concerning the concentration, selectivity, economic viability and financial sustainability of the cohesion and valorisation of territories and their strategic management and monitoring.

In Portugal around 21.5 million Euros will be made available for the following: reinforcing provisions aimed at enabling Human Resources, reinforcing financing directed at the Promotion and Sustained Growth of the Portuguese Economy and reinforcing the budgetary relevance of the Regional Operational Programmes.  This will be a unique opportunity for the country to promote sustainable development based on knowledge and innovation with full respect for environmental values.