Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 29^th June 2022

Good morning – On Monday I attended the “Safe Summer” presentation event at Regional Tourism Algarve, which was also attended by the Minister of Internal Administration, the National Director of the PSP, a representative of the General Commanding the GNR and the President of the ANEPC as well as other officials.

This event is held annually basically to announce the reinforcements of the security forces over the summer period, when more tourists will be visiting the Algarve. During the presentations it was pleasing to see the increase in tourism so far this year as well as learning from the presenters an outline of the various plans in place to help keep the Algarve a safe destination. Certainly the presentation from the PSP illustrated that only 4% of reported crime involved tourists in PSP areas – which are the main cities.

I had the opportunity to meet the Minister of Internal Administration   after the presentations, and we discussed the issue of safety in the Algarve. From this I thought, that although the Algarve and indeed Portugal is recognised as a safe place to visit and live, as illustrated by low crime rates and our consistently high standing in the Global Peace Index, what are the main reasons for this, and why for instance in neighbouring countries in southern Europe it is less safe.   I welcome thoughts on the topic – namely why is Portugal a safe place to live and visit?

The Portuguese coast presents, in some places of the coastal zone, a landscape that is characterized by its irregular nature resulting from erosion. The natural beauty sought after by users of these areas is, however, inseparable from the risk arising from the instability of the cliffs. On rocky coasts, there are cliffs that are permanently or periodically exposed to the action of the sea. This includes parts of the Algarve. It is important therefore that when you visit the beach to be on the lookout for these signs and keep well away from the foot of the cliffs concerned.

Unfortunately in the past people have been injured as well as deaths caused by landslides and falling rocks.

Lastly it was reported yesterday that the GNR had rescued 28 dogs that were allegedly being mistreated, in the municipality of Viseu, as part of an order from the Public Ministry. They were lucky but there are many dogs and other animals that are mistreated every day. You can contact the GNR hotline at 808 200 520 or make a complain online here https://www.gnr.pt/ambiente.aspx

Turning to the drought situation the government announced that Portugal mainland is officially at a state of severe/extreme drought. The drought situation has worsened considerably since the beginning of May and now we await the monthly figures for June, which should be released in the next week.

The President of the IPMA has described the drought situation is getting worse. On June 15 and, comparing to history, only the year 2005 compares to the current one and it was a very complicated year in terms of summer and risks associated with drought. Almost all of the continent is either in severe or extreme drought, and we’ve had a deficit of watersheds for two years. In terms of regions south of the continent and northeast Alentejo are those with the lowest percentage of water in the soil”. He called on everyone moderate consumption and they realize that the water is little and has to reach everyone”. We certainly echo that call.

Thank you Susan, Mike, Chris and for helping to put together these reports. With that note please have a safe day.

News

The “Ocean’s Promise” to deliver by 2030

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) pledged on Tuesday to help recover one billion dollars annually lost due to misuse and management of the ocean’s potential.

The “Ocean’s Promise”, launched at the Lisbon Ocean Conference, will be applied in support that until 2030 will focus on making the exploitation of fish stocks 100% sustainable, accelerating the end of the scourge of ocean pollution by plastics and allowing a hundreds of countries with a coastline fulfill the full potential of their blue economies, said a UNDP official.

The official stressed that the sustainable development objective for the oceans has “the lowest level of investment of all sustainable development objectives”, which is no more than 1.3 billion per year.

“The entire ecosystem is affected by the ocean crisis. There is a knock-on effect, people lose health, jobs and livelihoods ,” he said, adding that part of the promise is to recruit investment worth at least US$1 billion for “protection and recovery” of the ocean environment , combining efforts to other existing United Nations programs.

The head of the United Nations program for the Governance of Water and Ocean, Andrew Hudson, said that the ocean is a market with an estimated value of three billion dollars annually and that the first priority to get the billion that is not used for cause of mismanagement is “recover and protect”.

Among the effects of this mismanagement are the loss of biodiversity, overfishing, ocean acidification and excess nutrients used in agricultural fertilizers that end up in the seas .

He stressed that “it is really necessary to accelerate” the achievement of the objective of sustainable development of the oceans (the 14th of 17), indicating that four of the goals were overcome in the year 2020 without being reached, including the protection of 10% of marine areas and combating overfishing.

The pledge launched this Tuesday has “tangible and ambitious goals” and focuses on fisheries sustainability and protection of marine areas, said Usha Rao-Monari, for which the UNDP intends “new partnerships” for funding, including private and civil society. .

State Council meeting with John Kerry began at about 4:45 pm with five absences

The Council of State with the participation as a guest of John Kerry, special envoy of the President of the United States of America for the climate, met yesterday at around 16:45, with five absences.

The political body of consultation of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is meeting at the Palácio da Cidadela de Cascais, district of Lisbon. The theme of the meeting is “the perspectives, challenges and opportunities of combating climate change and the energy transition”.

According to a source from the Presidency of the Republic, the State Councillors Lídia Jorge, António Damásio, Leonor Beleza, the President of the Constitutional Court, João Caupers, and the Prime Minister, António Costa, are not present at the Palace of Cascais. Thets representation is the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva.

Immediately before this meeting, the five councillors elected by the Assembly of the Republic on April 29 for this legislature took office: Carlos César, Manuel Alegre and António Sampaio da Nóvoa, appointed by the PS, Francisco Pinto Balsemão and Miguel Cadilhe, appointed by the PSD.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, invited John Kerry to participate in a meeting of the Council of State on 11 February, in a meeting that the two had in Brest, France, on the sidelines of the international summit “One Ocean”, promoted by the presidency French of the European Union.

Yesterday’s meeting coincides with the 2nd United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference, jointly organized by Portugal and Kenya, which takes place between Monday and Friday, in Lisbon.

Accidents with bicycles increased by 20.4% in 2021 and deaths more than doubled

Lisbon, June 28, 2022 (Lusa) – Bicycle accidents increased 20.4% last year compared to 2020 and deaths involving cyclists more than doubled, totalling 23 victims, the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) revealed today.

According to the ANSR, accidents involving cyclists have resulted in 23 deaths in 2021 (130% more than in 2020), 138 seriously injured (plus 16%) and 2,511 minor injuries (plus 19.7%).

Last year, the number of deaths due to accidents with agricultural tractors also increased, with 14 victims (16.7% more than in 2020) and 25 seriously injured (8.7%), for a total of 194 disasters (plus 2). , 6%).

The report shows that cars were responsible for 72% of accidents last year, with 34,426 accidents (plus 12.8%), followed by mopeds and motorcycles, with 8,529 accidents (plus 8.4). %).

Despite the increase in accidents, deaths in cars had decreased by 14.4% in 2021 and in motorcycles also fell by 1.9%.

The ANSR indicates that in 2021 there were 29,217 accidents with 390 fatalities, 2,106 seriously injured and 34,217 minor injuries, maintaining the number of deaths compared to the previous year and registering increases in disasters (10.2%) and injuries ( + 15.1% severe and + 11.4% mild).

Comparing the values ​​of the continent in 2021 with the average of the previous five years (2016 to 2020), there have been reductions in the totals of all major indicators: minus 10.5% in accidents, minus 16.2% in fatalities, less 0.4% in the seriously injured and less 12.8% in the slightly injured ”, reads the report.