Environmental Policies Performance Evaluation in Portugal

Environment is a central aspect in any sustainable future scenario. Environmental policy, despite being relatively recent, is now one of the most regulated aspects of modern societies. Countries develop at different paces,... [ view full abstract ]

Environment is a central aspect in any sustainable future scenario. Environmental policy, despite being relatively recent, is now one of the most regulated aspects of modern societies. Countries develop at different paces, just as their approach to environmental problems does. Portugal, as a member state of the European Union, has made most of its progress with help from external policies. Portuguese legal and regulatory framework is now wide and embraces almost every environmental subject. However, visible outcomes often do not meet expectations. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the performance of Portuguese environmental policies. Ten themes were selected, a combination of environmental domains and economic sectors: water; waste; agriculture and forestry; energy and climate; mobility and transport; industry; biodiversity; cities and territory; oceans; and tourism. A systematic review of environmental goals and targets in national and European policy instruments was conducted. Quantitative indicators were used to verify the evolution of the main environmental aspects, supporting a comparison with the objectives and goals stated in the policy instruments. The causes and consequences of the noted successes and failures were discussed. Results point to divergent evolutions over different environmental themes. Water and waste have had mainly positive performances, although many indicators are below targets. Energy and climate policy have presented mixed outcomes, with mainly negative trends until 2005, when a paradigm shift has begun, with more attention being given to energy efficiency and renewables. Agriculture, industry, tourism, and ocean management also have shown mixed outcomes: often efficiency of resource use improved, but common practice is far from sustainable. Biodiversity and land management have degraded rapidly for decades; they are now more stable, but most negative trends have not inverted. Mobility shows heavily negative trends: increasing overuse of road transport and private cars. A notable priority has been given to infrastructure construction, often not accompanied by adequate planning and management. This partially justifies the successes achieved in water and waste policies, but also the failure of territorial planning, biodiversity and transportation policies. Results of the study are being presented to social stakeholders and policy-makers, to enable well informed and better quality decision making, leading to successful policy implementation.