Andorra and Portugal have signed this Wednesday a protocol of understanding to collaborate and exchange measures and experiences in the field of sustainability and the fight against climate change.
The signing was carried out by the Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Sustainability, Sílvia Calvó, and the Minister of Environment and Climate Action of the Government of Portugal, Duarte Cordeiro, at the 27th session of the Conference of the States Parties (COP 27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, details the Andorran Executive in a statement.
The agreement establishes that both countries will exchange information on all aspects related to climate change – such as, for example, policies to advance towards carbon neutrality – and also to favor the conservation of biodiversity.
After the signing of the protocol, Calvó and Cordeiro held a bilateral meeting to make progress on the issues included in the agreement, in addition to exchanging aspects of mutual interest.
Calvó explained to his Portuguese counterpart that this Thursday Andorra will promote at COP 27 a ministerial meeting to unite under one voice the mountain territories affected by climate change.
The minister stressed the importance that the global climate action agenda takes into account these areas, such as Andorra, which are particularly vulnerable to climate change.
The two ministers discussed the agenda shared by both countries to move towards carbon neutrality, recalling that Portugal was the first country to adopt this commitment; it has recently announced that it will study the possibility of achieving the goal five years ahead of schedule, in 2045.
BATTERIES The Andorran minister took a special interest in the project being promoted by Portugal in relation to the installation of mixed batteries to store the energy produced by renewable energy installations.
This is an element of special interest for the Principality, which considers that it could be of help to complete the objective of increasing the country’s energy sovereignty.
IBERO-AMERICAN AREA During the second day of work at COP 27, the Andorran delegation participated in meetings and shared experiences with the Ibero-American region.
Together with the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Sustainability, Marc Rossell, Calvó attended the ministerial meeting of the Ibero-American Network of Climate Change Offices (RIOCC).
During this meeting, the ministers approved a declaration that arises from the work initiated by the directors of the annual meetings and that will reinforce the need to move forward together in the mitigation of CO2 emissions, emphasizing nature-based solutions.
For its part, the technical delegation attended the joint meeting of the three Ibero-American regional networks CIMHET, RIOCC and CODIA to promote the exchange of information between these networks, something that Andorra put on the table when it held the presidency of the Pro Tempore Secretariat of the Ibero-American Summit.
