In order to achieve the climate targets of the National Energy and Climate Plan 2030, the Association for Urban Mobility by Bicycle advocates actions that will quickly lead to a reduction in car journeys and a shift to more sustainable ways.
The Association for Urban Bicycle Mobility (MUBi) argues that Portugal will only be able to meet the climate targets proposed for this decade if it significantly reduces the use of private cars.
In a statement, MUBi warns of the urgent need for “transformative policies and measures to support and encourage the use of active and collective modes of transport. But that’s not enough. Equitable measures to discourage car use are also needed, especially in urban areas.”
“Promoting active mobility, such as walking and cycling, and the complementarity of these modes with public transport, is not only one of the easiest, fastest and most economical ways to reduce transport emissions, but it has also contributed to reducing social inequalities. It should therefore play a central role in climate policies for a socially just, cohesive and democratic transition,” said Rui Igreja, coordinator of MUBi’s public policy group.
Despite having the second highest rate of private car use in Europe and an emissions trend contrary to what is desirable, “mobility policies in Portugal have been inadequate and insufficient to curb the growth in private car use, and transport emissions already account for around a third of the country’s total emissions,” reads the press release.
In its contribution to the revision of the National Energy and Climate Plan (PNEC) 2030, the association explains that, as in other sectors, the energy and climate transition in transport must also be based on reducing the consumption of resources and energy.
According to MUBi, road transport is responsible for more than 95% of the sector’s energy consumption and emissions and is the main cause of air pollution in cities, causing the premature death of around 6,000 people a year in Portugal.
For MUBi, the PNEC should indicate the intermediate and final targets of the national strategies for active mobility, the budget forecast and the sources of funding for implementing the strategies, and include other actions such as:
MUBi also regrets that, “as the European Commission has pointed out, the draft update of the PNEC (submitted in June 2023) “does not explain how the opinions expressed [na consulta pública prévia] were considered and addressed, or why they were not taken into account.”, and that the same persists in the proposed final version, now in public consultation. We also regret that the prior consultation report was made publicly available more than a year after the date of the document (May 2023). We hope that these errors will not be repeated in this public consultation process and in the development of the final document updating the PNEC 2030.”
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