Porto sets example for the Iberian Peninsula in energy transition

12/07/2024

The Deputy Mayor of Porto, Filipe Araújo, was one of the guests on the ‘Sea Change’ podcast, a weekly programme broadcast by US radio station NPR. In the ‘Coastal Cities for the Future’ episode, he explained what the municipality is doing to manage climate change effects, particularly the rise in sea levels.

Invited by the ‘Sea Change’ podcast, the Councillor for the Environment and Climate Transition addressed some of the challenges of rising sea levels – a problem affecting coastal cities all over the world.

Filipe Araújo spoke about the need to demolish buildings which, being located next to the seafront, could be putting the population at risk. ‘We have a problem we’ve never had before. We have to relocate housing that needs to be demolished because, in extreme events, they cause problems, leaving people in a dangerous situation’, the head of the Environment and Climate Transition department said.

He recalled that the municipality also ‘manages 85 kilometres of water lines’ so that, if extreme events happen, this doesn’t affect the lives of the population.

Helping to raise public awareness

The Deputy Mayor believes that there is still a part of the population that doesn’t use renewable energies, and as such, he argues that local authorities have a relevant role to play both in raising awareness among citizens and in implementing measures that help them to be more planet-friendly.

One of the city’s strategies is to motivate people to leave their cars at home and use the public transport available, Filipe Araújo explained. ‘At Porto, the city’s children and youngsters can take all public transport, such as the bus, metro or train, without paying’, he disclosed.

In the ‘Coastal Cities for the Future’ episode, Filipe Araújo was joined by other international policy makers from Nigeria and the USA.

The ‘Sea Change’ podcast, a WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge Public Radio production, won the Edward R. Murrow Award.