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Environment

Environmental news, climate policy, and sustainability in Portugal.

Three blue ecoponto recycling containers for paper, glass and packaging on a cobbled Portuguese street, beside an information sign headed Ecoponto

Lisbon's Mayor Asks the Government to Scrap the Volta Deposit Scheme Outright, While 37,000 Signatures Wait on Parliament's Environment Committee

Carlos Moedas told the municipal assembly on Tuesday that the 10 cent container deposit is a tax and an unprecedented social drama, and asked for immediate cancellation. The Environment Minister says the scheme stays, with adjustments.

The Portugal Brief 16 Sep 2026

The Pego power station in central Portugal seen from a distance, its two cooling towers and red and white striped chimney rising behind wooded hills and a village of white houses

Two Data Centres Beside the Old Pego Coal Plant Want More Grid Capacity Than They Were Given, and the Minister Says a Decision Could Land This Year

Energy, water and environmental impact are the three tests. Abrantes gets a fourth consideration of its own, because the coal plant that closed in 2021 left behind a connection sized for it.

The Portugal Brief 15 Sep 2026

The Câmara Municipal de Coimbra on the Praça 8 de Maio, flying the Portuguese, European and municipal flags, with people crossing the square.

Taking Part in a Public Consultation in Portugal in 2026: A Practical Guide to Who May Object, the 30 Day Clock, and the Reply the State Owes You

Nationality is not a criterion in any of the three regimes. A guide to the environmental impact clocks, the municipal planning reply you can compel under article 89(3), the 30 days on a draft regulation, and what to do when you are ignored.

The Portugal Brief 15 Sep 2026

Young trees along the Avenida Infante Dom Henrique in Lisbon beside the cruise terminal, with the dome of Santa Engrácia in the distance.

Two Weeks Remain to Object to Lisbon's 16E Fast Tram, and Carris Quotes 160 Million Euros for It on One Page and 183 Million on Another

The environmental consultation on the eleven-kilometre line from the Praça do Comércio to the Parque Tejo closes on 30 September. APA calls the project environmentally viable if its effects are mitigated; residents at Monday's session said it would assassinate the Parque das Nações.

The Portugal Brief 15 Sep 2026

An aerial view of rows of solar panels spread across dry brown farmland in southern Portugal, with a village on the ridge in the distance

Lightsource bp Dropped Its 240 Million Euro Beira Solar Plant, and Shrank the Neighbouring One by 35 Percent

The assessors counted 479 cork and holm oaks and an Iberian imperial eagle. Reworking the plant to answer that, the promoter says, stopped adding up financially.

The Portugal Brief 14 Sep 2026

Aerial view of Porto Covo on the Alentejo coast, its small harbour full of boats and the rocky Ilha do Pessegueiro lying offshore.

An Invasive Japanese Alga Now Covers the Sea Floor Off Sines Down to Twelve Metres, Ten Years After It Was First Logged in the Marina

Rugulopteryx okamurae runs from Melides to Azenha do Mar, worst at São Torpes and Ilha do Pessegueiro. It blocks light and oxygen, and the coralline algae, wracks and kelps under it die. It has been banned from the EU market since August 2022, which is the problem.

The Portugal Brief 13 Sep 2026

A Policia de Seguranca Publica patrol car in white and blue livery parked on a cobbled Portuguese street beside a pavement, with shopfronts and pedestrians behind

A Second Unlicensed Car Workshop Surfaced in Rio de Mouro Inside Four Days, and This One Had a Man Living in the Shed Behind It

Police, the environmental brigade, Sintra's municipal police and the tax authority inspected the premises together on 10 September. Between them they logged no prior notification, one expired extinguisher, no environmental permit, invoicing offences and possible undeclared work.

The Portugal Brief 13 Sep 2026

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