Regional Government invests €20 million in measures to tackle climate change by 2030 - Communication

Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e Ação Climática

The Government of the Azores is making an investment of €20 million by 2030 through the LIFE IP CLIMAZ project to bolster the Region’s adaptation to and resilience against climate change, through initiatives in areas such as water resources, coastal protection, forestry, agriculture, energy and transport.

“This investment represents a comprehensive and practical intervention across the Region, which will strengthen the Region’s capacity to anticipate, prevent and respond to climate change effects, protecting people and property, our natural resources and economic activities that are vital to the Azores,” stated the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Action, Alonso Miguel, in Angra do Heroísmo. He spoke at the opening of the 2nd Seminar of the LIFE IP CLIMAZ project on the theme “From Planning to Action: Climate Resilience in the Azores.”

LIFE IP CLIMAZ is the main tool for implementing the Regional Climate Change Programme (PRAC) and has a budget of €20 million, with 60% co-financed by the European Union. It is expected to contribute to the implementation of about 75% of the adaptation measures and 70% of the mitigation measures covered by PRAC.

Alonso Miguel emphasised that the scale of the project “allows us to take action simultaneously in areas that are crucial to the resilience of the Azores, ranging from the management of natural hazards and water resources to coastal protection, as well as forests and land use, agriculture and livestock, the marine environment, energy and transport.”

The investment focuses, amongst other things, on strengthening the Region’s technical and operational capacity. Under the LIFE IP CLIMAZ project, 11 senior technicians and 29 operational assistants have already been recruited, whilst the teams involved have taken part in 117 training sessions, including 55 organised and funded by the project.

Around €1.3 million has also been invested in the installation of infrastructure and the purchase of tools, machinery and personal protective equipment, in addition to an investment of over €1 million in the expansion of the vehicle fleets. The latter resulted in the purchase of two light electric vehicles and 15 pick-up trucks, including the first nine electric vehicles of this kind in the Regional Public Administration.

As for water resources, the revision of the Regional Water Programme, the Azores Hydrographic Region Management Plan and the Region Flood Risk Management Plan has been completed, whilst the Azores Drought and Water Scarcity Management Plan has also been approved.

The project also includes specific interventions in this area. These include interventions in 18 streams, covering an area of over 11 hectares, and measures to convert pastures and restore native forest across an area of 80 hectares, alongside the planting of around 100,000 endemic and native specimens.

The initiative also extends to electric mobility, through the commissioning of another 40 public charging stations for electric vehicles, as well as to other areas covered by the project, including agriculture, the marine environment and energy.

The government official emphasised that island territories, such as the Azores, are particularly vulnerable to phenomena associated with climate change, namely rising average sea levels, coastal erosion, changes to the hydrological cycle and rainfall patterns, the salinisation of soils and aquifers, and ocean acidification.

“We are turning planning into the capacity to take action and into tangible measures on the ground. It is this work that will make the Azores better prepared and more resilient in the face of the challenges posed by climate change,” concluded Alonso Miguel.