Response to climate change must not hinder development of the Azores, defends Artur Lima - Communication

Vice-Presidência do Governo Regional

The Vice-President of the Regional Government, Artur Lima, defended today in Angra do Heroísmo that a Region such as the Azores "cannot be regarded as one of those responsible for climate change," calling for "greater sensitivity" on the part of "supranational entities" towards "vulnerable territories."

"A remote region located in the middle of the ocean, such as the Azores, cannot be regarded as one of those responsible for climate change and, thus, see its development process often hindered or even halted," he said.

"Supranational entities, on a European and global scale, need to be more sensitive to vulnerable territories such as the Azores," he stressed. 

And he gave an example: "When they demand that the Azores, a region whose levels of human and economic development are far from what is desired, follow the same strict environmental rules demanded of the world's major capitals, we are not being fair from an economic standpoint."

Artur Lima spoke this morning at the opening session of the 22nd Plenary Session of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which was held in Angra do Heroísmo.

For the government official, the Region's environmental quality is "unrivalled" and the Azores should be a "laboratory" for studying climate change and, thus, "expanding knowledge on these matters."

Regarding Azorean agrifood production, the Vice-President of the Government reiterated that it is "of the highest quality" and the Government aims to boost the "promotion of products abroad," thus reaching new markets.

However, he warned that "when we talk about making the most of our agrifood production, we should not be faced with legal impositions, iniquitous regulations or rules whose application makes no sense in the Azores."

"What should concern supranational organisations is not whether the Azores should reduce its environmental footprint," but rather stimulating an increase in agrifood production in outermost regions to "ensure food self-sufficiency in these territories."

He added: "That would be called full cohesion. That would create real economic justice and environmental sustainability."

In his speech, Artur Lima also emphasised the importance of the Azores' geostrategic position in the Atlantic Ocean. He stated that it was necessary to "make the most of this privileged location" by investing in innovation, science, technology, the sea, renewable energy sources and the agrifood sector.

The opening session was also attended by the Director of the OECD Development Centre, Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, and the Permanent Representative of Portugal to the OECD, Manuel Lobo Antunes.

The works of the meeting, under the theme "Initiative on Global Value Chains, Transformation of Production and Development," continue on Terceira Island until Thursday.