The Government has brought forward to 2026 the target of creating 30% marine protected areas, initially planned for 2030, the Prime Minister announced on Wednesday, stating that Portugal intends to maintain a ‘pivotal position in the blue economy’. These announcements were made by António Costa at the Sustainable Blue Economy Investment Forum, which is taking place this Wednesday at the Estoril Congress Centre in Lisbon and aims to ‘discuss economic growth driven by the ocean economy’. In the area of renewable energy, António Costa said that Portugal has the ambition to ‘achieve an installed offshore wind energy production capacity of ten gigawatts by 2030’. Alongside these announcements, António Costa stressed that Portugal is ‘strongly committed to the decarbonisation of maritime transport’ and ‘continues to actively invest in infrastructure for the blue economy’, noting that the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) includes an ‘€87 million financing plan for the creation of the Blue Hub’ Portugal, ‘a network of research and development centres and universities focused on marine science, technology and innovation’. According to the Prime Minister, this hub will ‘double the number of start-ups operating in Portugal in the blue economy, as well as the number of projects supported by public funds’.
Costa emphasised that Portugal wants to be ‘a European centre of excellence in the field of blue biotechnology, attracting investment and know-how from around the world to develop cutting-edge science and generate new market value.’ The International Centre for Blue Biotechnology is being created on the site of the former Matosinhos refinery.
The head of the executive said that ‘for few countries is the sea as fundamental as it is for Portugal’ and stressed that, at the national level, ‘the bioeconomy and blue biotechnology already play a key role’. But the potential for growth is enormous and, in this sense, Portugal has integrated its maritime policy, organised its maritime space and promoted ocean renewable energy in order to create all the conditions to be at the forefront of the blue economy,” he stressed.
News published in the Público newspaper: https://www.publico.pt/2023/10/04/azul/noticia/governo-antecipa-criacao-30-areas-marinhas-protegidas-2026-2065632