Portugal’s Pavilion at COP28, held from 30 November to 12 December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was the stage for the presentation of several bilateral cooperation projects funded by the Environmental Fund of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action (MAAC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EFRICAN, as the implementing body, presented on 7 December the projects \u201cTourism and Environmental Enhancement of the Rural Villages\u201d and \u201cSanta Cruz Environmental Education Centre\u201d, carried out in Cabo Verde, and on 8 December the project \u201cCarbon Sustainability Roadmap in S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe\u201d. These projects were funded through the Environmental Fund of the MAAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project \u201cTourism and Environmental Enhancement of the Rural Villages\u201d was presented by Alexandre Nevsky, Adviser to Cabo Verde’s Minister for Agriculture and Environment, who stressed its importance in identifying a set of eight tourist routes on six islands of the archipelago. As the Cabo Verdean government representative emphasised, the project will have significant impacts on improving living conditions and keeping people in the 18 villages covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project \u201cSanta Cruz Environmental Education Centre\u201d was presented by Ethel Rodrigues, National Director for the Environment of Cabo Verde, who highlighted the active involvement of 24 local communities in the municipality of Santa Cruz, on the island of Santiago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The presentation shared the work carried out, notably the characterisation of the communities and the Community-Based Associations and their action plan, which was done by the project team together with the technicians of Cabo Verde’s Environment Directorate. The digital platform for sharing content with the population and the 41 Community-Based Associations identified in the municipality will be launched soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This project aims to contribute to the adaptation of local communities to climate change, and its Environmental Education Centre, set up in Pedra Badejo, is due to be inaugurated in early 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Cabo Verde projects were developed under the Cooperation Agenda signed in June 2021 between the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action and Cabo Verde’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project \u201cCarbon Sustainability Roadmap for S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe\u201d, developed by the NGO EFRICAN Foundation in partnership with the Directorate-General for the Environment and Climate Action, was presented in terms of its objectives by Sulisa Quaresma, Director-General for the Environment and Climate Action, followed by a technical presentation of the methodology used for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory by Julieta Sansana, the project’s technical coordinator, and an analysis of the results obtained by Vera Leit\u00e3o Machado, President of EFRICAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project completed the survey of baseline information for the various emitting sectors, and developed a specific study of the emissions produced by the tourism sector, one of the pillars of the S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9an economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technical and institutional capacity building is one of the project’s objectives, and this component was highlighted in the report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the capacity-building needs of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) for climate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n