BRUSSELS — Portugal wants to meet its share of the European Union’s climate target with green investments in its former colonies.
The demand comes as the European Commission prepares its proposal for a blocwide 2040 climate goal. Several governments already want the EU executive to let them count international carbon credits — regulated permits that pay for climate-friendly projects abroad — toward the new target.
Lisbon, however, is going one step further.
Portuguese Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho said the country should also get credit for planet-warming emission cuts that result from Portugal’s investments in renewable energy projects in Cabo Verde or São Tomé and Príncipe — the country’s former colonies. That should occur, she added, even if those projects are not regulated under the global carbon credit regime.
