Portugal is available to convert the debt of the Member States in support of the environmental transition, similar to what is happening with Cape Verde, the Portuguese Prime Minister said this Sunday, at the summit of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).
In his speech during the restricted session of the 14th conference of the Portuguese-speaking organization, which is taking place today in São Tomé, António Costa stated that Portugal is willing to “work with each of the CPLP member states to also convert the debt in an investment in environment, energy, water, recycling, to accelerate this transition”.
The starting point of this proposal is to work “on the basis of a pilot project” that Portugal started with Cape Verde: the “creation of the Climate and Environment Fund”, which will be formally approved by Praia in October, explained the official.
In this project, “Portugal committed to turning Cape Verde’s debt into investment for environmental transformation.”
The question of the oceans, on a first level, should be the main priority in the question of the sustainability of the CPLP during the mandate of São Tomé and Príncipe, followed later by the associated economic questions, “agriculture and fishing” and ” this must be one more dimension of a great challenge”.
In his speech, António Costa referred to the mobility agreement, in force since the beginning of the year, admitting that “a greater effort is necessary to continue removing barriers.”
In the Portuguese case, “last week the general social security agreement was published, which is one more element of the mobility agreement to guarantee social security rights among all our states”, exemplified the person in charge, who also praised the effort of Malabo in its integration process in the organization.
“There is a rapprochement that we are having with Equatorial Guinea, wanting here to underline the entry into force of the law that abolished the death penalty in Equatorial Guinea,” he said, referring to the most recent country of the CPLP.
The CPLP, which includes Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and East Timor, is holding today the 14th conference of Heads of State and Government, in Sao Tome and Principe, under the motto “Youth and Sustainability”.
Source: TSF
