Azores Parliament approves the proposal of the Regional Government for the creation of the Legal and Financial Regime of Support for Climate Emergencies

April 26, 2022

During the April plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the proposal of the Regional Government for the creation of the Legal and Financial Regime of Support for Climate Emergencies was approved.

On the proposal’s presentation, the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, Alonso Miguel, affirmed that “the way and severity with which the Azores will be affected by the climate change impacts will depend on the mitigation capacity and, above all, on the capacity that the region has to adapt to this new reality”.

Alonso Miguel mentioned that, “with the creation of this Regime, we intend to provide the region with instruments for the implementation of exceptional measures that, within the scope of extreme weather phenomena in the Archipelago, allow to support the affected communities and to address property damage, with the immediate aim of minimising the damage suffered, when not covered by other support systems in force”.

With the approval of this diploma, on World Earth Day, a significant step was taken toward the implementation of the defined strategy to combat the effects of climate change.

According to Alonso Miguel, “it was created the necessary frame work to address property and financial damage that were not covered by any other support system in force, in situations such as those that occurred, for example, at the end of 2021, in Mosteiros and Feteiras, on São Miguel”.

The governor continues: “On the other hand, this regime enables the reinforcement of the region's capacity to carry out investments aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change or the occurrence of extreme weather phenomena, to be carried out directly by the Regional Government or in cooperation with local authorities”.

The funding of this regime will be ensured “through the direct allocation of financial resources from the application of the fee on plastic bags, allowing this revenue to be channelled to support communities and pursue strategic measures to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change,” said the Regional Secretary.

According to Alonso Miguel, there is a clear tendency for certain extreme weather phenomena, of an exceptional and unpredictable nature, which jeopardise people's safety and cause huge material and financial losses, to occur with increasing frequency and intensity, “so now the region will have greater capacity to respond to these challenges”.