Increased investment in sustainable tourism can boost the sector’s contribution to economic growth, development, and particularly job creation, while at the same time addressing major environmental challenges, according to the just released United Nations Green Economy Report.

Produced in partnership with the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the tourism chapter of the United Nations Environment Program-led (UNEP) Green Economy Report demonstrates how investing in environmentally-friendly tourism can drive economic growth, lead to poverty reduction and job creation, while improving resource efficiency and minimizing environmental degradation.

Pedro is a 50 year old fisherman in Olhao with a family of 6 to support. He received notification that he is NOT ALLOWED to fish between Vila Real de Santo Antonio and Faro because of gas and oil exploration taking place. He has just been told that 6000 km2 have been blocked off and access denied to all the fishermen in that area. He is devastated.

Should Pedro persist with his fishing activities while forbidden to do so because of oil and gas exploration, he will face hefty fines ranging from €400 a €2500 in his personal capacity, not to mention that he could even be facing jail time for doing what he has always done for the past 20 years – fishing and feeding his family.

REAL DEMOCRACY vs FAKED FINANCES. A Dutch financial tycoon, head of the Euro-group, said in a recent speech that Portugal is going the right way, it will soon become one of the best countries in Europe. At the same time, the President of the European Parliament said the European Union is a disaster, it has to be totally re-organised. Not many of us know that these two are totally independent bodies, also the EU is not a Union in the American sense but three organisations constituted in different ways.

New speed limits At the beginning of this month, Spain raised the speed limit on its motorways from 120 km/h to 130 km/h, more than in the UK but about the same as in the US.
Other countries within the EU are expected to do the same. The Portuguese government is being strongly urged to follow Spain’s example.
Portugal is in serious danger of being left behind, according to campaigners for a higher speed limit. They are planning a series of go-slow protests on motorways all across the country next weekend.

“It’s the science, stupid! Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and action is urgent,” tweeted Connie Hedegaard, the EU's commissioner for climate action after Friday’s presentation in Stockholm of the most exhaustive and authoritative report on the state of climate science to date. She could have added that Portugal, along with Denmark and Sweden, are showing the way.

The final report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), compiled from 9,000 scientific studies by 800 scientists in many countries, has concluded there is now a 95% certainty that humans are the chief cause of global warming.