"The debt, or the payment of the sustainable debt, is somehow turned to environmental issues, and one of the priorities is waste", explained the minister in an interview with Lusa, in Lisbon, as part of a visit to carry out the implementation of the 2018 agreement between the Ministries of the Environment of Portugal and Angola.
"We already have some projects in our portfolio, for example a sanitary landfill that started to be built in Huambo province, and that was not completed, so the intention is to resume this work, which was at 80 percent, but had been stopped for many years , and since then people have been taking off the blankets and tearing off the fences around" the structure, explained the minister.
Questioned on how the revenue arising from the issuance of public debt destined for 'green' projects will be used, in an amount that the Minister of Finance said could go up to one billion dollars, Ana Paula de Carvalho said that the construction of sanitary landfills is a of its priorities, and listed the five provinces that could receive new landfills resulting from this emission, based on population density: Luanda, Huíla, Benguela, Cabinda and Huambo.
In addition to these landfills, there is also the intention of launching an incinerator in Luanda: "We have a project well advanced in relation to an incinerator, which probably fits into these sustainable projects, in addition to others focused on climate change", said the minister. , highlighting the importance of a well-functioning carbon market to help the most disadvantaged countries to better bear the burden of climate change.
Regarding the ministry's main priorities, the minister replied: "The first priority is waste, because we have two landfills in Namibe, one to be completed in Huambo, and another in Luanda, which is not even a landfill, and we have the other 15 provinces with dumps that are somewhat out of control, without protection, which contaminates the soil, so the priority is the treatment of waste and environmental education, in addition to mitigating climate change".
The Minister of the Environment says that the relationship with her colleague responsible for hydrocarbons is good and that there is no tension in the face of the need to continue to bet on oil to finance economic diversification.
"The Ministry of Petroleum has fulfilled and financed large projects around the environment, there is a project to plant mangroves around the entire coastline, from Cabinda to Namibe, which is financed by Sonangol, and also when there is an infringement, we fine, and these fines are applied to environmental projects, so we have been working without problems and the Ministry of Petroleum has given a lot of support in environmental terms", said Ana Paula de Carvalho Pereira.
Issuance of green debt securities goes to the financial market where the financing is destined to projects with the objectives of improving governance or having environmental or social objectives in the country for which they are destined, with models in which the amount of interest is determined taking into account into account the results of the investments.
The climate concerns that have marked the political debate in recent years are motivating an increase in resources for these instruments, which are increasingly favored by international investors.
