Climáximo group accuses Portuguese power giant of being ‘one of largest polluters’
With COP28 ongoing in Dubai – and stories emerging of how political manoeuvering in Portugal has reduced the effect of environmental protection legislation – climate activists have been busy again, this time painting the façade of MAAT, the Museum of Modern Art.
The intention is to protest against EDP’s activity in the climate crisis, and the company’s use of MAAT’s foundation to apparently “launder its image”.
When a protest needs this kind of explanation it can be completely lost on the wider public, but arguably, Climáximo is not focused on the wider public. Theirs is an ideological fight which, if social media commentary is anything to go by, has already lost most ‘everyday people’.
That said, today’s protest resulted in yet further arrests. It is not clear at this point whether authorities will formalise charges against the two young women involved, according to the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the PSP.
In its statement on the mission, the Climáximo group accused EDP of being one of the largest importers of fossil fuels to produce energy in Portugal, and considers the company “directly responsible for the deaths and destruction caused by the climate crisis”, condemning the population to “short and long-term catastrophes”.
“They are actively profiting from the climate and cost of living crisis, while washing their image with institutions like the EDP foundation and/ or decarbonisation targets decades away.
“We know that the crises they have caused are present today and now in people’s lives, so we cannot consent to their normalisation,” said spokesperson ‘Ana Maria’, quoted in the statement.
This was Climáximo’s third protest in a week – the other two being an interventions at conferences. Even president Marcelo has commented on how the sheer number of protests has lost this cause any element of surprise.
A demo for climate resistance is being held on November 9, in Saldanha (Lisbon) at 2pm, writes SIC Notícias.
Meantime, Público today has carried an exclusive on how one of the defendants in Operation Influencer – the probe that brought the PS Socialist majority government down after 19 months of varying degrees of scandal – coordinated “for the government” the working group behind new ‘Simplex’ legislation in order to facilitate projects that would otherwise have come up against environmental blocks. Hopes that this investigation will be ‘wrapped up quickly’ – in time for various players to face upcoming elections – may be fading.
