PORTUGAL Trends and Developments Contributed by: Assunção Cristas, Catarina Pinto Correia and Carolina Vaza, VdA
Portugal has shown a very favourable development toward the growth of the voluntary carbon market, as the regulatory environment has been adapting in that direction. This evolution has been driven by a com - bination of proactive government policies, alignment with EU climate objectives, and a growing recognition of the economic and environmental benefits associ - ated with carbon trading. A clear example of this is the political signal repre - sented by the creation of the Climate Agency, cre - ated in 2024 as a new public institute with very broad attributes which include: • the development of the voluntary carbon market; • the exercise of functions as the competent national authority within the scope of the European Emis - sions Trading System; • the management of the Environmental Fund and of the Blue Fund; and • the co-ordination of national, European and inter - national funds, programmes and projects within the government area of environment and energy. The Portuguese Voluntary Carbon Market was created by the Decree-Law No 4/2024, on January 5th (the Framework for the Voluntary Carbon Market), which established the rules for its functioning. Its effective implementation and execution depends on the follow - ing complementary steps, mostly already taken: • a regulatory framework established through Ordi - nances; • the development of a public platform to register carbon projects and carbon credits (already in place); • the appointment and publication of the member of the Technical Monitoring Committee, created by Dispatch No 3771/2024, of April 8 (already pub - lished); and • developing carbon methodologies, placing them into public consultation and effectively implement - ing them. Three out of the four Ordinances mentioned in the Framework for the Voluntary Carbon Market were published on 2 October 2024. The final Ordinance is expected to regulate the conditions and minimal
capital requirements of insurance policies covering cases of reversal of sequestered emissions, which may occur, for example, following a forest fire. These Ordinances are the following: • Ordinance No 239/2024 on Fees, which establish - es the fees to be charged in the ambit of the volun - tary carbon market by the supervisory and man - agement entities of the platform (account opening, project registration and credit transactions); • Ordinance No 240/2024 on Qualification Criteria for the activity of independent project verifier (sectors of activity, requirements and procedures); and • Ordinance No 241/2024 on the General Require - ments for the Electronic Registration Platform, namely, the functionalities that the platform must offer and the mandatory information to be entered into it, particularly by the market agents. These Ordinances represent an important step towards the operationalisation of the Voluntary Car - bon Market in Portugal. It should be noted that, under Portuguese Law, it is possible to issue simple “carbon credits” or “carbon credits +” that accommodate other ecosystem ser - vices and social concerns, opening the door to “bio - diversity credits”. The evolution will depend on the specific methodologies approved over time. The electronic registration platform and its role The transparency of the voluntary carbon market is essential for its success as a credible and reputable part of the system. To this effect, the Framework for the Voluntary Carbon Market determines the crea - tion of a public platform where the credits are regis - tered, allowing for its traceability and avoiding double trading of the same credit. Ordinance No 241/2024 establishes the framework for the requirements of the functioning of the platform in question, but, above all, it identifies which functionalities this platform must ensure are in place. A combined reading of Ordinance No 241/2024 and Article 18 of the Framework for the Voluntary Carbon Market shows that: • market agents must open an account; • carbon projects and carbon credits must be duly registered;
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