Public policies and environmental sustainability. The case of Portugal 2020

Abstract

This paper explores the implementation of European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy in Portugal under the 2014–2020 programming framework (Portugal 2020) and its contribution to promoting environmental sustainability. It starts with an anatomization of the dominant analytic dimensions of the concept of sustainable territorial development. It then examines the approved projects under Portugal 2020 and relates them to the selected five dimensions of territorial sustainable development, which include a circular economy, social environmental awareness, environmental conservation, a global governance sustainability focus, and a global spatial planning sustainability focus. It concludes that the Portugal 2020’ execution rate on supporting renewable sources of energy is strangely low, in view of the untapped potential of the country in, for instance, exploring solar energy.