Speaking to journalists after a meeting with the President of the Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, at the Presidency headquarters in Ponta Delgada, Paulo Barcelos said that the meeting served to express the "concerns" of NGOs in the region for the next Operational Programme 2030.

"Our concerns are several, starting with the issues of climate change and energy efficiency, particularly in terms of how the region will continue to produce electricity in the future," he stressed.

Paulo Barcelos considered it "important" for the region to develop a plan to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

"When we talk about energy efficiency, it is not only efficiency in terms of lighting and equipment costs, but also in terms of how electricity is produced.", he said.

The president of the Montanheiros association argued that "environmental management" should be "directed to the population", in order to "convey environmental values" to schools and to all citizens.

Paulo Barcelos also advocated that it is necessary to "conserve nature" through the "establishment of stable natural communities".

"Not only preserve what we have, but recover degraded areas. All this part of recuperating degraded areas, through the installation of stable natural communities that allow to help remove some elements that potentiate the greenhouse effect from the atmosphere", he stated.

The president of the Azores Government is receiving, this week, the social partners and political parties as part of the Azores 2030 Operational Programme.

The Azores 2030 Operational Programme is part of Portugal 2030, whose priorities are based on eight axes, each with its own strategic objectives: innovation and knowledge; qualification, training and employment; demographic sustainability; energy and climate change; economy of the sea; competitiveness and cohesion of coastal and inland territories and agriculture and forestry.