"The resumption of functioning in the city of Lisbon is welcome, but ZERO warns of the return to pre-pandemic pollution levels, and criticises the authorities' failure to take advantage of the calm period to implement a set of measures which could mitigate the impact of cruises and avoid uncontrolled air quality", states ZERO.

According to environmentalists, the covid-19 pandemic "was a lost opportunity to install in the port of Lisbon, and especially in the cruise terminal, the capacity to supply electricity to docked ships, the so-called 'shore to ship'", instead of burning "tonnes of highly dirty fuel", causing pollution.

"Due to the lack of electricity supply by the port – as is the case in Lisbon – the parked cruisers keep their engines running to guarantee their enormous energy consumption – which is equivalent to small towns –, emitting large amounts of sulfur dioxide , nitrogen oxides and ultra-fine particles", explains the association.

The installation of the 'shore to ship' technology was foreseen in the State Budget, but the procedure "has not yet been carried out", says Zero, noting that, "in the middle of the European Green Capital, on June 5, 2020, it was announced that the investment would be ready in 2022", but the association "doubts that this will happen due to several identified delays".

The association continues to highlight that polluting emissions caused by cruises "have consequences for human health, are responsible for the cause and/or aggravation of coronary and respiratory diseases, reduce the body's defenses and may even cause lung cancer".