According to a statement sent to news outlets, Zero is based on the most recent data from the Portuguese Environment Agency to acknowledge that greenhouse gas emissions totalled around 63.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2019, which is 5.6 percent less than the previous year and 25.8 percent less than in 2005.

However, a warning is made regarding emissions from the industry, agriculture and transport sectors - stating that "they are still higher than necessary according to the desirable path" and that a greater effort will be needed to achieve the goals set - as well as the issue of energy efficiency, criticizing the increase in final energy consumption and the evolution in the "opposite trajectory" to the targets.

In order to ensure greater monitoring of the implementation of the PNECs, Zero highlights the partnership with the Life Unify project, in which a tool that will allow the monitoring of the objectives of a dozen European Union Member States, including Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark and Estonia, was launched.

At stake is the comparison of the most recent emissions data with the necessary trajectories for the fulfilment of the goals defined in the NEEAPs.

Stressing the implementation of these plans as fundamental for the European Union's success in 2030 regarding its climate and energy goals, the environmentalist association points out that the NECPs will still be subject to a more ambitious review by the European Commission and that, therefore, "it is necessary to ensure now that member states are on track" and that they are able to present a greater response capacity.

"This tool, by allowing a visualisation of the trajectory to achieve the targets, is important not only to annually monitor progress against the targets set in the PNEC and understand where readjustments will be necessary, as well as to keep the governments of Member States accountable, since the information is clear and accessible to the general public," explains the president of Zero, Francisco Ferreira, in statements quoted in the press release issued.