The founders of the Alliance Beyond Oil and Gas intend to "mark a clear direction for governments", assuming that "the objective is not small and the ambition is not modest", Danish Environment Minister Dan Jorgensen said in the presentation initiative at the UN climate summit (COP26).

His government, whose country is "one of the largest producers in the European Union", defined 2050 as the deadline for ending oil and natural gas exploration once and for all and cancelled future exploration licenses.

The founders of the agreement are Costa Rica, France, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, New Zealand, Greenland, Wales, Quebec and the US state of California.

The declaration's partners subscribe to it with "different levels of ambition": Italy, for example, which also explores oil and gas, comes in as a "friend", and others can join as "associates".

In a statement sent to journalists, the Portuguese Ministry of Environment and Climate Action stated that "by signing this declaration Portugal assumes that it will not pursue any hydrocarbon exploration policies in its territory" and that it will continue "the already initiated policy of eliminating subsidies to the use of fuels".