Portugal Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in urban centers and coastal areas

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Environmental Modification, Nuclear Test Ban

Climate

maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south

Land use

agricultural land: 39.7% (2018 est.)

arable land: 11.9% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 7.8% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 20% (2018 est.)

forest: 37.8% (2018 est.)

other: 22.5% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 67.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.44% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.13% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 7.34 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 48.74 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 10.93 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 4.71 million tons (2014 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 764,433 tons (2014 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 16.2% (2014 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 880 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 1.83 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 3.42 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

77.4 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 5

global geoparks and regional networks: Açores; Arouca; Estrela; Naturtejo da Meseta Meridional; Terras de Cavaleiros (2023)