Due to Portugal¡¯s rapid economic growth, Portugal¡¯s overall structure has changed immensely. Industrial revolutions as well as an agricultural decline are one of many factors that have changed the lives of many Portuguese people. These changes have led to environmental pressures that are a main concern for Portugal¡¯s infrastructure. The three main concerns of Portugal¡¯s environmental issues consist of increasing dependence on energy, the inability to supply efficient facilities for waste management, and the access and quality of natural sources such as water and soil. These issues need to be addressed by the government in order to figure out how to incorporate the participation of the citizens as well as facilitate these problems with the appropriate solutions. Portugal needs to develop an efficient system in which economic growth can coincide with sustainable development.
Since Portugal joined the European Community in 1986, Portugal encountered a rapid economic growth that led to many environmental pressures. Economic growth, industrial development, and migration towards the coast have complicated the search for the solutions concerning the rising environmental problems concerning energy (Avernous). Due to the dramatic changes, it was difficult to track the energy supply. Portugal¡¯s dependency on energy supply has created an immense production of economic growth and pollution that has progressively increased without any considerable measures to control the air pollution. There has been an increase in atmospheric pollution in urbanized and industrialized areas due to the lack of modernized transportation (OECD Environment Programme). Energy sources from transportation services such as coal and SO2 emissions were the main products of the air pollution. The height of the pollution was increased due to the drop in energy and transport services because it was easily accessible. Portugal¡¯s energy structure has greatly improved, but there is a high possibility of an increase in NOx emissions due to the increase in energy and transport services (OECD Environment Programme).
Due to the inefficient system of waste disposal, the soil and underground water resources were being contaminated. Many were depositing their waste in unregulated dumps, in which the poor standards of the dumps and the lack of an established barrier did not even prevent waste leakage (Eaton). These sites proved hazardous to not only the environment, but the health of the Portuguese who rely on underground resources. The closing of 162 sites helped improve the management of waste, but it is still considered one of Portugal¡¯s major problems (Eaton). Portugal needs to create the appropriate services to eliminate all of Portugal¡¯s waste in a proper, environment-friendly manner. Waste needs to be monitored with the proper mechanisms for inspection. The hazardous waste such as fly tipping needs to be discouraged with established penalty settings that Portugal has not yet established. Proper disposal of waste needs to be implanted into the knowledge of public and industrial facilities and enforced with incentives towards improving environmental awareness of the impact of waste (The European Environment Agency). Portugal needs to adopt a stricter waste management plan in order to minimize the impact of improper waste disposal on Portugal¡¯s atmosphere, soil and underground water resources.
The quality and access of natural resources such as water and soil are major environmental issues Portugal needs to solve with appropriate measures. Although Portugal is rich in its natural resource of water, the distribution of clean water is a problem. While the north receives sufficient water, the south lacks enough water. Especially during dry season, regional shortages are common. Based on a study by the University of Ulster, thirty eight percent of Portuguese rivers were known to have high pollution levels (Eaton). The west coast was commonly known for being contaminated due to industrial and agricultural pollution. Portugal still remains under-equipped in sanitation networks and treatment stations for urban and industrial water waste (European Environment Agency). In addition, Portugal has large areas that are vulnerable to erosion. Due to the plantation of eucalyptus trees, dramatic changes of the landscape have caused soil degradation. Along with soil degradation, drought, poor management of the forests, and the loss of population in rural areas have increased the percentage of forest fires (Averous). Although Portugal no longer considers the plantation of eucalyptus trees as a priority, they are striving to irrigate more cultivated land in order to protect the soil. New problems have arisen from this increase in irrigated land such as erosion, water pollution, and salinity (OECD Environment Programme). In order to ensure the appropriate amount of chemical fertilizer and irrigation, Portugal needs to emphasize the international awareness of proper agricultural practices.
I structured the order of importance from least important to most important based on Portugal¡¯s legislative framework and efforts of minimizing the specified environmental concern. Since Portugal¡¯s rapid economic growth changed their infrastructure, their energy structure was taking a stance because they realized how dependent they are on energy supply. Their energy consumption is alarmingly high, but they have enforced incentives and taxes to slowly help improve the air pollution control investments (OECD Environment Programme). Environmental issues concerning waste management was the next important issue because the disposal of waste affects not only the environment but the health of the Portuguese people. The lack of appropriate facilities to eliminate waste is a big concern. Although many unregulated sites have been shut down, Portugal has to embrace a stricter waste management structure for their people and atmosphere. The most important environmental concern is the access and quality of their natural resources. These natural resources are what help Portugal thrive and without the proper management they can face erosion, desertification, and limited water. Portugal needs to develop proper agricultural practices because if they do not resolve these environmental concerns they will eventually kill their own home.
Although Portugal has already used reinforcements such as energy product taxations, Portugal¡¯s dependence on energy supply is relatively high. Portugal is aiming to enforce ¡°economic instruments that increase awareness of the real costs of energy and transport services, as well as of external environment-related costs. In this respect, it would be desirable to improve balance of taxation between vehicle fuels and other energy products and extend existing fiscal incentives so that they may better reflect environmental protection goals; to continue efforts to rationalise energy pricing, in particular for network energy sources such as electricity; and to extend this rationalisation effort to taxation on vehicle and road use¡± (OECD). The concept of taxation helps involve the citizens and acknowledge the hazards of pollution. Portugal can be reinforcing these incentives through the internet, so when they are taxed at least they were informed. The internet helps citizens realize the costs of energy and transport services and the effect it has on the environment. The information of ¡°external environment-related costs¡± can emphasize the concept that citizens need to cooperate internationally to try to maintain a sustainable lifestyle (European Environment Agency).
Natural resource management is important for Portugal to embrace. Informing Portuguese citizens about the proper ways of agricultural practices can help improve the cultivated land and the proper disposal of waste. Since Portugal is at a high vulnerability of erosion, information technology can help support new methods of agriculture through computerized farm machinery that applies for fertilizer (Larson and Larson). This type of information technology can help farmers maintain a database in which it includes the kinds of crops and the amount of fertilizer needed for the cultivated area. There was a point in which Portuguese farmers were using an excessive amount of fertilizer when planting eucalyptus trees. The implantation of this plan was not successful and led to erosion in certain areas, so in effect agricultural practices need to reduce the damage. Through information technology, environmental education can educate many students through online PowerPoints and databases from farmers. Environmental education was established in Portugal as ¡°an organized field of collective action¡± (Schmidt, Gil Nave, O, and Guerra 159-177). They wanted to help inform students the environmental concerns of Portugal and help them cooperate in the movement towards sustainability. Although success is not evident within these students progress, the ability to use information technology to communicate the environmental concerns of Portugal has raised the awareness of these issues (Schmidt, Gil Nave, O, and Guerra 159-177). Schools can enforce this notion of sustainable development through information technology and help encourage their position as a citizen.
The lack of appropriate mechanisms for proper agricultural and irrigation practices has caused Portugal many environmental issues. Information technology can help improve the conditions of these facilities by providing the necessary information to develop into a sustainable, productive building or system. Since there was not an even distribution of water, Portugal needs to make sure to keep track of how much water each region and farm obtains. They can keep track of this information through databases. In addition, the construction of these agricultural facilities can be improved through the construction of the computerized systems to inform others how they use, compute, and communicate the correct information about agriculture or waste management. By using information technology, it becomes a huge asset to help people get involve with the environmental concerns of their country and realize where we can create an efficient system in which Portugal¡¯s substantial economic growth can coincide with a system of sustainable development.