Portugal’s Minister of Environment was the subject of the wrath of several climate activists who threw green-coloured eggs at him when he took the stage at the opening of the CNN Portugal Summit on Tuesday.
The activists were intercepted by GNR police while criticising Duarte Cordeiro for taking part in a summit, entitled ‘A nova energia é verde’ (The new energy is green), sponsored by energy companies like Galp and EDP.
“No future, no peace” and “This is the last winter with gas” were some of the sentences shouted by the activists as they stormed the stage.
“This conference is a facade to clean the image of companies in Portugal that are profiting from the climate and cost of living crises,” said Matilde Ventura, the spokesperson for the activists. “The minister has shown with his presence that he prefers to collude with the criminals who are leading us to collapse rather than ensuring that we, young people who were born into a climate crisis, have a future,” the statement continued.
According to the climate activists’ movement, Minister Duarte Cordeiro does not have “social legitimacy to speak about the climate crisis.”
“The minister says he respects our actions, but if he respected us, he would fulfill what science deems necessary. If he respected young people, he wouldn’t try to clean the image of companies that are condemning our future.”
After the incident, the Environment Minister’s speech was postponed.
The minister went on to express his “understanding” for those who protest but emphasised that “intolerance is not the way forward.” He also joked that “at least they got the color right, it’s green, which is a color I like,” referring to his support of national football club Sporting Clube de Portugal.
