In the document, ZERO considers that the Environmental Fund “does not stop increasing without due scrutiny”, pointing out that the Fund for Energy Efficiency, the Permanent Forest Fund, the Fund for Systemic Sustainability of the Energy Sector and the Fund to Support Innovation are all part of the single Environmental Fund.

Such integration “leads to the enormous dimension” of the Environmental Fund which requires “greater and total transparency in the use of its funds and a more accurate scrutiny of the orientation and management of political priorities”.

The organisation also warned that “the future sustainability of the Fund is not foreseen in view of the expected reduction in revenues, a consequence of lower carbon emissions, which may lead to the perverse effect of wanting to maintain the level of emissions in order to maintain the level of income”.

One of the proposals put forward by ZERO for the state budget is the introduction of a €30 “environmental fee” on tickets for flights between Lisbon and Porto with this revenue then being channelled into long distance railway in Portugal.