The legislative initiatives followed a proposal submitted by DECO (Portuguese Association for the Defence of Consumers) to parliament in April, for the establishment of 25 September as the National Day of Sustainability.

In the project presented by the centrists, the CDS recalls that “in 2015, the international arena took a considerable step, with the intergovernmental position taken at a United Nations summit, held on 24 and 25 September” that agreed “a joint commitment to 17 goals for sustainable development by 2030.”

“Given the inevitability of changes and reforms that the 2020 scenario brought to the decision-makers and our society, the concerns of 2015 around the listed objectives grew in urgency and relevance”, they maintain.

Thus, the CDS urges the socialist government to grant “institutional and national recognition to 25 September as a date dedicated to sustainability - in our country and the rest of the world, as a means of civic awareness of the objectives to be achieved by the end of the decade.”

In the Chega project, it can be read that “governments and the most diverse institutions in all countries must unite in taking measures that promote a reduction of the ecological footprint and the implementation of an economic model that adapts to the challenges that now are put to us.”

However, the party's only deputy, André Ventura, considers that “it is important to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but it is also important that the easiest way, which is to penalize polluting industries and companies, is not to be chosen because they are responsible for the employability of millions of people around the world.”

The non-registered deputy Joacine Katar Moreira, on the other hand, advocates that “in the face of the extractive model, the idea of ??environmental and cultural sustainability has imposed itself on behalf of future generations”, but such an idea has been “unable to break with the idea of ??continuous progress which has been characterized by an exploration without limits, with impact at different levels on societies and on the planet.”

“Contrary to what is commonly taken for sustainability, it is not only the planet in its environmental dimension that is at stake. Precisely because it is not possible to subtract the planet from the sphere of human existence, sustainability derives from a triangulation of forces ideally harmonized between economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection”, explains the deputy.