ZER Avenida-Baixa-Chiado back to the debate with the Municipal Assembly approving a favorable recommendation

This Tuesday, in plenary session at the Lisbon Municipal Assembly, a left joined to approve a recommendation adopted by the Left Bloc (BE) for the implementation of the Reduced Emission Zone (REZ) in downtown Lisbon (ZER ABC). The ambitious project had been presented in early 2020 by Fernando Medinabut was suspended by the pandemic and postponed until the next term. It was part of the electoral program of the PS/Livre coalition, which lost the elections on 26 September.

The recommendation was presented by Bloc members Isabel Pires, Vasco Barata, Maria Escaja and Leonor Rosas. It was eventually approved by a majority of BE, PS (Socialist MP Miguel Coelho, who is also President of the Junta de Freguesia de Santa Maria Maior, the main parish affected by the ZER, abstained.), Livre, PCP, PEV, PAN and the independents. Only the parties on the right voted against - PSD, CDS, Aliança, IL, PPM and Chega. The MPT, which was part of the coalition New Times, abstained alongside Miguel Coelho.

"We decided to return here today to the debate on the ZER for Avenida da Liberdade, Baixa and Chiado not only because it was approved by a majority in the previous mandate in the Lisbon City Council, but above all because the retreat that has taken place is not in line with the urgency of decarbonizing our cities and tackling the climate challenge.“said Isabel Pires at the Municipal Assembly. Referring in her speech to the different arguments contained in the document presented by the BE, the Blocist deputy reinforced that "there is no reason as a city why we should not be leading the fight against climate change".

In the text of the recommendation, the BE refers to Lisbon as one of the European cities with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per inhabitant, surpassing Madrid, Paris or London, warns of the daily entry of 370 thousand cars in the city, addresses the health problems caused by pollution and noise, and recovers the commitments made by the city in the context of the European Green Capital 2020 or the MOVE 2030 strategic vision.

It should be noted that what the Municipal Assembly approved was a recommendation for the implementation of ZER ABC, that is, it did not approve or order this implementation, as recalled Fábio Sousa, President of the Carnide Parish Council, who intervened for his party, the PCP: "We are not deliberating any Reduced Emission Zone. This is just a recommendation to the City Council to do so, not least because, as we know, the implementation of these zones lacks the very useful and necessary public discussion of those who live there, the traders, the parish councils." The communist also took the opportunity to rectify the BE document on one point, stating that the ZER ABC was not approved by the majority of the municipal executive. "since the concrete proposal was eventually withdrawn by President Fernando Medina before it was considered at a town hall meeting". The same remark was made later by other speakers, with Isabel Pires, from the BE, clarifying at the end that the ZER is included in the ZER. document MOVE 2030the city's nine-year strategic vision for mobility, whichThis one did have a majority appreciation from the various parties.

President of the parish of Santa Maria Maior defends ZER for the entire historic center

Isabel Mendes Lopes, a Livre MEP, said that it was "it is essential to resume the implementation of the Reduced Emission Zones, in particular the Avenida-Baixa-Chiado, and to establish a timetable in a participatory manner with the population for the implementation of new zones and to study the evolution towards Zero Emission Zones [ZEE].". Miguel Coelho, President of the Parish Council of Santa Maria Maior, recalled that the ZER ABC was presented and debated publicly, much by virtue of his board. "There was a commitment that the Mayor at the time made to me to make a general revision of the initial proposal taking into account many of the claims that the Parish Council of Santa Maria Maior and that residents and traders were also able to put in these debates", he said. Miguel Coelho pointed out that he had "many margins of divergence" with Medina, "although we have already converged on a lot" - "it was a dialog that was not concluded".

The mayor who was re-elected to preside over the parish of Santa Maria Maior, the main parish affected by the implementation of the Avenida-Baixa-Chiado RSZ, believes it is necessary to reactivate the debate on this RSZ that was incomplete in the previous mandate "with scheduled deadlines and short deadlines" and urged the Municipal Assembly to take a first step in this direction, but justified his abstention in the vote on the BE recommendation because he defended "a more comprehensive solution". Miguel Coelho said he understood the "good intention" of the document, but does not want to be constrained by the "narrowing margin" of the same, since it believes that car traffic should not be restricted throughout the historic center and in particular throughout its parish. "I can't commit to a recommendation that says it's just Baixa and Chiado. One boundary, for example, was Rua da Madalena, which was unacceptable to me and the people who live there."He added that the people of Santa Maria Maior "are in fact fed up with so many cars driving through the parish".

Right wants ZER downtown but wants better planning and more participation

Carlos Reis, of the PSD, recalled the failure of Fernando Medina to fulfill his promise of deterrent parks. "this would solve part of this 370,000 cars entering the city" e "it is natural that with new times we will have to solve that part as well". The Social Democrat understood that the recommendation presented by BE "not serious" and that, despite being "it is obvious that we are all united in saving the planet" and that "we have to solve the traffic problem in the city center" e "do something about Baixa and Chiado", argues that "no studies, no proposals" to make the ZER. "There are only 'feel good' ads and 'feel good' statements and 'feel good' statements are no good. We came here to solve problems."

Rodrigo Mello Gonçalves, from the Liberal Initiative, made a point of "remind the BE that following the last elections politics in the city has changed and one of the things that has ended up is that we have a pop-up mobility policy“ and that "ZER at the time was delayed for various reasons, some of which still remain in place". The Liberal MP added that, "not disagreeing with the principle of implementing a ZER in the Baixa-Chiado area, what we ask is that the City Council takes this project, evaluates it, discusses it with the city, presents it. And then the decisions that will have to be taken will be taken".

José Inácio Faria, from MPT/Partido da Terra, said that "we must thank the former municipal executive" the city's poor air quality, as "has done nothing to care for the air we all breathe in this Lisbon of ours" and reiterated that "new times are here" to solve this problem. On the RSZ, he considered that "mere propaganda" and a "project cooked without listening", developed "no traffic studies" and without "transport that would support the measures" - this despite the fact that Baixa-Chiado is already one of the best served areas with public transport with two train lines, two metro lines, two river stations and 15 Carris routes and that the ZER proposal was intended to reinforce the existing offer. "With the new executive and the end of the confinement, we believe that the time has come to start the implementation of the Avenida-Baixa-Chiado ZER, but not at any price and in a rushed way. The A Terra Party believes that this implementation will require the improvement of public transport in the city, integrating it with the Metropolitan level, and should be based this time on a participatory process with a working group for this plan."

In the election campaign, the New Times coalition advocated "to gradually implement a Zero Emission Zones Plan, in order to gradually meet the Climate Transition objectives defined for the City of Lisbon by 2030, and this definition will have to be done zone by zone and based on participatory processes, with a deep involvement of residents.". This proposal was not included in the official program presented by Carlos Moedas' candidacy, but was presented to the ZERO association.