Cities' Climate Passport recognizes municipalities' progress by levels

The Government has created the Cities Climate Passport, a national, voluntary, and free instrument that evaluates, monitors, and recognizes by levels the progress of municipalities in the execution of their respective Municipal Climate Action Plans (PMAC). The initiative is part of Order no. 13043/2026, signed on October 21, 2026, by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 207, of October 26, 2026. The decree takes effect on the day following its publication, namely, October 27.

The order frames the measure within the Climate Framework Law, approved by Law no. 98/2021, of December 31, which assigns municipalities a fundamental role in achieving national objectives for mitigation, adaptation, and just transition. The PMACs, provided for in paragraph 2 of article 14 of that law, are identified as the basis for the planning, execution, monitoring, and evaluation of climate action in the territory.

The Government justifies the creation of the instrument with the need to foster technical capacity, the sharing of best practices, and the strengthening of multi-level governance in local climate action. The order is issued under article 25 of Decree-Law no. 87-A/2025, of July 25, which approves the organization and functioning regime of the XXV Constitutional Government.

Voluntary adherence and open to all municipalities

Participation in the Cities Climate Passport is voluntary, free, and open to all municipalities in the national territory. The instrument comprises an initial adherence milestone and successive levels of recognition, awarded based on progress in the implementation of the PMACs.

The requirements, criteria, and procedures for adherence, evaluation, and recognition will be defined in a specific regulation, yet to be published. The evaluation is based on three dimensions:

• climate change mitigation;
• adaptation to its effects;
• just transition.

Climate Agency supervises and ADENE promotes

The supervision and monitoring of implementation are the responsibility of the Climate Agency, I. P. (ApC, I. P.), which must ensure the alignment of the passport with national and European climate policy.

Operational management and promotion are ensured by ADENE — Energy Agency, in coordination with ApC, I. P. However, the order provides that references to ADENE shall be considered as references to the Geology and Energy Agency, I. P. (AGE, I. P.) from the date its integration takes effect, under the terms of Decree-Law no. 58/2026, of February 20, and without prejudice to the installation regime of the latter.

«Local Climate Action» Award and link to funding

The order establishes the “Local Climate Action” Award, intended to recognize the commitment and actions developed by participating municipalities within the scope of their respective PMACs. The award may be pecuniary in nature, under the terms and conditions to be defined in a specific regulation and according to the legally applicable availability and sources of funding.

The diploma further establishes that the Cities’ Climate Passport may be considered a best practice for the purpose of accessing climate action funding opportunities, opening the door for its valuation in applications for national and European funds.

The measure arrives without a announced budget allocation and refers the more operational aspects to subsequent regulation: levels of recognition, evaluation criteria, and award conditions. Thus, the institutional design is defined, but not yet the adherence calendar nor the grid of requirements that municipalities must fulfill.

For municipalities, the passport creates a reputational certification mechanism for local climate action, with a potential effect on the prioritization of financial support. For the Government, it serves as a monitoring instrument for the execution of the PMACs, the implementation of which will now be tracked in a systematic and comparable manner across territories.

Source: Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 207, of October 26, 2026, Environment and Energy (official reference: Order no. 13043/2026).