Duarte Costa

Duarte Costa (born 22 June 1988) is a Portuguese politician and co-chair of the party Volt Portugal, as well as a climate expert.

Ana Carvalho and Duarte Costa at the 2nd National Congress of Volt Portugal

Career

Duarte Costa was born in Lisbon in 1988 and studied geography at the University of Lisbon from 2006 to 2009. Costa graduated from the University of Sussex with a Master's degree in Climate Change and Policy.[1][2][3] Convinced that science should have a stronger influence on political decisions, he joined the party Volt. Costa was the top candidate for the European constituency in the 2022 Portuguese legislative elections.[4] In June 2022, Costa together with Ana Carvalho were elected Co-Chairs of Volt Portugal.[2] In the list election for the 2024 European Parliament election, he was nominated as the top candidate of the list together with Rhia Lopes.[5]

Political positions

Transport policy

Costa repeatedly spoke out in favour of expanding public transport and sustainable transport infrastructure more quickly in order to support Portugal's climate protection efforts. For example, he advocated limiting fuel rebates to vulnerable groups at the start of the Ukraine war in order to use the funds thus freed up to support the expansion of carbon-neutral mobility systems.[6]

Climate protection

To be in line with the IPCC report's requirements for climate action, Costa called for more ambitious measures and advocated for the EU to aim for carbon neutrality by 2040 instead of 2050, and to reduce emissions by 80% by 2030 instead of 55% as predicted. Urban planning should also be adapted to changing conditions due to climate change, with increasing heat waves and forest fires, and the energy efficiency of houses should be increased.[7] To this end, more climate-friendly forms of mobility are to be promoted.[6]

Equality and LGBTQ rights

Duarte Costa has repeatedly spoken out against racism, homophobia, misogyny and transphobia and regularly participates in Christopher Street Days.[8][9]

European policy

By introducing transnational lists in European elections, Costa wants to deepen European democracy and bring citizens closer to the EU.[10]

In order to make the EU more capable of acting, Costa also spoke out in favour of abolishing the right of veto in the European Council and proposes decision-making by qualified majority instead. In the future, the European Union should become a parliamentary democracy with a government elected by the EU Parliament.[11]

References
  1. "Duarte Costa". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  2. Lusa (2022-06-26). "Ana Carvalho é a nova presidente do Volt Portugal". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  3. Pereira, Carlos (2021-12-29). "Legislativas'22: Duarte Costa é o candidato do Volt Portugal pelo círculo da Europa". LusoJornal (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  4. Pereira, Carlos (2021-12-29). "Legislativas'22: Duarte Costa é o candidato do Volt Portugal pelo círculo da Europa". LusoJornal (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  5. Lusa, Agência. "Europeias 2024: Duarte Costa e Rhia Lopes eleitos cabeças de lista do Volt-Portugal". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  6. "Ajudas do governo aos combustíveis fósseis equivalem a €423 por cada pessoa que não os utiliza". Expresso (in Portuguese). 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  7. ""Se conseguirmos reduzir as emissões de CO2, conseguimos travar eventos como o que estamos a viver"". SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  8. "Ultraconservadorismo a sair do armário". Expresso (in Portuguese). 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  9. "Rádio Castrense - Candidato do VOLT às Europeias visita o distrito de Beja" (in European Portuguese). 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  10. Costa, Duarte (2022-08-18). "Eurocepticismo servido à grande e à portuguesa na Assembleia da República". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-07-03.
  11. "Lage der EU 2022: Wir brauchen eine stärkere, reformierte Europäische Union". www.euractiv.de (in German). 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
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