Porto is a municipality with a territorial area of 41.42 km2, spread over seven parishes, with a population of 231.800 inhabitants. It’s the centre of Porto Metropolitan Area which comprises 17 municipalities and 1.736.228 inhabitants. A large number of residents in neighbouring municipalities work, study or visit Porto – around 150.000 users per day. The numbers increase when tourists from all parts of the world became part of the equation – in 2022 there were 4,8 million overnight stays in the city.

Porto is the largest city in terms of economic activity of the Portuguese Northwest and its economic profile comprises activities that tend to be concentrated in the largest urban centers, such as business services, commerce, hotel industry, education, health and social support.

Porto’s territory is, in its majority, covered by urban and industrial areas creating a total of 69% of waterproofed soil. The remaining area is composed by a more permeable soil scattered through the territory, such as green areas (gardens, parks), forests, farming areas and coastal areas. The territory descends smoothly towards west to the Atlantic Ocean to lower altitudes and flattened areas. Strongly bounding the city, the Douro River defines an embedded valley with steep slopes at the south.

The city has been working on biodiversity, climate change and sustainability for the last 20 years. Carbon emissions reduction, climate adaptation, circular economy and nature based solutions (NBS) have received strong municipal investment. The Climate City Contract implementation to achieve carbon neutrality in 2030 involves a 540 million euros of municipal investment. Since 2016, 234 million euros have been spent on implementing the Municipal Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. The Municipal Master Plan foresees an investment of 11.640 million euros to mitigate climate change and to increase sustainability and quality of life.

Principal climate change challenges

The city of Porto and the metropolitan area of Porto shall experience climate change impacts induced by increased temperature, heatwaves, drought, heavy rain induced flooding, and sea level rise.