João Pedro Gouveia gave an interview to the German newspaper "Der Spiegel" about the energy crisis and energy poverty in Portugal. He stated that "the most obvious [definition of energy poverty] is someone's inability to heat adequately. But it's also about other forms of energy use: That you can afford to have enough lighting in your own home or to cook. João Pedro Gouveia said that "high energy costs are not only a problem when it's cold – but also when it's hot when you have to keep cooling." On the consequences, he reminds that "Without adequate warmth, they get sick faster, their quality of life decreases and they are less able to work. Many people have gotten used to the fact that they can only heat one room in the house. Fuel poverty causes hundreds or thousands of deaths every year."

Regarding the situation in Portugal, he affirmed that "there are also historically special reasons that ensure that we are in a much worse position than people in Spain or Italy [...], the building structure is therefore often very simple and not particularly solid to this day. Since then there has been a rapid race to catch up in almost all areas of society, which has led to millions of people moving to urban centers in just a few decades. Many were built quickly and cheaply. Until 1990 there were no isolation regulations.".

João finishes the interview by stating that in Portugal "not only is there a lack of awareness, there is also a lack of tangible solutions. Many people simply have no idea what energy efficiency class their house has and how it could be improved. If you ask them what their biggest problem is, they say: electricity prices. Many craftsmen lack the knowledge of what modern insulation looks like today. Incidentally, we hear that from other European countries as well. In times of climate change and energy shortages, that won't last much longer."

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