We are compelled to take on urgent action to address climate change, President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades stressed on Tuesday, addressing the 2nd Ministerial Meeting in the framework of the initiative of the Cyprus Government on Climate Change, that took place in the coastal town of Limassol.
His address was delivered by Deputy Minister to the President Kyriacos Koushos, since President Anastasiades was not able to attend due to the passing of Minister of Labour and Social Insurance Zeta Emilianides.
In his speech at the 2nd Ministerial meeting for the Climate Change in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME), the President said that the participation of so many Ministers, renowned policy makers and scientific experts is indicative not only of the magnitude of the crisis we are facing, but also of our collective resolve to address its dire effects.
Our region, he stressed, is classified as a global “climate change hot-spot”, with our countries already witnessing common challenges, such as record high temperatures, devastating fires and deforestation, increased water scarcity, droughts, floods and extreme weather patterns.
The President noted that based on the above-mentioned observations, it became clear to all, that there is urgent need to immediately act and effectively address the negative consequences of climate change, based on sound scientific expertise and advice.
He said that a scientific work was carried out, which was the result of the initiative Cyprus undertook in 2019 to develop a Regional Action Plan for tackling climate change and its effects in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region, in various sectors, such as the Environment, Agriculture, Tourism, Health, Cultural Heritage and of course Water.
Through the implementation of the regional plan, the President added, it is expected that Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East countries will promote actions to reduce greenhouse and carbon gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts, establish the necessary mechanisms for more resilient and competitive economies by switching to renewable and cleaner energy, improve access to climate change financial instruments and mechanisms, provide incentives to our businesses and industries so as to adapt and shift to sustainable and green technologies in order to increase their competitiveness in the global markets, and create new green employment opportunities.
He thanked the President of The Cyprus Institute, Professor Costas Papanicolas for his leadership and expressed his gratitude to all the scientists who have contributed to the preparation of the thematic reports.
“As I would also like to stress my satisfaction that following the conclusions and recommendations of the 1st ministerial meeting in February 2022, we have proceeded with the establishment of an Interim Secretariat, supported by the Cyprus Institute in order to facilitate the work of the Initiative” he went on to say.
The President expressed certainty that “with the contribution of all of you, this second Ministerial Meeting will be catalytic in finalizing the framework of the Regional Action Plan, and in defining the mechanisms of its implementation, that will lead to the event of October 25, 2022 when Cyprus will host the Heads of States and Governments of the region”.
“An event which will lead to the ratification and official launching of the Initiative, which I am confident, will constitute a historic milestone in the resilience and prosperity in Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East” he underlined.
He said that “we are compelled to take on urgent action to address climate change and I am certain that you will agree with me that the time to act is upon us”, adding thatthe massive participation in this meeting demonstrates that we share the same vision, to look to the future with optimism and to use the climate challenge as an opportunity to proudly demonstrate what our countries can achieve when they join forces by cooperating and acting together.
“I have no doubt that with the contribution of all of you today this meeting will be catalytic in finalizing the framework of the Regional Action Plan and for defining the mechanisms of its implementation,” the President said.
Referring to Cyprus, he said that the country was among the countries of the EU that supported the transition of the EU to carbon neutrality and has already designed specific policies that will lead to implementing its obligations.
Indicatively, he noted that more than 500 million euro – that is 41% of the budget of the National Resilience and Recovery Plan for the years 2021 to 2026 – which aims at strengthening the country’s environmentally sustainable long-term growth, is devoted to investments and reforms that contribute to climate neutrality and towards green transition.
Meanwhile, in his speech, Costas Kadis, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, said that the Cyprus Initiative on Climate Change was announced three years ago by the Cypriot President with the aimto develop a regional action plan. The plan, he said, brings together governments, scientists and policymakers.
He noted that the scientific work that was carried out confirmed that our region will experience climate change more intensely and sooner than other regions of the world.
The work, he said, also gave concrete policy recommendations to pursue.
Furthermore, Kadis said that at the Ministerial meeting held last February, one of the main decisions was to develop a Regional Action Plan, and it was agreed to establish an interim Secretariat for the Initiative that was assigned to the Cyprus Institute.
Kadis said that it is of utmost importance that we take this opportunity to identify those areas we are mostly concerned about, set our priorities, and finalize our plan.
He recalled that President Anastasiades has invited the Heads of the EMME States to participate in the Summit meeting, which will be held on the 25th of October 2022.
“I also invite you to work together for developing our Regional Climate Action Plan during the coming months leading to the Summit so that we begin seeing tangible results”, the Minister concluded.
Mayor of Limassol Nicos Nikolaides also gave a short speech, noting that the municipality is one of the 100 European cities selected by the European Commission to participate in a programme and receive the Commission’s support in achieving the goal of Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030. “This is 20 years ahead of the European target for the rest of the cities. These 100 cities will in effect act as experimentation and innovation hubs in order to enable all European cities to follow by the year 2050” the Mayor noted.
The opening ceremony was followed by opening remarks of the observers, who pledged their commitment in addressing climate change.
Countries in the EMME region include Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Source: Cyprus News Agency