There is an urgent need to take immediate action to tackle climate change, said President Nicos Anastasiades addressing the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Cyprus Climate Change Coordination Initiative in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East held on Tuesday in Limassol.
In his speech, which was read on his behalf by Deputy Minister to the President Kyriakos Kousios, the President said that the participation of Ministers, policy makers and scientific experts at the meeting is indicative not only of the magnitude of the crisis we face, but also of our collective determination to tackle the impacts of climate change.
Our region, he stressed, is seen as a climate change hotspot and countries in the region are already facing common challenges such as high temperatures, catastrophic fires and deforestation, increased water scarcity, droughts, floods and extreme weather events.
The President noted that based on these observations, it was clear to all that there is an urgent need for immediate action and an effective response to the negative consequences of climate change, based on scientific expertise.
He said that a scientific work was done, which was the result of the initiative taken by Cyprus in 2019 to develop a Regional Action Plan to address climate change and its impacts in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region, in various sectors such as environment, agriculture, tourism, health, cultural heritage and water.
Through the implementation of the regional plan, the President added, it is expected that the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East will promote actions to reduce greenhouse gas and carbon emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, create the necessary mechanisms for more resilient and competitive economies, shift to renewable and cleaner energy sources, etc.
He thanked the President of the Cyprus Institute, Professor Costas Papanicola, and welcomed the establishment of an Interim Secretariat assigned to the Cyprus Institute in order to facilitate the work of the Initiative.
The President expressed confidence that "with the contribution of all of you, this second Ministerial Meeting will be catalytic in finalising the framework of the Regional Action Plan and in defining the mechanisms for its implementation, leading to the meeting on 25 October 2022 when Cyprus will host the Heads of State and Government of the region".
A meeting, he added, that will lead to the ratification and formal launch of the Initiative, which I am sure will be a historic milestone for sustainability and prosperity in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East," he stressed.
He said that we must take urgent action to address climate change and said that now is the time for action. He said the massive participation in the meeting shows that we share the same vision to look to the future with optimism and use the climate challenge as an opportunity to proudly show what our countries can achieve when they join forces by working together and acting together.
"I have no doubt that with the contribution of all of you today this meeting will be catalytic in finalising the framework of the Regional Action Plan and defining the mechanisms for its implementation", the President said.
Referring to Cyprus, he said that it is among the EU countries that have supported the EU's transition to carbon neutrality and has already designed concrete policies that will lead to the implementation of its commitments.
He noted that more than €500 million, or 41% of the budget of the National Resilience and Recovery Plan for the years 2021 to 2026, which aims to foster environmentally sustainable, long-term growth, is for investments and reforms that contribute to climate neutrality and the green transition.
Meanwhile, in his speech, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Costas Kadis said the Cyprus Climate Change Initiative was announced three years ago by President Anastasiades to develop a regional action plan.
The plan, he said, brings together governments, scientists and policy makers. He noted that the scientific work done confirmed that our region will experience climate change more severely and earlier than other regions of the world, and includes specific recommendations.
In addition, Kadis said that at the Ministerial Meeting held last February, one of the key decisions was to develop a Regional Action Plan and it was agreed to establish an interim Secretariat for the Initiative, which was assigned to the Cyprus Institute. He added that it is extremely important to use this opportunity to identify the areas of greatest concern, set our priorities and complete our plan.
He recalled that President Anastasiades has invited the Heads of State of the region to participate in the Summit, which will take place on 25 October 2022 and invited those present at the Summit to work together to develop the Regional Climate Action Plan in the coming months leading up to the Summit.
Limassol Mayor Nicos Nicolaides also made a short speech, noting that Limassol is one of the 100 European cities selected by the European Commission to participate in a programme and receive the Commission's support to achieve the goal of Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030.
"2030 is 20 years ahead of the European target for other European cities," said the Mayor, noting that these 100 cities will essentially act as hubs of experimentation and innovation to enable all European cities to follow by the year 2050.
This was followed by opening remarks from observers at the session, who expressed their commitment to tackling climate change.
The countries in the AMMA region are Cyprus, Bahrain, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Yemen.
At the beginning of the session, a moment of silence was observed in memory of Zeta Emilianidou.
Source: CNA
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