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It is with great pleasure that I am here with you today as part of the Blue - Greenway project. A project that combines land and sea and is called upon to help address the challenges of marine ecosystem pollution and eutrophication. At the same time, the project uses green public procurement to push for a greener economy using blue and green criteria.
The challenges around the environment and human health are many and with interconnected negative impacts. The environment is a key pillar of the economy and development in the modern era, with the rapid developments in technology and production, but also the major sustainability risks facing the planet from the indiscriminate waste of natural resources and ecological destruction.
As the Government, and as the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, we have set high targets and are called upon to address all these challenges on a daily basis.
Climate change is a global problem that requires concerted efforts to mitigate its adverse effects. At the heart of these efforts are greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, which serve as benchmarks to combat climate change and transition to a low-carbon economy.
Marine litter, especially plastic pollution, threatens the oceans, marine life and even human health through the food chain.
Beaches represent the main gateways for plastic and other litter to enter the oceans and, combined with mass tourism, pose a threat to the marine environment, especially for the Mediterranean islands.
Another major problem facing modern humanity is food waste, which is often wasteful. It is a problem with economic, social and environmental aspects worldwide.
At European level, the transition to sustainable food systems is a priority. A farm-to-plate strategy has been adopted, aiming at a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly system of food production, distribution and consumption. The aim of this strategy is to reduce food waste by 50% per person by 2030, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Our primary objective is therefore to protect our environment and ensure a future that is better quality and kinder to the nature that surrounds us. This requires continuous action, both through legislation and through the cultivation of an environmental culture.
The cultivation of an environmental culture and respect for the environment is one of our main objectives and the actions carried out through all these projects, such as the Blue - Greenway, are important as they each add their own little bit.
Through the Blue - Greenway project, it is expected to develop measures to protect freshwater and marine pollution through the reduction of nutrient loads, as well as to promote green products and services in order to achieve a greener, circular economy.
In this context, Green Contracts are an important tool and a powerful market incentive, providing incentives for the development of green products and services, while helping to save resources and reduce the use of chemicals and hazardous substances, taking into account their entire life cycle.
Businesses and organisations are now consciously taking responsibility for implementing practices and actions to reduce the environmental impact of their activities by adopting This can be seen through the awards held for Green Contracts, an institution launched in 2014 by the Environment Department, in collaboration with the Cyprus Energy Office.
The state's legislative framework and policies aim and contribute to the protection of the environment and, by extension, the reduction of land, water and air pollution. Our vision is to continuously strengthen the momentum for proactive environmental protection by all available means, so that the development path of our society integrates environmental parameters in an effort to make it truly sustainable and efficient.
We are all working together for a cleaner and safer environment, with environmentally friendly products and services, for a greener and more circular economy.
Friends,
In conclusion, I would like to thank the partners of the Blue - Greenway project as well as Atlantis Cyprus, which represents Cyprus in this project, for their actions and for their innovative ideas, which they share with all of us in today's seminar.
I am sure that all of you who are here today are people with a developed environmental consciousness and ready to contribute through your tasks and initiatives to the environmental events of our country.
Thank you.
(BG)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs to PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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