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- Ελληνικά
I interpret your massive presence here as a sign of real concern for the environment.
It is with great pleasure that I participate in tonight's Green Cities and Communities of our country Awards Ceremony, as well as the Pancyprian Environmental Awards for Organizations and Businesses.
This very important innovation for our country has been taking place for the last five years and I consider such initiatives by Non-Governmental Organizations, in cooperation of course with the Commissioner for the Environment and the competent Ministry, as an important development.
What I want to highlight, through my intervention, is the fact that the State alone in no way can achieve the ambitious goal of the green transition, because it is a goal that must be achieved, not because it is imposed on us by our international and European obligations, but it is a goal that we must achieve for the future of our country, for the new generation of our country.
In the public debate in our country, unfortunately - and this is not a Cypriot novelty - the issue of climate change, of the green transition may not be among the dominant issues, but I tell you, and I am sure you know this, that if we talk to the young generation of our country, the number one concern is focused on the future of the planet, on the challenges of climate change. Challenges that - yet another false impression that we have - we consider to be something distant for us. The climate crisis is before us today; we are already facing the challenges. It is for this reason that, from our side as a State, we attach particular importance to it, it is very high on our priorities, not because it is our obligation. Another big chapter is the obligations that have been set by the European Union (EU).
Personally, without being an expert, I think that very soon the EU will be forced to review, because it is not feasible to achieve all these objectives, but in any case, we are not doing it because we are obliged to. We do it because we owe it to our young people, to the young generation of our country.
And without the contribution of Centres like our Cyprus Environmental Research & Education Centre (CEREC) which has been operating successfully for the last 20 years, we as a State cannot respond and I am very happy that we are joining forces, the State, the Centre, the Union of Municipalities, the Union of Communities, our businesses and organisations, in order to achieve this common goal.
Finally, I would like to mention that as a Government we have decided to make an annual grant to the Centre to support its work, and in recognition of the very important work it does.
(PM/EAth/MS)
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