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- Ελληνικά
A public consultation on the revision of the National Plan for Energy and Climate 2021-2030 was held today, Friday 28 July 2023, by the Department of Environment of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment and the General Directorate of Development of the Ministry of Finance, as the Secretariat of the Green Deal Governance System.
The National Energy and Climate Plan is a Strategic Plan for the Government of Cyprus on climate and energy issues and presents a detailed roadmap for the achievement of benchmarked national Energy and Climate Targets by the year 2030. The National Plan presents and analyses priorities and policy measures across a wide range of development and economic activities for the benefit of society, making it the reference document for the next decade.
The targets set within the National Plan are quantified and costed, and intermediate time milestones have been defined, which allow monitoring the progress towards the achievement of the targets and relate to the successful adoption and operation of a mix of policies and measures. In particular, based on these priorities and measures, the need for synergies and complementary actions in all sectors/sectors of the economy will be identified and highlighted.
The National Plan highlights the priorities and development potential of our country on energy and climate change issues and aims to be the main tool for the formulation of the national energy and climate policy until 2030, taking into account the recommendations of the European Commission and the 2030 Energy and Climate Goals.
The National Plan highlights the priorities and development potential of our country on energy and climate change issues and aims to be the main tool for the formulation of the national energy and climate policy until 2030, taking into account the recommendations of the European Commission and the Goals. We aimed at a 23% contribution of Renewable Energy Sources to gross final consumption in 2030 and a reduction in energy consumption to 2.4 Mtoe in primary and 2.0 Mtoe in final consumption.
Since then, the European Climate Law was adopted through which the European Union aims at climate neutrality by 2050 and the Fit-for-55 legislative package to increase the European target to 55% by 2030.
Through these developments, our national targets have been increased as follows:
- reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 32% compared to 2005 by 2030,
- contribution of Renewable Energy Sources to gross final consumption 31-34% in 2030,
- reduction in energy consumption to 2.03 Mtoe in primary and 1.8 Mtoe in final consumption.
In addition, new targets have been added regarding land use removals.
In view of these developments, it was deemed necessary for our National Plan to be updated in order to design and adopt appropriate policies and measures to achieve the above targets. The opportunity was provided through the relevant provisions of the Governance Regulation, which allows Member States to submit a draft update within 2023 and a final update of the National Plan within 2024. For the preparation of the National Plan, the National Governance System for Climate and Energy was set up, which subsequently evolved into the National Governance System for the Green Deal.
We believe that the draft is a good basis to start the discussion both with the general public at local level and with the European Commission, so that the final plan will include appropriate policies and measures that will lead to the achievement of the targets, but will also be the basis for the design of the long-term policy to achieve zero emissions in 2050. The draft National Plan was approved by the Council of Ministers and submitted to the European Commission on 27 July 2023.
At the end of the consultation cycle the comments of the public consultations, the Parliament and the European Commission will be incorporated and in June 2024 Cyprus will present the final plan to the European Commission.
The achievement of the climate and energy targets is an opportunity for Cyprus to change its development path and policy. This transition will be combined with strengthening the competitiveness of enterprises and protecting consumers, establishing a framework for sustainable development of the national economy, making optimal use of national and European financial resources and adopting appropriate market mechanisms in line with EU legislation.
(MΓ)
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