The Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mr.Costas Kadis, responding to the invitation of the Cypriot President of the European Aggregates Association (UEPG - Aggregates Europe) Mr. He attended as one of the keynote speakers at the ceremony of the Sustainable Development Awards 2022, which is held every three years.
The ceremony was also attended by the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Cypriot MEPs and the Regional Director of Birdlife Europe and Central Asia, who also participated in the jury for the awards. Through the institution of the awards, good practices of the extractive industry are highlighted and rewarded, which successfully integrate in their activities the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development with concrete achievements far beyond the expected.
In his speech, the Minister referred to the strategic importance of aggregates in human life, a fact that is also recognised by the European Union, since in order to meet several of its policies such as the Green Agreement and the We must always bear in mind, he stressed, that the extinction of a plant or animal species, which has evolved over the centuries, is an irreversible process and, if an endangered species is lost, we lose it forever.
He went on to congratulate the European Aggregates Association for its initiatives in relation to biodiversity conservation, such as the creation of the Biodiversity Indicators Task Force to develop indicators to measure the impact of mining on biodiversity in both rehabilitated and active quarries. He also mentioned the cooperation of the European Aggregates Association with Birdlife Europe and Central Asia to sign the Species Protection Code of Contact, which is a very important step towards the effective protection of biodiversity and is in line with the European acquis on nature protection.
In conclusion, the Minister referred to important decisions in Cyprus, such as the creation of a new General Directorate for the Environment, the upgrading and renaming of the Mines and Quarries Service to the Mines and Quarries Service, as well as the strategy to promote the sustainable use of recycled aggregates, in the context of the adoption of the principles of the circular economy. Decisions which aim, inter alia, to improve our environmental policies, the sustainable use of resources and the achievement of the ambitious environmental targets set at EU level.
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