Cyprus to present action plan on climate change

Cyprus will present its action plan, drafted in the context of its initiative to combat climate change in the region of Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East in the context of the COP27 Summit to take place in Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh next month, President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades has said.

The action plan will be presented during a special summit on November 8, co-chaired by President Anastasiades and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fatah el Sisi in the presence of leaders of the region, Cyprus President told an event, at the Presidential Palace, to showcase the progress of the Cypriot initiative.

Cyprus' action plan consists of a toolkit with actions on a regional level to combat climate in the region, which is considered as a hotspot for climate change, with President Anastasiades highlighting the need for regional cooperation to tackle the looming climate crisis.

Addressing the event, Anastasiades recalled that Cyprus’ initiative was assumed following alarming results on the region that emerged during an International Conference on Climate Change for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East which took place in Cyprus back in 2018.

“Among the results was the fact that our region is placed among the most vulnerable in the planet and, therefore, mitigating the emerging challenges from climate change rendered close regional cooperation an imperative,” he stressed.

Anastasiades added that the regional action plan was drafted by a total of 240 scientists and technocrats from region and includes 13 targeted chapters, such as health, research, tourism, water resources, forests, maritime environment, migration, energy with the aim to reduce greenhouse and carbon gases and the transition to renewable and cleaner energy.

“With the assistance of all Ministries involved and the significant contribution of the Institute of Cyprus we can be proud that we have coordinated and drafted an effective, scientific and targeted regional action plan,” the President concluded.

On his part, Minister of the Agriculture Rural Development and the Environment Costas Kadis referred to the various landmarks of the initiative which began four years ago.

“The message we send today is that through this initiative we have a very important tool in our hands, a scientific platform on which the countries (of the region) can rely upon to make the next steps and coordinate their actions. Data and suggestions are there,” he said.

The action plan, he said is “a box in which one could find solutions to mitigate or to tackle the consequences of climate change.”

Furthermore, President Anastasiades’ Personal Envoy for Climate Change and President of the Cyprus Institute, Prof. Costas N. Papanicolas, warned that the consequences of climate change in our region will be dramatic, pointing out that the findings of one of the initiatives’ committees showed alarming results, namely that the temperature in the region could rise by 5 degrees Celsius compared with a 2 degree rise globally “if we continue with business as usual.”

“This would mean a collapse,” he said, “a collapse of economies, societies, social unrest, immigration.”

He added that this is a top challenge for humanity, noting that “unfortunately our region is at the epicentre of this historic crisis.”

Papanicolas said the work carried out leads to a “toolkit which translates to a specific regional action plan to tackle climate change.”

On his part, Amr Hamza, Ambassador of Egypt to Cyprus expressed his country’s appreciation to Cyprus’ initiative on climate change. “It is a timely initiative, widely scoped and a scientific-based initiative,” he added.

The Egyptian diplomat also noted that co-hosting this conference “is yet another example of the strength of our relations.”

“Even though our relations are exemplary, this proves there is always room for even further improvement,” he went on to say.

Moreover, Hamza said hosting this conference speaks for both our countries' level of commitment on the impact of climate change and a level of commitment for joint action.