Cyprus says that Europe has set the bar too high for climate change.
The president of Cyprus stated on Friday that Europe has set too high a bar for its climate goals, without paying enough attention to economic competitiveness. This is adding fuel to the growing debate about the pace of reforms.
The European Union has strict rules that aim to reduce net greenhouse gas emission in the bloc 90% by 2040 and achieve zero net emissions by 2020.
Nikos Christodoulides, President of the EU, who had just returned from COP29 in Azerbaijan, said that while energy transition targets must be met, "very high goals" have been set by the EU.
He said without further explanation that he did not think it was possible to reach the goals we set in the timeframe given.
Cyprus wants to increase its renewable energy output to 33% by 2030, up from the current 19-20%. It is also pushing ahead with plans for tapping its offshore natural gas resources as a temporary measure to wean its power plants off of oil, which is more polluting.
In an interview this week, Cypriot Minister of Energy George Papanastasiou stated that gas has a few decades to survive as a fuel.
Nearly 200 nations are gathering in Baku, Azerbaijan to agree on a new target for how much money is needed to help the developing countries adapt to climate changes. The talks have not made much progress.
Christodoulides stated that he did not have high expectations of a global agreement on the future.
He said: "To be honest, I have heard nothing that makes me optimistic about the goals of green transition." (Reporting and Editing by Mark Potter.)
(source: Reuters)
