Insider / ΚΥΠΕ
The costs for Cyprus will be significant if it is not adjusted to the EU target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 under the Fit for 55 program, according to what was discussed in the Parliamentary Committee on the Environment, which was informed on Wednesday about the program by the Department of Environment.
As stated in his statements by the Chairman of the Commission, Charalambos Theopemptou, the program refers to the policies that will be implemented in order to achieve a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030.
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He added that based on what they heard today, there is a need to increase all the targets included in the Energy and Climate Plan prepared by Cyprus. He also said that the prices of pollutant rights paid by the EAC have risen sharply and there will be an increased cost of around 150 to 200 million euros that will be borne by the consumer with an increase in his bill. It is estimated, he said, that 35% of the cost of electricity is nothing more than the rights paid by the Republic of Cyprus for the right to emit pollutants.
He also said that there is an urgent need for national planning that will achieve the goals, a monitoring plan and the involvement of the whole society, so that there is a hope that we will be able to achieve the goals.
“Anything that keeps us away from our goals will cost us dearly as a society and as consumers,” he said, adding that taxes on fuel, oil on ships carrying goods, on planes and on flight costs are coming. This, he said, will increase the cost of living in Cyprus, which is why we should all “organize to achieve our goals and reduce the burden on society.”
He also said that in order to achieve the goal of reducing 55% by 2030, a very big and intense struggle begins to harmonize Cyprus with European rules and laws and for society to face what is to come. He also said that there is a duty to help people who will have difficulty due to these changes.
DISY MP Savvia Orfanidou said that there are 13 proposals within the European Commission which are currently being discussed and the consultation in which Cyprus also participates is expected to be completed and to see what will be the responsibilities that will result from these proposals. for each Member State. He added that Cyprus, like all Member States, has drawn up the National Action Plan for Climate and Energy and is being implemented horizontally by all Ministries and the aim of this plan is to be able to proceed in a manner compatible with the European acquis but also with in a way that will benefit everyone in a cyclical, green and sustainable development.
Our main goal, he added, is to comply with both the penetration of RES at the right level, the European, in the coming years and to contribute to the European goal, to reduce pollutants to the right level and to enhance our energy efficiency. .
“Our goal is an environment that will be protected, a clean environment, the safety and health of citizens and we hope that through these plans and the Recovery Fund we will be able to achieve the European goals,” he said.
In his statements, AKEL MP Nikos Kettiros stated that we should act immediately, since the issue of climate change does not need communication management, but “it is a matter of substance, a matter of life and death literally.” He said that measures must be taken without fear of economic consequences, since in the long run the transition to a green economy will have a more positive impact on vulnerable groups of the population.
He also said that “the government has not done what it should have done in previous years” and that is why instead of investing money now to promote the green economy, we are paying millions for pollutants. He also expressed his strong concern about the “absence of environmental policy in the last 8 years from the current Government” but also the “full-scale attack” on the environment by illegal developments, the destruction of protected habitats and the fragmentary implementation of legislation regarding nature protection networks.
