Despite its small carbon footprint, Cyprus is committed to contributing to global emissions reduction, President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, said on Tuesday in his intervention at  the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), in Baku, Azerbaijan.

He said that, at regional level, Cyprus recently relaunched the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate Change Initiative aiming to develop synergies to mitigate the impact of climate change with a focus on cross-border projects.

President Christodoulides expressed  “great concern”, noting that “we stand at a crucial juncture” as the impact of climate change is intensifying “with alarming speed”.

“In the Mediterranean region, we are witnessing a rise in extreme weather events: raging wildfires, severe and prolonged droughts, extreme heat, sea level rise and catastrophic, deadly flooding, as we very recently saw happening in Spain”, he added.

Referring to Cyprus’ experience, he said that these extreme weather events “are impacting our ecosystems, our economies including agriculture and tourism, our communities and the quality of life of our people”, noting that they act “as a stark warning” and “are highlighting the urgent need for decisive, coordinated action”.

“We need immediate, targeted responses at both the national and regional levels”, he said.

Cyprus, he added, has taken proactive steps by implementing a National Adaptation Strategy since 2017. “We are currently updating this Strategy to strengthen our capacity to manage complex and interlinked climate risks. Despite our small carbon footprint, Cyprus is committed to contributing to global emissions reduction”, the President said.

Within the EU framework, he said, Cyprus submitted an enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution in 2020, pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels while the EU “remains resolute in its legally binding commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050”.

At regional level, Cyprus recently relaunched the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate Change Initiative aiming to develop synergies to mitigate the impact of climate change with a focus on cross-border projects, the President added.

He also referred to a number of other, “very promising regional initiatives that aim to address the effects of climate change in our region”, noting that political encouragement was needed but also sufficient funding so they can be implemented.

For example, he said, in light of the increased number of catastrophic wildfires that affect the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus and Jordan are working towards the establishment of a Regional Aerial Firefighting Station in Cyprus. There are also regional initiatives for marine protection, for sustainable water management practices in agriculture as well as for enhanced cooperation between Mediterranean states to mitigate the impacts of droughts, he added.

President Christodoulides also said that government action alone is not enough and that it was important that societies, citizens, and businesses are engaged in this collective mission “and fundamentally rethink the relationship between our economies and nature”.

He also said that young people “have been instrumental in pushing for an ambitious climate agenda” and urged leaders to pay heed to their voices.