Patrick Child, the European Commission's Deputy Director General for Environment and EU Mission manager for climate-neutral and smart cities said he is impressed with level of ambition in Limassol on climate transition. He was addressing the Cyprus Forum Cities, a two-day conference, taking place in Limassol and organized by non-governmental organization Oxygono and Cyprus University of Technology, with the aim to provide an opportunity for the formation of a long-term plan for the development of the cities and rural areas of Cyprus. In a video message, Child remarked 'we are living through unprecedented and challenging times.' 'Cities are disproportionally impacted by these challenges. We must therefore do all we can to help them become climate neutral and sustainable within the shortest possible time so we can reach the time set by the European Green Deal to become the first climate neutral continent by 2050.' As he noted, today cities account for more than 70% of global Co2 emissions and consume over 65% of the world energy. 'The climate neutral and smart cities mission aims to deliver a 100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030. And we want to empower these cities to act as role models for all EU cities to become climate neutral by 2050,' he added. Stating that his is 'particularly impressed by the level of ambition in Limassol,' Child congratulated Limassol 'as being the only Cypriot city that is selected for the mission.' 'Limassol is an excellent example of activating local stake holders and connecting to wide national networks,' he went on to say, expressing hope that Limassol will be able to inspire other cities in Cyprus to accelerate their efforts on climate transition too. 'Cities need to have closer engagement with their national governments and stronger support from the political level. This is vital for the success of the mission,' he concluded. On his part, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, First Vice President of the Committee of the Regions and Governor of the Region of Central Macedonia, Greece, congratulated the city of Limassol and it's Mayor Nikos Nicolaides on the inclusion among the 100 climate neutral and smart cities of Europe, noting that he is aware of the particular challenges that islands face. 'As an island you are further exposed to the consequences of the climate change. At the same time, you are a living lab and your forward-looking vision represents an added value for all Europeans,' he said, adding that 'your engagement in mobilizing other Cyprus Municipalities is commendable.' The CoR Vice President noted that the Missions set out bold, measurable targets to deliver tangible incomes and outcomes in a well-defined timeframe for all Europeans, adding that they aim to pull the necessary resources in terms of funding programs, policies and regulations and they aim at mobilizing public and private actors in order to achieve these targets. Tzitzikostas assured that 'we remain at your service as we are your voice in Brussels all throughout this process.' Moreover, he reiterated once more 'that it is totally unacceptable in 2023, EU territory to be under occupation.' 'That Cyprus, a European member state suffers this unprecedented condition,' he said adding that 'it is time now for Europe to act and as President Christodoulides states, the EU has to assume responsibility and finally take an initiative in order to reach a just and vital solution for Cyprus.' Nicos Nicolaides, Mayor of Limassol, said in his address, that problems like climate change require global action and that that 'at the same time the involvement of cities is very crucial, because solving these problems requires large social concessions and the only way to achieve that is through local authorities.' 'So never before,' he said, 'I think, local authorities - cities and regions - have such an importance as today. And this importance is greatly acknowledged by the EU and there are a number of programs which try to empower cities and regions to undertake this very important role in addressing global problems.' He also pointed out that climate change is to a great extend created by cities so it is the cities that have to solve it and the only way to solve it is though cooperation, through uniting forces, through taking advantage of all the knowledge that is around. Nicolaides stated that that cities like Limassol and most of the cities in Greece and in other countries are perhaps in a disadvantage compared to cities of Northern Europe, which have started the target of climate neutrality many years ago and they had a lot of time for their societies to absorb the changes. 'We don't have this time but we have another advantage. This is the advantage of making use of the example of these cities. And I think that the most important weapon we have is our cooperation and the opportunity to share experiences and good practices,' he concluded.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
