Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned world leaders at the United Nations COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, that Europe must act faster to prevent a climate catastrophe.
“The climate is changing and developments remind us of this. This reality gives our discussions a new sense of urgency,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday.
The conference comes soon after deadly floods in Valencia, Spain, and the wildfires of last summer in Greece and Portugal. Greece, along with many other countries, is also experiencing drought that’s drying up water supply sources and Mitsotakis earlier said climate change was the reason for so many wildfires.
“Our citizens are faced with unprecedented climate shocks, we need more resources to prepare to respond in time, in order to save lives and livelihoods and to help people and communities rebuild after disaster. We cannot focus so much on 2050 that we forget 2024.”
Greece a “pioneer in energy transition” Mitsotakis tells climate summit
Mitsotakis emphasized that Greece is a pioneer in energy transition.
“Our emissions have decreased by 45 percent compared to 2005, while the participation of lignite, which covered more than 50 percent of our electricity generation, has now been reduced to just 6 percent. Today, we rely on wind and solar energy for almost half of our electricity needs. We insulate homes and create a value chain in carbon sequestration for our industry. Greece is absolutely committed to the energy transition.”
On Europe, he said that it is a leader in renewable energy, but still has higher energy prices than anyone else. “We are the only region that imposes a heavy tax on emissions. We are almost alone in defending the rules of free trade.”
He underlined that “Europe’s share in global emissions is decreasing and in 2023 it accounted for only 6 percent. We cannot be led to abandon industry. Zero emissions must be part of a wider European strategy, not the other way around.”
Four proposals
Mitsotakis added that it was clear that “we need a smart green deal” and cited “four urgent adjustments to get there.”
First, Europe and the world need to be more honest about the trade-offs involved in the energy transition. The energy transition will reduce costs in the long run, but this transition will not be painless. It is our responsibility to carefully evaluate these trade-offs, and not hope they will magically disappear.
Second, Europe needs a reboot in terms of the regulatory framework. We spend too much to achieve goals that are subject to limited control and enjoy limited legitimacy. We cannot micromanage this transition.
Third, Europe must recommit itself to the internal energy market. In rhetoric, everyone supports the internal market, but in practice, Europe is often the combination of 27 different strategies.
Across Europe, but also across the world, our citizens are being hit by unprecedented climate-related disasters.
Most leaders snub climate summit
The Associated Press notes however that the leaders of the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries snubbed the conference although they are responsible for more than 70 percent of 2023’s heat-trapping gases – including China and the US – making the event moot.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced an 81 percent emissions reduction target on 1990 levels by 2035, in line with the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, up from the United Kingdom’s 78 percent pledge.
Several similar previous events have set similar goals that haven’t been met and keep being changed, with environmentalists and critics saying world governments aren’t serious about the crisis and oil still the world’s energy source.
The 2021 Paris Agreement’s goal was to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”
Related: COP29 Opens in Baku With Focus on Climate Finance and Progress
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