Christodoulides in Antalya: ‘Republic of Cyprus is sovereign, equal, independent’

President Nikos Christodoulides used his speech at the United Nations’ Cop31 climate summit in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya to stress that “the Republic of Cyprus is a sovereign, equal and independent member state”. With the event hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Christodoulides said his government “comes to Antalya with a clear message”, that “the climate crisis demands political leadership, collective responsibility, and, above all, decisive action. “Cop31 comes at a critical juncture. The scientific evidence is clear. Our collective efforts remain insufficient to achieve the objectives of the Paris agreement,” he said, in reference to the treaty signed at Cop21 in Paris in 2015, where world leaders pledged to limit climate change to a global average temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Given this shortfall, he said that “we must … accelerate emissions reductions, advance the transition away from fossil fuels, triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency improvements by 2030”. “We must move beyond declarations and focus on implementation, investment, adequate climate finance, and a just transition,” he said. For Cyprus, he said that “the consequences of climate change … are already our lived reality”, pointing out that the island already suffers from “water scarcity, extreme heat, desertification and severe wildfires”. As such, he said, “adaptation and resilience are our immediate national priorities”. Cyprus ‘placed particular emphasis’ on climate change He said during Cyprus’ six-month term as the holder of the Council of the European Union’s rotating presidency during the first half of this year, his government had “placed particular emphasis on advancing the implementation of the Union’s common climate commitments”. “We remain committed to carrying this effort forward,” he said. He went on to say that “climate change transcends politics” and that it “does not recognise borders. “Addressing climate change therefore presents an important opportunity to strengthen regional cooperation. Cyprus attaches strategic importance to deepening partnerships across the Middle East and Gulf in water management, renewable energy and civil protection,” he said. To this end, he said that his government is “actively promoting this vision through the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East climate change initiative”, which was launched by the Cypriot government in 2018 with the aim of driving the region towards reaching the goals set in the 2015 Paris agreement. “Bringing together 10 partner countries across our region, this initiative unites governments and over 200 regional scientific experts. Together, we work to strengthen our collective capacity for adaptation, mitigation and resilience through practical transboundary responses and regional early warning systems,” he said. ‘Let us make Antalya a turning point’ He also referred to Cyprus’ new regional aerial firefighting station, which was launched this year by the Cypriot and Jordanian governments, with the support of the European Commission. “In bridging European civil protection resources with regional assets and hosting specialised firefighting crews in Cyprus, it enhances our collective capacity to rapidly respond to and extinguish severe wildfires across our shared region,” he said. The success of the Cop31 summit “must be measured by the effectiveness of our actions on the ground”. “Let us make Antalya a turning point, from ambition to implementation, and from shared challenges to shared opportunities. The climate crisis knows no borders. Our response must know no divisions. Let us act together to secure a safer future for all,” he said.