Cyprus ‘generally positive’ but has ‘reservations’ over Cop31 electrification pledge

The Cypriot government is “generally positive” about the planned “electrification pledge” which will be discussed and possibly agreed upon at Wednesday’s global leaders’ summit at the Cop31 climate conference, but maintains some “reservations”, which it hopes to see ironed out, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Tuesday. He told the Cyprus Mail that the government is waiting for the European Union and its member states to take a common position on the matter so that it can move as a bloc, but that on this front, there remain some differences in the positions of member states. Regarding Cyprus’ own position, he expressed doubt over both the feasibility and the environmental benefits of the island hitting the pledge’s central target – for the world to have 35 per cent of its energy provided by electricity by 2035. “If you look at Cyprus with its own electricity situation, it is an isolated grid which is largely powered by fuel oil, so how possible the 35-per-cent target will be is as yet unclear,” he said. The pledge makes reference to the Paris climate agreement, which was reached at Cop21 in Paris in 2015, which had as its core goals the limiting of the rise of the global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius and net-zero emissions in the second half of this century. Pledge aims for 35% of energy to be generated by electricity by 2035 To achieve this, it said, there must be an “accelerated progress across a broad range of technologies and approaches, including in energy efficiency, renewable energy deployment, electrification, emissions abatement and removals, and other technologies and approaches of end uses across transport, buildings and industry”. It said that this should therefore entail that “electricity’s share of total final energy consumption … rise to around 35 per cent by 2035 and above 50 per cent by 2050”, and that this aim should be “supported by diverse and sustainable energy sources”. So as to achieve this aim, it said that countries across the globe will “accelerate equitable electrification across sectors and economies through nationally determined policies, strategies and actions, reflected in national climate, energy and development planning processes”. Additionally, it said, they will “strengthen efforts to develop resilient and reliable electricity networks, together with storage and system flexibility, to support the growing role of electricity in final energy consumption”. Earlier in the day, news website Politico had reported that some EU member states had been “reluctant” to endorse the pledge as it did not specify that the electricity used to meet the target must be “clean”, given that, as is the case in Cyprus, electricity can be generated using fossil fuels. Additionally, it reported that some member states did not wish to acquiesce to new targets before discussions over the EU’s own energy policies have drawn to a conclusion.