By Alexia Saoulli
CYPRUS hopes to have reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent by 2010 Minister of Agriculture and Environment Costas Themistocleous said yesterday.
He was presenting a recent European Commission study highlighting the benefits of implementing EU environment directives, as well as Cyprus’ plan to implement the Kyoto Protocol conditions that were discussed in Marrakesh last week.
He said that by 2010 Cyprus hoped to have fully implemented all of the EU’s environmental directives and those of Kyoto.
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol stipulates that all signature countries must reduce their greenhouse gas levels by five per cent compared to levels in 1990, and that emissions must be reduced in stages by 2010.
” Fundamental changes need to be made in the primary source of material used to produce electric energy on the island,”Themistocleous said. ” This is why the government is already taking steps to introduce natural gas at the Vassiliko power plant instead of crude oil.”
The European Commission’s study estimates the environmental, economic and social benefits likely to arise from full implementation of EU environmental legislation in all 13 candidate countries.
Themistocleous said that although implementing the plan would cost £500 million, the cost-effective benefits over a 20-year period would ultimately double that, resulting in a major profit for the island.
” The debate has often focused on the costs of compliance with EU legislation and the difficulty in finding sufficient money to fund the necessary investments,”he said. ” However there has been little discussion about the benefits that EU environmental directives will imply for Cyprus, both in environmental and economic terms.”
The study specifically addressed the issue of protecting the atmosphere and water, as well as how to manage waste.
The estimated benefits include, among others, improving and extending the water supply networks to ensure that safe drinking water is available throughout the island, ensuring that air emissions from large combustion plants are reduced, and collecting, treating and disposing of waste from households, industry and hospitals.
” These in turn will lead to a large number of benefits such as better public health as exposure to pollution is reduced, promotion of tourism as a result of a cleaner environment, less damage to forests and buildings through pollution, and benefits not directly related to the environment, such as increased economic efficiency and higher productivity for companies as a result of modern technology,”Themistocleous said.
He said the cost of the scheme should not be viewed as a burden, as these directives will modernise Cypriot society and will be carried out irrespective of a successful accession course.
The government is carrying out its own study on measures to protect the environment. According to the minister this political plan will focus on alternative renewable energy sources such as wind generators and solar energy, building more pavements and cycle paths, and introducing more public transport to reduce the number of cars on the roads. This study should be ready within a month, he said.
