Members of Youth for Climate Cyprus, a young independent pressure group supported by Young Friends of the Earth Cyprus, met with the Cypriot Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Mr. Kostas Kadis, on 8th July. These representatives handed over to the Minister a letter which showed a long list of arguments to react to Climate Change.
According to the representatives of Youth for Climate Cyprus, the ministry considered Cyprus to be a pioneer in tackling Climate Change. However, the energy plan of Cyprus (2020-30) shows exactly the opposite. Cypriot government’s priority over the next few years is not the reduction of greenhouse gases, but clearly the extraction of natural gas.
Profitability is considered more important than the destruction of ecosystems, the disappearance of over 1 million species and the fact that hundreds of millions of people are at risk of being refugees due to climate change. Cypriot Minister also reassured that natural gas profits will be kept in a sustainable fund so future generations can have them at their disposal. Youth for Climate Cyprus faced to this position asking for how useful money will be when temperature in Cyprus rises by 6 degrees over the next years; how useful money is going to be when Cyprus becomes a dessert; how useful money is going to be when hundreds of millions of people become climate refugees?
To sum up, it is obvious that the competent services and the government will not live to experience the devastating consequences of the Climate Crisis, so their priority is profit, much to the detriment of the youth and future generations.