EU going too fast on climate, Cyprus president says

Europe may have set the bar too high on its climate goals without focusing enough on economic competitiveness, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said after attending the COP29 global climate summit in Azerbaijan.

While EU energy transition targets should be met, the bloc has set “very high goals,” Christodoulides told an energy conference in Nicosia on Friday having just returned from the COP29 gathering in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ekathimerini reported.

The EU is looking to slash net greenhouse gas emissions in the bloc by 90 percent by 2040 and to reach zero net emissions by 2050.

“I do not consider it possible to achieve those goals within the timeframe we have set. It’s greatly challenging — without having made progress on major issues related to competitiveness,” Christodoulides said without elaborating, according to the report.

Nearly 200 countries are gathered in Baku, with a primary goal of agreeing on a new target on how much money needs to be provided to help developing countries adapt to climate change. Christodoulides said he didn’t have high hopes of a global consensus on the way forward.

“To be perfectly honest, nothing I heard allows us to be particularly optimistic on the targets toward green transition,” Ekathimerini quoted him as saying.