Cyprus initiative on climate change to be presented at COP27

President Nicos Anastasiades on Tuesday due to present the Cypriot initiative on climate change at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, which began on Sunday.

However following the death of Archbishop Chrysostomos on Monday morning it was unclear if Anastasiades would be present.

Speaking at the Archbishopric, Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela said the president was aware of the situation.

Government spokesman Marios Pelekanos said that Cyprus, through its excellent relations with regional countries, had in recent years taken initiative in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East towards a regional action plan developed with the contribution of distinguished scientists.

“At the summit, the foundations will be laid for [its] implementation and the achievement of the goals that have been set,” Pelekanos said.

Overnight, representatives of the 120 countries participating agreed to also put on the agenda for the first time the thorny issue of whether rich countries should compensate poorer ones that are most vulnerable to climate change.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who is presiding over the conference, said at its opening that inclusion of this topic in the agenda “reflects a sense of solidarity for the victims of climate disasters.”

For more than a decade, rich countries have rejected formal talks on compensation and how poorer countries are to cope with global warming.

At last year’s COP26 meeting in Glasgow, rich countries blocked a proposal for an agency to fund loss and damage, arguing instead for a three-year dialogue on the matter.