President Klaus Iohannis has set up a working group to combat the effects of climate change, his office said Tuesday.
Climate change
The group is called „Combating climate change: an integrated approach”, and will bring together national and international experts, Romanian and international academics, officials from various public institutions, non-governmental groups.
Its first objective is to develop a framework for an integrated approach to climate change, and identify key priorities to combat climate change, in the medium and long term.
Romania faced a „record number of immediate severe weather warnings (red code). … Experts warn that they will become more frequent within the context of climate change,” a statement said.
COP26
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published new data last summer indicating the acceleration of climate change and the need for firm action, ” a statement from the Presidential Administration said.
At the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow in November countries made additional commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
These commitments will require the implementation of new measures and policies to reduce emissions. At the EU level, the Fit for 55 package is currently being discussed and negotiated. It contains a series of measures to reduce emissions by 2030.
Climate neutrality
As part of the European Green Deal, with the European Climate Law, the EU has set itself a binding target of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This requires current greenhouse gas emission levels to drop substantially in the next decades. As an intermediate step towards climate neutrality, the EU has raised its 2030 climate ambition, committing to cutting emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
The world is going through “a period of readjustment of international and European climate priorities and policies to which Romania is a party.”
The green transition can generate not only a clean and healthy environment, the prevention of extreme weather events and natural disasters, as well as access to clean energy, green growth and new jobs.
Green transition
“In order to benefit from the positive effects of the green transition, we need to harmonize various interests in an integrated approach, guided by science and expertise, in response to COP26 and the Fit for 55 Package,” the statement added.
Romania president meets U.S. President Joe Biden at COP26 climate change conference
