Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg has called on Romanians to “stand together against illegal logging and the destruction of our common planet” in a video message recorded in Brussels.
“Hi! My name is Greta Thunberg and I am a climate activist from Sweden, and I want to urge you to join the Fridays for Future movement in Romania and support them, and stand together against illegal logging and the destruction of our common planet. Because we only have one planet and we need to protect it, we need to protect the ecosystems, the biosphere and nature. So, see you on the streets,” the 17-year-old activist said.
Thunberg was in Brussels where she criticized the European Commission’s plan to achieve European climate neutrality by 2050. She said the “Green Deal” package of measures gives the world „much less than a 50 per cent chance” to limit global warming to 1.5 C.
Illegal logging has been a major problem in Romania for years. Romania’s acting Environment Minister Costel Alexe said n December, that almost 20 million cubic meters, which is almost half of the wood cut down annually in Romania is illegally logged.
Alexe said a few days ago that more than 10,000 cubic meters of wood had been illegally cut down from forest in the northwest region of Maramures.
He said it was the biggest case of illegal logging in Romania in the last five years. “Logging went on for 8 years without anyone noticing, costing the state millions of lei (many thousands of euros),” he said.
On Friday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis planted new trees in an event designed to promote forest renewal.
“It’s unacceptable to have massive illegal logging in the 21st century and …. I urge the prime minister and the government members to find new tools to protect Romania’s forests,” Iohannis said.
