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President Rumen Radev: The Transition to a Green Economy Must Not Lead to Compromises with the Standard and Quality of Life of Citizens and Competitiveness
2023-12-02 13:12:00Bulgarian Head of State makes a speech at the COP28 Climate Summit
The main challenge for the transition to a green economy is to ensure that this transformation does not lead to compromises with the standard and quality of life of citizens and with competitiveness. This is what President Rumen Radev said at the Climate Summit during the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28). The Head of State is leading the Bulgarian delegation at the global forum, which is being held this year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Extreme climate events require decisive action, the President said, stressing that tackling these challenges requires joint action and a comprehensive approach that will lead to sustainable low-carbon economic models. However, the Head of State said, achieving carbon neutrality must encompass a much broader range of objectives than just limiting greenhouse gas emissions. He called for the application of the latest technological advances and gave the example of innovative decarbonisation technologies presented at Bulgaria's national pavilion at COP28, which the President opened yesterday.
The Head of State stressed that for the transition to a low-carbon economy to be responsible, education, health and social systems need also to be adapted to protect the most vulnerable segments of the population.
Regarding the expected decision at COP28 on the COP29 presidency, President Rumen Radev said that Bulgaria, as one of the candidate countries, would continue to constructively and responsibly seek a compromise in the process, after the unprecedented situation in which, due to internal contradictions and mutual blocking of the candidacies, a decision has not been taken yet.