site.btaPresident Radev: "We Can't Pretend Any More that Climate Change Is Not a Problem"

Paris/Sofia, December 13 (BTA) - Talking to reporters in Paris on Tuesday evening, President Rumen Radev said, as quoted by his press secretariat: "We can't pretend any more that climate change is not a problem. It is a problem which cannot be solved either through a ban on conventional energy generation or by limiting greenhouse gas emissions alone."

Radev participated in the One Planet Summit in Paris at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Radev stressed: "We can see the consequences of climate change - they are becoming increasingly dramatic, they affect the economies of all countries and claim many lives." He called for a deep transformation of the method of production of energy, goods and services. "We have to win over the hearts and minds of the young generation. We need a new ethic and a new culture in the models of production."

The Bulgarian President said the education systems should get involved in the transformation so that larger investments should go into innovative technologies and projects. Answering a question, he said all people and institutions committed to climate change are important, and thanked the celebrities who support and invest in that significant cause.

The consequences of global warming are already a real threat to many countries around the world, said Radev, who talked with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Bulgarian President said a low-lying country with a population of 165 million, which is at risk of being badly affected by any rise in the ocean's level, poses a threat of a large-scale migrant crisis.

At the forum Radev met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to discuss Bulgaria's entry in the Schengen area. "It will not be as easy as we expected. It will take much work," he noted.

Radev attended a working meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron together with the leaders of delegations participating in the summit.