site.btaPresident Plevneliev at UN Climate Summit: Climate Change Requires Global Response

President Plevneliev at UN Climate Summit:
Climate Change Requires
Global Response


New York, September 24 (BTA) - National climate change
legislation and action plans must be consistent with actions at
international level, President Rosen Plevneliev said in his
Tuesday statement at the UN Climate Change Summit held at the UN
headquarters here. Global issues require a global response, he
said as quoted by the presidential information service.

"Climate change is not an illusion," the President said,
underscoring that this year Bulgaria experienced severe
unexpected rainfalls. This extreme weather did a lot of damage
and took the lives of innocent people. "This year marks the 20th
anniversary since the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
entered into force. The time has come for all of us to
coordinate our efforts and secure the safety and prosperity of
future generations," he pointed out.

"Bulgaria is developing a national 2030 Strategy for Adaptation
to Climate Change. It is based on a sector-by-sector approach
and targeted actions in public health, water management,
forests, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, transport and
energy," Plevneliev said.

"Earlier this year we adopted a Bulgarian Climate Change Act.
This new law is complemented by the Third National Action Plan
on Climate Change for the period 2013-2020. This is a program of
action for transition to a low carbon and resource efficient
economy. It includes specific measures to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in Bulgaria by over 18.5 per cent by 2020 compared to
their 2005 levels. We have already achieved our ambitious target
- 20 per cent of energy production to come from renewables. We
have declared 1/3 of Bulgaria's territory as "Natura 2000"
special preservation area under the highest in the world
European environmental standards," the Bulgarian President said
further.

"Bulgaria strongly supports the establishment of a European
Energy Union and interconnection of networks and infrastructure
on regional and global basis," Plevneliev said. According to the
head of state, the change of attitude towards the energy sector
is key to limiting global warming and access to energy
resources is a matter of security for each country. "Energy
should not be a weapon. It is goods to trade and share. We have
to reduce dependency on single energy suppliers and replace it
with an open and competitive market access to energy resources,"
he added.

Plevneliev also underscored that Southeast Europe is a region
blessed with huge clean energy potential, with strong solar and
wind resources.

"Our real energy dependency lies in the way we waste energy," he
stated. "The cheapest energy is the energy you save. We should
put energy efficiency very high on our political agenda.
Building a low-carbon economy is the foundation of sustainable
development. It increases business competitiveness, reduces
household spending and creates new jobs."

"When it comes to protecting the environment, energy efficiency
and the use of renewable energy sources are vital. Bulgaria will
contribute to the UN efforts for reaching a collective
agreement by 2015 to strengthen resilience in the face of
climate change," the President added.

Speaking before the media later, Plevneliev again called on
Bulgarian politicians to work on carrying out of one of the most
sensible national priorities - the implementation of a National
Energy Efficiency Programme./PK/BR