site.btaBulgaria Takes Part for First Time in "Net-Zero Government Initiative - Leading by Example" Event

Environment Minister Julian Popov participated for the first time on behalf of Bulgaria in an event of the US Net-Zero Government Initiative - Leading by Example, which aims at achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from government operations no later than 2050 to develop a Roadmap outlining actions to achieve this commitment. The Bulgarian government took the decision to join the initiative on November 24, days before the start of COP28 in Dubai. The climate conference takes place from November 30 to December 12.

Popov said he believes governments are lagging behind business in efforts to curb emissions. "Fifteen years ago, government and NGOs drove the climate change agenda and business watched from the sidelines. Now we see that business and industry are very ambitious and moving forward, while we, who are expected to lead by example, need to take example from business," Popov said.

The Net-Zero Government Initiative - Leading by Example is an initiative of the US in partnership with 18 other governments announced at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) in Egypt in November 2022. In addition to the US, 25 other countries (including 12 EU Member States) are currently in the elite club of governments leading by example in this initiative. New countries are expected to announce their accession during the annual climate conference in Dubai this December. In addition to Bulgaria, some of the new signatories are Chile, Italy, Andorra, Monaco, Nigeria and Spain.