site.btaIn Climate Change Talks, Bulgaria Should Aim for Balanced Energy Mix - MEP Penkova

Preserving a balanced energy mix is a position that is important for Bulgaria to maintain during the climate negotiations, MEP Tsvetelina Penkova said in BTA interview. She was speaking on the sidelines of the COP29 climate change conference in Baku.

Preserving and strengthening competitiveness in a low carbon economy is one of the big topics of COP29 and is directly related to efforts to mitigate climate change, on which active negotiations continue. 

Bulgaria is in quite a good position as the country's energy mix is real diversified with 30% nuclear, 40% coal and, depending on season, 20-30% renewable energy, said Penkova, who is part of the European Parliament delegation at COP29. 

With regard to coal power, it is important to point out that a complete and total shutdown of the coal power plants of the Maritsa basin is not in the agenda, the MEP said. "This type of strategic sites cannot be stopped completely, but their weight in the energy mix should gradually decrease, at least because the electricity they produce is too expensive," she added.

Penkova was elected vice-president of the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, president of the European Energy Forum and vice-president of the Nuclear Energy Support Group (NEGS).

In the MEP's words, it is in the coal sector that Bulgaria can seek partnerships and use the experience of countries with a large coal industry such as Poland, India and China on the practical aspects of the transition such as the timing and capacity of the coal-fired power plants, the transition in the coal regions and finding alternative employment for the coal industry workers. 

Bulgaria can also find strategic partners in the use of hydrogen as an environment-friendly energy source, given that it is, along with Germany, the EU country with significant research and development and real action in this direction. Hydrogen technologies are attracting the interest of African countries such as Nigeria, and are also high among the priorities of countries such as Japan - Tokyo's public transport already uses heavily hydrogen-powered buses.

In the field of new technologies in Bulgaria, especially in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, significant progress has been made in energy efficiency, energy storage and energy transfer, said the MEP. 

"It is also important for Bulgaria to defend its position in terms of connectivity, both regarding the carriage of key energy resources and the transmission of electricity. Bulgaria's geographic location, as well as the fact that the country is not only a producer but also an exporter of electricity, gives it the opportunity to become a hub for electricity transmission within the EU, Penkova said. 

A look inside the Baku climate talks

"Bulgaria, as part of the EU, shares the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. According to the EU, these targets are necessary to make it possible to limit warming to 1.5 C compared to the pre-industrial era, as set out in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Decarbonization efforts covered by climate change mitigation policies have emerged as a subject of serious controversy at COP29, after COP28 negotiated a move away from fossil fuels in Dubai last year," said Penkova said as she explained the ongoing negotiating process. 

She said that countries that are still very much dependent on fossil fuels, want a bigger "deferral" - 10 or 20 years longer timeframes than those given to Europe or the US. 

On the EU side, the negotiations are led by the European Commission and representatives of the Presidency (in this case Hungary). MEPs support this process through bilateral meetings with various countries, mainly non-European, in search of opportunities to exchange experiences and clarify positions, the MEP explains.

Another key objective of COP29 is to increase climate financing, including by expanding the range of countries contributing to global climate funds. The Paris Agreement makes it compulsory for developed economies to contribute to combating climate change while leaving it voluntary for developing economies. However, the classification used dates from 1992 and many analysts point out that it no longer reflects reality adequately. 

The EU position is that the agreement should be respected, but it should also take into account the progress in economic development over the last decade, for countries such as China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, which have the financial resources to engage with mandatory support in financial instruments, Penkova explained. 

However, important details emerge in bilateral talks. China insists that it must remain in the group of developing economies because, although it is the world's second-largest economy by GDP and one of the leading greenhouse gas generators, it also has a huge population and millions there still live in poverty.

At the same time, the Chinese delegation points out that a lot is being done at the national level for the transition to a clean economy and clean energy, with progress in the transport sector, the production of electric vehicles, the development of battery technologies and rail transport. Experts, including from the EU, confirm that the transition achieved by China is almost unmatched by any other country, Tsvetelina Penkova noted. 

The United Arab Emirates has expressed readiness to contribute to the common financial instruments, while calling for stronger legislative incentives for public-private partnerships, as it is very difficult to rely solely on public funding when it comes to the huge amount of financing resources needed for the transition to clean energy and a clean economy, the MEP said.

Future changes in the labour market are also an important focus. The UAE expects up to 200,000 new jobs in the green industry to emerge over the next decade. 

On the other side of the equation are the much poorer developing economies that could hardly afford to really be donors and devote resources to climate funds. 

"Uganda, to take one example, derives 90% of its energy from renewable sources and is one of the countries with the biggest biodiversity: not only in East Africa but globally, which it is working hard to protect. It meets its clean and cheap energy targets, but for economic reasons it could not be among the donor countries, not least because of the huge number of refugees, some 1.7 million, fleeing conflict in the region. The Maldives, an archipelago of nearly 150 islands with a population of around 500 000, is among the countries in the world that are most threatened by climate change because of rising sea levels. Evidence suggests that in the next 80 to 100 years a very large part of the islands' territory is likely to disappear," Penkova said. 

She argued that countries like Uganda and the Maldives need technical assistance. "In the case of the African country, it can be technology and systems for monitoring or early warning that can predict rainfall in certain regions several months in advance. In the case of the Maldives, the installation of renewable energy facilities such as wind farms and solar plants is not feasible because of the scarcity of land, but a possible solution is floating photovoltaics which, in addition to generating electricity can also improve connectivity among the islands." 

The MEP believes that bilateral meetings are conducive to a more objective assessment of how to approach climate policy. "The approach to countries such as Singapore, the UAE and China and demanding of them a fair financial contribution to the common climate funds, cannot be applied to countries in Africa, Latin America and much of Asia," the MEP said.