Republic of Cyprus Second Voluntary National Report - Sustainable development goals

93 CLIMATE ACTION SDG 13 | Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy EU RANK TREND CLIMATE MITIGATION Greenhouse Gas Emissions 22 Share of Renewable Energy in Gross Final Energy Consumption 20 Average CO2 Emissions per Km from New Passenger Cars 17 SUPPORT TO CLIMATE ACTION Population Covered by the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy Signatories 7 Note: Data comes from the Statistical Service of Cyprus. EU rank presents the rank of Cyprus among the EU member states, for the most recent available year. Trend presents the 10-year trend from 2010-2019. Pos, Neg, Neg-Pos, and, Pos-Neg indicate a positive, a negative, a U-shape and an inverse U-shape trend, respectively. Green arrows indicate an improvement in the performance of Cyprus and red arrows indicate a decline in the performance of Cyprus. indicates a constant trend. : indicates that the trend is not calculated, because less than 8 years of data are available. Highlights – 2020 • Cyprus is facing a great challenge in decreasing Greenhouse Gas Emissions. (GHG). • The GHG index for Cyprus was 153.8 (relative to 79.3 in the EU), placing Cyprus in the 22 nd position among EU countries. • In January 2020, the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) was prepared and submitted to the EU, incorporating a very ambitious strategy for reaching the 2030 Target on GHG. • Adoption of the new National Governance System for the EU Green Deal in Cyprus aims to coordinate all Ministries involved in the Green transition efforts. • Cyprus is the only EU member state with an isolated electricity network, endangering energy security and limiting the capacity for increased RES usage. • Infrastructure is underway so as to allow for the introduction of natural gas by 2022, to increase Cyprus’ energy security. Covid Response • The Covid-19 pandemic has strengthened public feeling on the need for climate action, and the desire for a resilient recovery. • Short-term reduction in global emissions of GHG due to the once in a lifetime measures in banning flights and economic activity overall. Looking Ahead • Attainment of the NECP targets of lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 24% until 2030 will be facilitated by the planned investments of more than €1,5 billion. • Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 24% by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. • Increasing the share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in energy consumption. • Improving energy efficiency by reducing the final and primary energy consumption and achieving substantial cumulative energy saving.