EU Climate Change Commissioner Taps Bulgaria's Back

EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard has commended the Bulgarian government over the EU 2020 carbon output reduction. Photo by BGNES

EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard has commended the Bulgarian government for its zeal in fulfilling the EU 2020 carbon output reduction targets.

Hedegaard met in Sofia Friday with PM Boyko Borisov and Environmental Minister Nona Karadzhova to discuss with Karadzhova the bloc's roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050.

The roadmap has the ong-term target of reducing domestic emissions by 80 to 95% by mid-century. It tackles the sectors responsible for Europe's emissions - power generation, industry, transport, buildings and construction, as well as agriculture.

"The money that the Bulgarian government will be generating through the sale of carbon quotas will be directly invested in energy efficiency and rehabilitation of buildings," Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov told journalists during his joint news conference with EU Climate Action Commissioner Hedegaard, referring to the so called refurbishment of the public and residential panel construction buildings erected all over Bulgaria during the communist period.

Borisov declared that Bulgaria is meeting the EU carbon reduction goals "with ease", and stressed that even other major economies such as China are already starting projects to reduce their carbon emissions.

"It may be slower than we Europeans would wish but I hope that in the years to come Europe will achieve better success in its greenhouse gas emission talks with the other big economies," the PM stated.

Commissioner Hedegaard did express her satisfaction with the fact that the Bulgarian government is stressing energy efficiency and is working on a draft law on climate.

She pointed out that the EU policies for improving the member states' energy efficiency does not encompass only better efficiency and energy savings but also seeks to provide for increasing the Union's energy independence from Russia and the Middle East.

"Your thinking is in harmony with the EC plans," Hedegaard told the Bulgarian government praising it for actually surpassing the expected 20% reduction.

In her words, if the EU emphasizes energy efficiency, its carbon output can be reduced by 25% by 2020.

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