Yassas everyone! The end of my semester is fast approaching and the past couple of weeks have kept me busy. A month ago, I was able to visit Athens, Greece for a couple days and it was surreal. My trip ranged from museums to archaeological sites, like the Parthenon. Shortly after, I traveled to Marrakech, Morocco, and spent a few days there with friends. We ventured into the Agafay Desert and walked around the well-known Souks. Both cities were beautiful and I am glad I got the chance to visit them during my break because who knows when I will be back in Europe or Africa. It was also interesting comparing how environmentally friendly each city and country was. This got me thinking about what steps Cyprus might be taking to be eco-friendly. In a previous post, I mentioned how Cyprus, as a member of the EU, committed itself to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. But what steps – legislation, government or educational initiatives, etc. – have been taken?

A little over three decades ago, Cyprus had no environmental legislation. Beginning in the year 1991, the state submitted the first environmental legislation bills and the House of Representatives voted on their adoption. Three decades later, Cyprus has adopted more than 300 laws and regulations. Cyprus’s integrated national energy and climate plan for 2021-2030 builds on other long-term energy and climate plans. Cyprus also allocates 41% of the budget to climate objectives and outlines crucial reforms and investments to further the transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon, and climate-resilient economy under its Recovery and Resilience Plan. If you’d like to read more about the environmental initiatives Cyprus is taking and has planned, their 2022 “Environmental Implementation Review” is available to everyone. The people of Cyprus are also in favor of more government legislation to fight against climate change. 94% of Cypriots feel that climate change has an impact on their everyday lives and 67% are in favor of stricter government measures that impose changes on people’s behavior. While Cyprus may be a small country, it seems just as committed to climate initiatives as its fellow EU countries.

As promised, I have included a picture of the trees that were cut a few weeks ago near my sit spot. Although hard to see in the picture, the branches are green again and a few flower buds have started to open up. I am curious to see what they look like in a couple weeks and I will definitely keep an eye on them till I leave in June.