Energy Minister Victor Parlicov took part in the round table at the level of Energy Community ministers, organized in the framework of the annual UN climate change conference COP28, taking place in the United Arab Emirates.

The roundtable assessed the progress made so far in building climate and energy governance in the Energy Community Contracting Parties in line with the EU's 2030 energy and climate targets. Among the targets discussed are a reduction of EU greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, a reduction of final energy consumption by at least 11.7% compared to the projected energy consumption forecast for 2030 and a share of renewable energy of 45% of final consumption. European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat Artur Lorkowski and other officials attended the event.

Moldova's ambitious goals to decarbonize the energy sector by 2050 were the subject discussed by Minister Victor Parlicov during the meeting with the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol. According to the IEA's recent World Energy Outlook 2023 report, keeping global warming within 1.5 °C will require a global agreement and actions leading to a tripling of global renewable energy capacity, a doubling of the rate of energy efficiency improvements, a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by oil and gas companies and more.

At the meeting with Canada's Climate Change Ambassador Catherine Stewart, the Energy Minister discussed, among other things, the decarbonization agenda and opportunities for bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the field. The Republic of Moldova was invited to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance, launched by the UK and Canada. Victor Parlicov expressed his interest to join it, just as we have joined many other initiatives aimed at decarbonization: tripling renewable energy production capacity, doubling the financing of energy efficiency programs, tripling the volume of nuclear energy production, etc.

The Republic of Moldova is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, despite its minor contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. Annual losses caused by climate change amount to 2.13% of Gross Domestic Product. Over the last 130 years, the average annual temperature in Moldova has risen by more than 1.2°C. As a result, droughts, major floods, heat waves, torrential downpours and other extreme climatic events have become more frequent.

To keep the planet liveable, the world's countries have committed to keeping global warming below 2°C but targeting 1.5°C. To achieve this, by 2050 countries must become climate neutral, i.e. remove as much CO2 from the atmosphere as they emit.