President Rumen Radev presented the Bulgarian position of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which takes place in the Polish city of Katowice, the press-secretariat of the head of state announced. In it he linked ecologically clean energy to the supply of Russian gas to Bulgaria, reports Dnevnik. 

"When we talk about clean energy, let's not forget that it is important to have a safe and predictable energy. In this respect, Europe can also help us a lot if it does not create obstacles like in the past for the Russian gas supply to Bulgaria, but also for the European Union itself, "Radev stressed during his speech to the Global Forum.

At the end of last week, the president met with the leaders of the trade unions CITUB and CL "Podkrepa". It took place after the dissatisfaction of employees of the state-owned Maritsa East 2 and Maritsa Iztok Mines in Sofia. Miners protested to defend their jobs, which are threatened by the increasingly stringent environmental requirements of the European Union.

After the meeting, Radev specified that the government's position, which he had to defend in Katowice, was not convincing enough. That is why he developed another version of his speech "with a much more categorical national position".

The head of state also said that "a subsequent revision of the Paris agreement or an increase in ambitions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions does not meet our national interests." He stressed that preserving thousands of jobs is a priority for Bulgaria.

"We are on track to overcome our joint target of 20% reduction by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. In 2016, greenhouse gas emissions in Bulgaria decreased by 49% compared to the base year of 1988 and by 4.4% compared to the previous 2015, "Radev said.

Speaking at the summit, the president reminded that in order to cope with the consequences of climate change, Bulgaria has already developed its National Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan. He added that adapting to climate change is a matter that affects all sectors of society, requiring action by the private sector, civil society organizations and citizens themselves.

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