It noted that “according to the initial assessment made by the European Central Bank, a little more than 15% of Cypriot companies face a high transition risk since they are categorized as very high or high polluters (very high/ high emitters)”.

The specific risk is related to the incoming environmental rules which are extremely costly for the most energy-intensive and polluting businesses as they will be forced to switch to the new conditions of operation.

This is a relatively low percentage compared to other eurozone economies which, nevertheless, demonstrated that the transition costs of the country’s largest companies will be “painfully high”.

EU member states are publicly committed to the European Green Deal.

Issues at stake include the proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism and bridging technologies in the transition to net zero as well as the socio-economic consequences of closing down carbon-intensive industries.

Source: In-Cyprus