Addressing a reception hosted by the President in honour of the participants of the ‘2nd International Conference on Climate Change in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East: Challenges and Solutions’  in Paphos, Sachs conveyed his “tremendous satisfaction and commitment” to do everything that “we can to support you in this tremendous venture and this visionary initiative”.

During the two-day conference, Anastasiades said Cyprus is determined to take all necessary steps at a national level to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. He also underlined the objectives of the Action Plan, which is an initiative of the Cyprus government to address the effects of climate change.

Sachs said that all participants feel that the region has “really tremendous stresses caused by this global change underway but what we all felt across all the countries… is that this is an issue bringing everyone together and this issue is so much to our urgent attention so much at the centre of our needs”. He also said that climate change is “so much at the centre of our concern for our children and grandchildren that it transcends normal politics, it transcends short term divisions, even long-term divisions” and it “is a force that is already unifying a complex region”.

With President Anastasiades’ leadership, he said, “we will do everything that we can to support you to bring together the region together. Sachs talked about “positive economic developments from the changes that are ahead” and “a new era of cooperation as well” noting “we are compelled to cooperate. And when visionary leaders such as yourself”, he told President Anastasiades, identify and lead the way forward “you bring forward the best in all of us”.

Sachs also praised the Cyprus Institute and its President, Costas Papanicolaou for his incredible hard work and leadership. The Cyprus Institute has co-organised the conference and Papanicolaou is the President`s advisor Cyprus on climate change.