COP for Hope: Lithuania hopes COP29 to secure climate financing for developing world - minister (Exclusive interview)
As part of COP29 in Baku, Trend News Agency proudly presents COP for Hope, a special project offering an unparalleled platform to hear from world leaders and trailblazers in politics, economics, science, and ecology, all united by a shared commitment to addressing today’s pressing climate challenges.
Today, we are honored to speak with Simonas Gentvilas, Minister for Environment of Lithuania.
In an exclusive interview with Trend on the sidelines of COP29, Gentvilas noted that first of all, it's a very well-organized COP.
“Thank you, Azerbaijan, for hosting it. You are becoming really professionals in international events. It's early to say about the progress. We see that discussions and negotiations are still ongoing. We must wait for Friday. Usually it's the last days in COP when decisions are made,” he said.
The minister expressed hope that there will be agreement on fossil fuel abolishment.
“G20 was very weak stating about the fossil fuel eviction. We hope that the financing for the developing world will also be secured. These are the two topics. If we speak about climate change, we have to use less oil, gas and coal and eventually stop using them,” said Gentvilas.
The minister went on to add that climate is changing everywhere, so everybody has to do its part.
“Oil-rich economies have the biggest capacity to change. because they are rich economies. Azerbaijan is a big trading partner for Lithuania. We like and love a lot Azerbaijan. We have to strive to become examples of change. Azerbaijan has been a very successful country. Many countries are looking at you, just like at Lithuania, looking how they could transform their economies,” he said.
The minister reminded that Lithuania is negotiating through European Union as a member.
“So we are collectively contributing to the New Collective Quantified Goal and we are the largest donors globally. We are spending one third of the total 100 billion dollar package. Meanwhile, Europe accounts for only 6% of emissions. We expect the average countries also to support this,” said Gentvilas.
The Lithuanian minister pointed out that Europe is already doing more than it should.
“We expect big countries, big polluters like China and the US to help also other countries to adapt to climate change. This is totally of necessity, because we are experiencing climate-induced migration to our continents, to North Europe, as people cannot afford living in sub-Saharan regions, in low-lying nations, with all the Pakistani floods and others. We have to support such countries,” he said.
The minister went on to add that Lithuania has been a very successful country to decarbonize its economy.
“We have already reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 70% and our economy is already transformed. The single most challenging sector is transport sector.
We have to search for solutions and we expect that we can be an example for many countries that in a short period has transformed its economy. So in 2030, for example, all the electricity in Lithuania will be based only on renewables. Currently the district heating sector is already for 80% based renewables. We expect to show how a small country can do big things,” he concluded.
