Environmental protection goes beyond political choice or doctrine, because climate change does not wait for politicians to write amendments, Minister of Environment, Waters and Forestry Diana Buzoianu on Tuesday told the Climate Change Summit 2025 taking place in Bucharest, which she attended via video-call.
Buzoianu emphasized that more firmness is needed in adopting the necessary legislation.
"We will have to ponder thoroughly if we want to build a Romania that is here for the future generations. We must start today actions that will make sense in ten, twenty or thirty years. This means, in fact, ministries that are not just after short-term gains. Romanian institutions do not have this mindset: 'Let's see what we are about to do in four years, in eight years.' We have strategies for adapting to climate change. They look extraordinarily on paper, but we must also give them power, we must put the necessary resources behind them. (...) Environmental protection or adaptation to climate change can no longer be a discourse of choice, a discourse of doctrine, but rather a discourse about what our obligations are, to make sure that people live in a healthy country, in a country that is still around in the years to come. (...) Climate change does not wait for politicians to write amendments, but we must be more energetic in modifying the legislation this area needs," Buzoianu argued.
She added that the ministry is working with all key actors - the business environment and local authorities - to create mechanisms that facilitate the implementation of climate change adjustment measures. She cautioned that Romania is already affected by these phenomena, which shows "that we are no longer talking about some abstraction."
"We already know that Romania is affected by climate change. Entire swathes of the country are in full desertification process, we see increasingly more extreme phenomena that destroy communities and put people's lives in danger. It's obvious that we are no longer talking about something abstract or distant, but rather about a phenomenon that is gaining ground, and we must adapt," Buzoianu stressed.
According to the minister, the topic of climate change adaptation is getting ever more attention in European debates, including in the Luxembourg meetings, and Romania must rethink some policies and regulatory acts in order to deal with this transition.
"The current legislation was designed decades ago, and the Ministry of Environment can be the catalyst that will bring into question the rethinking of certain levels, including legislative ones. What we want is to find a fair transition, to also find the necessary funds to make this transition, because when we only talk about this obligation, but without the necessary resources to do so, it's no surprise to anyone that we will not be actually to deliver. If we talk about the costs of not adapting to climate change and the costs of inaction, these will always be much higher in the long term compared to the costs of implementing measures now, at this moment," Diana Buzoianu explained.
International leaders, decision-makers and sustainability experts discussed on Tuesday at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest climate policies and s
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