Business news

MINSK, 5 October (BelTA) – Belarus’ accession to the Paris Climate Change Agreement will give an impulse to the economic development of the country. Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei made the statement in an interview with the UN Radio, BelTA has learned.

Vladimir Makei stated: “We signed the document with open eyes. The country’s president signed the decree to approve Belarus’ accession to the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This is why we believe that further negative development of events has to stop. We are ready to make our real contribution to the process. We believe that our accession to the agreement should give a nudge to the economic development of the state, too.”

Vladimir Makei remarked that a national program on social and economic development till 2030 had been developed in Belarus. The program pays close attention to environmental affairs, the preservation of ecological equilibrium, and the prevention of further climate changes. “We’ve undertaken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28% by 2030 in comparison with 1990. We intend to increase the forested area. We also intend to recreate 10,000ha of swamps,” said the official.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said he believes that the Paris Climate Change Agreement will create the foundation for developing a new green economy based on cutting-edge technologies. “We are now closely working on the development of alternative kinds of energy. We tightly cooperate with the countries that have much experience in these matters, for instance, Ireland and Germany. In particular, I am responsible for one of the projects the Irish are implementing worth a total of about $100 million,” said Vladimir Makei.

Vladimir Makei said he believes that the Paris Climate Change Agreement will spur conventional industries towards innovations and the implementation of new projects that will be based on state-of-the-art technologies and will lead to the reduced usage of conventional energy sources.