President Grybauskaitė at UN Climate Summit: Energy security is global issue

The Climate Summit held at the initiative of the UN Secretary General discussed a new global legally binding climate agreement which is planned to be signed in 2015. The heads of state from 130 countries debated concrete measures to reduce environmental pollution.

According to the Lithuanian president, implementation of climate change targets is integral to ensuring energy security and efficiency. This is due to uneven distribution of energy resources throughout the globe and the fact that some energy supply monopolies use energy as a means of political pressure. The problem is especially acute in Europe. Therefore, we must cut down the dependence on fossil fuels and invest more in energy efficiency seeking to reduce the consumption of energy.

Grybauskaitė underlined that Lithuania was successfully increasing its energy independence and investing in reliable local energy supply sources. In 2005, the European Union set the 23 percent renewable energy target to be reached by 2020. Lithuania has almost achieved this level – the usage of renewables in the country now stands at 22 percent.

In her speech, the president also called world leaders’ attention to the need of a global legally binding climate agreement. All countries must make proportionate contributions to reducing global pollution. Notwithstanding that Lithuania is responsible for a very limited amount of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, we have made serious commitments and adopted legally binding national climate change targets. Since restoration of its independence, Lithuania has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 56 percent.