Cyprus

The initial draft of Cyprus’ NECP was not even in line with its national target of 24% reduction in emissions, as foreseen under the previous Effort Sharing Regulation to reach the EU’s previous 2030 climate target. Following the outcry of civil society organisations and other stakeholders, an updated NECP was submitted in 2020 by the government. However, the Cypriot NECP still falls short to implement its national target, not to mention that it needs a serious revision to be aligned with the EU’s new climate and energy targets.

The NECP  lists a number of specific measures to be implemented up to 2030. It also manages to set out clear goals for many sectors, including transport, the most polluting one among the non-ETS sectors (49% of all emissions), due to the lack of infrastructure for public transport, and the widespread use of cars as the only means of transportation.

However, the Plan relies heavily on the introduction of natural gas in Cyprus’ energy system. The fact that Cyprus sees fossil gas as a transition fuel is clearly reflected in its NECP. Moreover, the Plan does not explore ways of ensuring its energy security through renewable energy storage systems, hampering the possibility of deployment of more renewables. The monopoly of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus is perceived to be one of the main reasons for slow renewables deployment on the island.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE DOCUMENT ON MEMBER STATES’ NECP PERFORMANCES

NOTE: When targets or projections from NECP or from another sectoral strategy document are available, the tool calculates the difference between the realised data and the target in percentage. The percentages that can be found on the country pages and on the right side of each graph are based on this calculation. If the country does not have projections or targets for the year of the latest realised data, the percentages do not exist.