From 15 to 17 April, Commissioner Sinkevičius is travelling first to Cyprus and then to Greece to discuss key environmental files and participate in the 9th ‘Our Ocean’ Conference.
On 15 April, the Commissioner will be in Cyprus where he will first meet Maria Panayiotou, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marilena Raouna. They will notably discuss key European and environmental files, such as the Waste Framework Directive and the Forest Monitoring Law. This will be followed by a dialogue with environmental, conservation and biodiversity NGOs from both communities. Finally, Commissioner Sinkevičius will meet Konstantinos Yiorkadjis, Mayor of Nicosia.
On 16 April, Commissioner Sinkevičius will be in Greece to participate in the 9th Our Ocean Conference which aims to encourage tangible and measurable commitments from governmental and non-governmental attendees. He will first deliver a keynote speech at the opening session ‘Actions to Save the Ocean’ and will speak at a dedicated side event on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). In the margins of the conference, the Commissioner will visit Greece’s pioneering coast cleaning vessel, the “Typhoon” launched by the A.C. Laskarides Foundation and he will meet Alberto van Klaveren, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile.