Belarus and Italy will join action on climate change mitigation, Belarus' First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Protection Iya Malkina told at the opening of the 2nd Italian-Belarusian Business Forum on Green Economy on 23 April, BelTA has learned.

Iya Malkina noted that Belarus has been doing a lot to achieve the global sustainable development goals and introduce the principles of the green economy. “It is very important for us that Belarus and Italy agreed on the memorandum of understanding and cooperation in vulnerability, risk assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Protection of Belarus and the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea of Italy. We invite our counterparts from the Italian ministry to visit Belarus for the official signing of the memorandum,” she said.

The first deputy minister stressed that only through joint efforts of the state, business and civil society it is possible to achieve sustainable social and economic development. The application of the best technical methods and technologies helps not only to preserve the environment, take production onto a new level, but also as a result, to improve the living conditions of our and future generations. The state environmental policy is one of the main components of Belarus' national security. An important achievement of this policy is the implementation of the National Action Plan for Green Economy Development in Belarus through 2020. Its strategic goal is to improve the quality of life of the population on the basis of growing economic competitiveness attracting investment and innovative development.

According to Iya Malkina, the 2nd Italian-Belarusian forum is a great opportunity to establish cooperation in many areas of green economy. Attending the event are almost 50 Italian and 140 Belarusian enterprises. Among the invitees are Belarus' major governmental institutions, specialized associations and representative offices of joint Italian-Belarusian companies. The goal of the event is to advance the latest achievements of the Italian industry in green economy with the focus on waste management, renewable resources (solar and wind power plants), energy efficiency in civil and industrial construction, agriculture, smart cities. The forum is aimed at strengthening and expanding bilateral economic cooperation between Italian and Belarusian companies.