"Romania will assume climate neutrality in the 2050 time horizon and here there were many discussions with all the key ministries: Energy, Development, Agriculture, Transport. Because each of us, each of the institutions, companies, and fields of activity will have to contribute to climate neutrality. It is not a target that sounds nice to talk about at the political level, but it is a target that if we do not reach we will not be able to survive (…). We see what happened this summer. The signals are very clear: record weather records, the hottest month of July globally, and in Romania, the hottest day in the history of weather records. We already have calculations about the wind energy potential in the Black Sea. Certainly, Romania has a fantastic potential that we must take advantage of, because without offshore renewable energy, Romania cannot reach its targets", said Banciu.
According to him, renewable energy has an important role in aligning all sectoral strategies in order to achieve climate neutrality.
"Beyond the discussions about investors, about how attractive these investments are, we must also think about how we make these investments because the Black Sea is a sensitive area from an ecological perspective, and not only the Black Sea but also the Danube Delta, which is very close. Indeed, we can make those investments without breaking the bank. The role of the Ministry of the Environment, beyond regulating all these projects, strategies, and plans, is also to negotiate on behalf of nature and the environment because the environment and nature do not have voices and we are the ones who put this perspective, beyond the perspective of safety, security, beyond the perspective of the need for safe, cheap energy, close to the Romanians. We also have to think about how we make these investments and we are, in addition to the long-term strategy that will be completed and that practically establishes clear objectives of climate neutrality, we had many discussions that there is not enough data and that we do not have enough projections. I think we need to establish this target and after that, it is absolutely necessary to align all the sectoral strategies so that this target is reached. And this is where the role of renewable energy comes in," said the state secretary.
Banciu says that there is no such thing as a 100% neutral investment from the perspective of environmental impact, but in Romania, there are mitigation solutions.
"We have to look at the environmental impact and at the same time we have to be aware that there is no 100% neutral investment from the perspective of the impact, but we have mitigation solutions and Romania usually had two approaches: either we said we didn't have any impact and we let go of investments and we had problems, or we said that we have an impact and we don't do anything anymore... I think we have to get out of this approach, it's clear. I know the criticism leveled at the Ministry of the Environment that we are blocking, that the procedures are very long. Unfortunately or fortunately, from my point of view, these procedures are regulated by directives and European legislation. We have to go at the level of strategies and plans, not at the project level. The European Commission tells us to "Reduce approval deadlines!". How do you do it? Establish at the national level which are these areas that are not sensitive from the ecological perspective of protecting the environment and natural habitats and speed up the procedures there", explained Ionuţ-Sorin Banciu.
