Skopje, 20 September 2023 (MIA) – Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic affairs, coordination of economic sectors and investments Fatmir Bytyqi, accompanied by the government’s secretary general Metodija Dimovski, met on Wednesday in New York with the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Inger Andersen.

During the meeting, Deputy PM Bytyqi highlighted the priorities that the Government has set in the area of biodiversity conservation, for which it was jointly assessed that declaring Shar Mountain as a National Park is one of the greatest successes, the government said in a press release.

UNEP Chief Andersen noted that the regional cooperation and connection are important in achieving effective results in the fight against climate change.

“The climate crisis is not a challenge that can be tackled by a single actor. It requires the mobilization and synchronized action of all the actors involved. The Sustainable Development Goals, discussed at this year's United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, are not a wish list. For their implementation, it is necessary to find a more coherent way of cooperation,” Bytyqi noted, adding that through the National Development Strategy, the achievement of these goals will be high on the government's agenda.

Bytyqi and Andersen also discussed the possibilities for deepening cooperation in the area of strengthening the climate resilient infrastructure in North Macedonia. In this regard, it was announced that the climate resilient infrastructure will be a topic of discussion at the highest level with the European Investment Bank by the end of the year.

At the meeting, Andersen said that UNEP team will be sent to North Macedonia in order to make additional analyses in the area of climate resilient infrastructure. They also assessed that North Macedonia's accreditation to UNEP is necessary, which would open new opportunities for deepening cooperation in the fight against climate change.

Photo: The Government of the Republic of North Macedonia