The climate crisis is deepening across Cyprus and the wider Eastern Mediterranean, with rising temperatures and growing risks demanding urgent, coordinated action, speakers said on Wednesday as they presented conclusions of an international conference.
The event, organised by the Friends of the Cyprus Institute Association, outlined findings from an April conference held under the Cyprus EU Presidency, which produced the ‘Nicosia Call for Action 2026’.
Things not looking good
Presenting the conclusions, conference organising committee chairman and former Cyprus Institute president Costas Papanicolas struck a sombre tone, saying “things do not look very optimistic, and this is clearly due to us – and by us, I mean the inhabitants of this strange planet.”
He pointed to scientific publications indicating signs of an emerging El Niño event, warning of further temperature spikes.
''The last major El Niño we experienced was in 2007, and if you remember, Cyprus faced serious water shortages that year. Therefore, if El Niño is confirmed, it is highly likely that we will experience a surge in temperatures'', he said.
The ‘Nicosia Call for Action 2026’ is structured around four pillars: empowering citizens through education and a socially just transition; accelerating implementation through scientific cooperation on clean energy, circular economy practices and reduced fossil fuel reliance; strengthening governance and financing with better coordination and participatory models; and boosting regional partnerships via scientific diplomacy and cross-border projects.
‘We’ve already touched 1.5 degrees of global warming’
Climate data presented at the event underlined the urgency.
Cyprus Institute professor Panos Hadjinicolaou said the 10 warmest years on record globally have all occurred since 2015.
“We have almost reached the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold that the Paris Agreement suggests should ideally not be reached by the middle of the century. We are in 2026 and we have already touched 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming compared to the pre-industrial era, around the mid-19th century, in terms of temperatures, which is the reference period used for comparisons,” he said.
Cyprus warming above normal levels since 2015
Focusing on Cyprus, Hadjinicolaou said data from 1983 onwards show a sharp warming trend, with every year since 2015 above normal levels.
Using Athalassa in Nicosia as a reference point, he said temperatures have stabilised at a higher baseline.
''There was a rise during the 21st century – a sharp jump. Now we seem to have reached a plateau, but at a high level, with every year in Nicosia being around 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius warmer than normal'', he went on to say.
Cyprus: two-thirds of days in 2025 warmer than normal
Daily data tell the same story. In 2025, warmer-than-average days dominated.
''In fact, 245 days of the year recorded positive anomalies, as we statistically describe them, meaning warmer-than-normal days. Two-thirds of the days in 2025 were warmer than normal'', he noted.
Speakers also stressed the practical implications, particularly for cities and infrastructure.
Former environment commissioner and MP Charalambos Theopemptou said Cyprus remains unprepared for sustained heat.
“We are experiencing high temperatures. What are the problems? What condition are people’s homes in? What habits do we have? How do we build our cities and schools? All these require preparation,” he said.
Cyprus behind zero-emission requirements
He warned that Cyprus is lagging behind EU policy requiring all new buildings to be zero-emission from 2028.
“Does anyone know how to build a zero-emission building in Cyprus? Shouldn’t the government already be launching pilot projects and constructing two or three small buildings? Do we know how to carry out energy upgrades? To take an old building and turn it into a zero-emission one?” he asked.
By 2050, all buildings in Cyprus must meet zero-emission standards, he added, warning that current progress is far too slow.
“And if we calculate how many years remain until 2050, you will see that we should be carrying out energy upgrades on 16,000 buildings per year, while we are currently doing only 1,000'', he said.
Source: CNA
