On Sunday, voters will have their say on what sort of Europe they want for the next five years – a period that will be crucial for the future of nature. 

Our planet is at a critical turning point: human activities are causing a collapse of biodiversity and an impoverishment of ecosystems on a scale that has not been observed before in the history of humanity. The European Parliament has the power and the responsibility to protect nature through the Directives, the Regulations and the Policies that it passes.

BirdLife Cyprus wants a European Parliament that will protect nature, save our seas from disaster, radically change farming and make it nature-friendly, and tackle climate change. In Cyprus, the following 11 candidate MEPs (in no particular order) signed the BirdLife Cyprus’ declaration and committed to work for the protection of nature with their election to the European Parliament:

• Neoklis Sylikiotis (AKEL)
• Marina Nikolaou (AKEL)
• Chrysanthos (Athos) Georgiou (AKEL)
• Doros Christodoulides (Citizens Alliance)
• Andreas Themistocleous (Citizens Alliance)
• Maria Pastella (Citizens Alliance)
• Alexia Sakadaki (Greens – Citizens Cooperation)
• Charalampos Theopemptou (Greens – Citizens Cooperation)
• Efi Xanthou (Greens – Citizens Cooperation)
• Dimitris Papadakis (EDEK)
• Eleni Theocharous (Allileggii)

 But beyond words and promises, what do the current MEPs and the parties they represent support in the European Parliament? The Climate Action Network has ranked the voting behaviour of current Political Parties and Groups at the European Parliament in relation to climate change and energy issues into three categories, the Defender, the Delayer and the Dinosaur. The Cypriot MEPs of the outgoing European Parliament can be ranked as follows according to the scoring of their Party and Group affiliations:

• Defenders: Neoklis Sylikiotis and Takis Hadjigeorgiou (AKEL)
• Delayers: Kostas Mavridis (DIKO) and Dimitris Papadakis (EDEK)
• Dinosaurs: Lefteris Christoforou (DISY) and Eleni Theocharous (European Conservatives and Reformists – ECR)

From all the EU political groups, the Greens/European Free Alliance stood out the most as a Defender, although none of the current six Cypriot MEPs of the outgoing European Parliament sit in this group.

“Choosing between destroying and protecting nature is but a political decision. The European Parliament can decide if Europe destroys or protects nature and every individual MEP counts and can make a difference”, said BirdLife Cyprus director, Martin Hellicar. On May 26, BirdLife Cyprus calls on voters to vote for what they love by voting MEPs who commit to protect nature.

BirdLife Cyprus is not affiliated with and does not endorse any political party.