By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The first female Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas has promised to implement changes in climate policy.
Fourty-three-year-old Kallas, a lawyer and head of Estonia’s Reform party, was sworn into office last Tuesday.
She said, “My government will be very pro-European, especially in supporting European values such as the rule of law.”
She said in an interview, “We will also have a very clear change in policies when it comes to issues like climate policy.”
The new coalition government has vowed to develop plans to stop the production of oil shale power in the country by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Estonia becomes one of the few countries in the world where both the Prime Minister and head of state are women.
Kallas, who is the daughter of former Prime Minister Siim Kallas, also appointed women to the key cabinet posts of finance and foreign ministers.
“Everybody asks me about their gender, it’s not about their gender, it’s about them being really competent people,” she said.