Mitsodakis: Greek strategy for climate change

20 September 2021, 19:33 Saturday

The Prime Minister said in a high-level energy dialogue convened by the United Nations Secretary-General that the government’s commitment to tackling the phenomenon of climate change will ensure that more people use clean energy. Griagos Mitsodakis described Greece’s response to climate change and stressed that the Mediterranean is one of the most vulnerable areas to the effects of global warming.

The Prime Minister stressed that the government is committed to protecting the environment and tackling the phenomenon of climate change and ensuring that more people use clean energy.

He described the basic steps of Greece’s strategy against climate change.

First, the process has begun with the aim of complete detoxification from lignite by 2028, based on coal removal and rapid de-lignification. “In this endeavor we will support the process of converting about ப 5 billion into lignite production areas. In fact, our main goal now is to gradually close all lignite power plants by 2025, three years earlier than the initial estimates,” he said with character.

Second, in rethinking and planning the Greek energy system, the long-term obvious goal is climate neutrality by 2050. The key tools for achieving this goal are renewable energy sources and energy efficiency.

“We are focusing more on using renewable energy sources to positively transform our energy mix and plan to double the capacity of wind and solar units installed by photovoltaics by 2030. At the same time, we are developing a coherent road map of Greece. We emphasize energy development, “said Kriagos Mitsodakis.

Third, in the case of electric vehicles, they not only proceed with the relevant legal interventions, but also provide significant subsidies ranging from 20 to 40% for the purchase of electric vehicles with the program “I move through electricity”.

“Finally, we have different policies for the most remote areas, depending on the size and unique characteristics of each island. For large islands, we are implementing a medium-term investment plan for new power connections to improve renewable energy sources and their energy security.
“For small, unconnected islands, we are implementing special targeted solutions to reduce their footprint or integrated solutions in the environment aimed at creating 100% carbon-free energy systems,” he said.

In conclusion, he pointed out that the Mediterranean is one of the most vulnerable areas to the effects of global warming, which exacerbates other environmental problems, exemplified by the catastrophic wildfires experienced by Greece in August this year.

During our meeting at the EUMED Summit in Athens last week, we accelerated our efforts to protect the marine environment and Mediterranean forests, as well as the transition to a limited carbon economy that utilizes efficient resources. No one can achieve pure energy for everyone if we act alone. We all need to work together on this joint project to build a sustainable future, “said Kriagos Mitsodakis.