Articles / Opinions

Nature Credits and new approaches to financing nature protection and restoration were the focus of an article published in To Vima tis Kyriakis on 23 August 2026.

The debate on the future of Greece’s lignite regions is no longer only about the timeline for the operation of lignite power plants. It is primarily about whether these regions will continue to receive support from the EU Cohesion Policy beyond 2027. In an article published in Oikonomikos Tachydromos titled “Just Transition: The real battle begins now”, Nikos Mantzaris highlights the importance of the decisions currently being taken at both European and national level for the new programming period 2028–2034.

In an article published in the GREEK ENERGY 2026 annual print edition of energypress.gr, Nikos Mantzaris, Senior Policy Analyst and Co-founder of The Green Tank, examines how growing geopolitical instability is reshaping Europe's energy policy.

In a joint op-ed published in Kathimerini, Nadia Andreanidou (MEDASSET) and Ioli Christopoulou (The Green Tank) highlight the vital role of the LIFE Programme—the EU's only funding instrument dedicated exclusively to nature, biodiversity, and climate action.

Following the European Commission’s proposal to revise the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), Stavros Gennitsaris, Industrial Policy Associate at The Green Tank, explains in his energypress.gr article, “Revising the EU ETS: the choice is not between climate and competitiveness,” why maintaining a strong and credible EU ETS is not an obstacle to industrial competitiveness, but a prerequisite for it.

In a new article for energypress titled “An ‘X-ray’ of the marκet three months after the launch of operation of the first batteries”, Nikos Mantzaris, Lead Policy Analyst and Co-Founder of The Green Tank, analyses data from the first three months of battery storage operation (April–June 2026) and assesses their contribution to the electricity market.

Recent commentary has suggested that Greece exports surplus renewable electricity to Bulgaria during the middle of the day, when solar PV output peaks and wholesale electricity prices are low, only for Bulgaria to store part of this electricity and sell it back to Greece at a higher price after sunset. While this narrative has gained…

Against the backdrop of increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves across Europe, Maria-Christina Doulami, Communications Officer at The Green Tank, explores the vital role of nature in addressing the climate crisis in her latest opinion piece for HuffPost Greece titled “Nature Is Our Natural Air Conditioner. Why Do We Continue to Invest So Little in It?”. Forests, wetlands, seagrass meadows and urban green spaces are not only havens for biodiversity—they are essential natural infrastructure that cool our cities, reduce climate risks and strengthen the resilience of our communities.

In an article published by Chronos Kozanis, Nikos Mantzaris, Lead Policy Analyst and Co-founder of The Green Tank, examines Greece’s lignite exports to North Macedonia during the 2022–2026 period, shedding light on an aspect of the country’s lignite phase-out that has been at the center of public and parliamentary debate in recent years.

In an article on energypress.gr titled “Lignite is leaving, but the questions remain,” Nikos Mantzaris reflects on the permanent shutdown of the Agios Dimitrios Power Plant, the largest lignite-fired plant in Greece and one of the largest in the Balkans, after 42 years of operation.

In an article published on energygame.gr, Stavros Gennitsaris, Industrial Policy Associate at The Green Tank, highlights the potential of Green Public Procurement (GPP) as a lever for decarbonizing the cement industry.

In her article published in Ergoliptikon Vima titled “Energy and buildings: The new landscape of efficiency and sustainability”, Εnergy policy analyst Ioanna Souka highlights the pivotal role of buildings in the energy transition and the new landscape taking shape at both European and national level.

In an article for energypress, Ioanna Souka, Energy Policy Analyst at The Green Tank, emphasizes that supporting unnecessary gas plants comes at a cost to consumers. The recent ENTSO-E power adequacy study (ERAA 2025) shows that a large portion of gas plants in Greece (3.6–4.1 GW out of a total 7.9 GW) is expected to face economic viability challenges. Any new investment in gas-fired units beyond those included in the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) entails high investment risk and ultimately increases costs for consumers.

In his article for Oikologiki Enimerosi (Ecologica News), Nikos Mantzaris, Policy Lead Analyst and Co-Founder of The Green Tank, examines the progress of Greece’s lignite phase-out and assesses whether it has been accompanied by a truly just and socially responsible transition for lignite-dependent regions.