At the event titled “Planet in Crisis: The Climate Crisis, Its Impacts & Our Response” organized by XEN Glyfada on Monday, May 26, 2025, Ioli Christopoulou, Director and Co-founder of The Green Tank, emphasized the urgent need for a bold, fair, and effective transition to clean energy.
Drawing on recent data, she highlighted that the European Union achieved a 37.3% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2023. In contrast, Greece saw its emissions rise by 31.1% until 2007, but they have since fallen by 30.9% up to 2023. This trajectory underscores the substantial challenge ahead in meeting the climate goal of at least a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030. While demanding, this target remains within reach.
Special emphasis was placed on the electricity generation sector, which has been responsible for approximately 40% of Greece’s total greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2023. In recent years, this sector has demonstrated remarkable progress, with emissions decreasing by 71.4% between 2005 and 2024. This significant reduction is largely attributed to the sector’s green transformation, notably the substantial decline in lignite-based electricity production. Over the past decade, lignite use has decreased by 85.7%, and renewable energy sources have become the primary source of electricity in Greece for the years 2023 and 2024. However, the increasing reliance on fossil gas presents new environmental and energy-related risks.
Ioli Christopoulou stressed the need to avoid investments in new fossil gas infrastructure, accelerate the development of energy storage systems to ensure round-the-clock coverage by renewables, and revise spatial planning for RES deployment in ways that respect nature. She also emphasized the importance of strengthening energy democracy by enabling citizens and local communities to actively participate in the energy transition through self-production, e.g., rooftop solar. and energy communities.
She also focused on the need to accelerate decarbonization in other key sectors such as industry, buildings, and transport, where emissions have remained stagnant. This transformation must be carried out in a socially just way, ensuring no one is left behind.
Finally, she referred to the upcoming EU Emissions Trading System (ETS2), set to launch in 2027, which will cover buildings and road transport. She highlighted the critical need for better public awareness and the fair use of revenues from the European Climate Fund to support vulnerable households.
The presentation highlighted the imperative for a green transformation that is ambitious, socially just, and environmentally responsible.
The event also featured the participation of Dr. Dimitra Founda, Research Director at the National Observatory of Athens; Dimitris Velaoras, Senior Researcher at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR); and Kostas Thomopoulos, Head of Environmental Education and Volunteering at MEDASSET. The event was addressed by the Mayor of Glyfada, Giorgos Papanikolaou.
