The Green Tank submitted detailed comments on the 2nd drafts of the Greek Just Transition Development Program and Territorial Just Transition Plans.
The significant progress compared to the first version of the texts was emphasized, specifically on the following issues,:
- Financial support to energy communities for self-consumption, heating and energy saving projects.
- The eligibility of energy savings and energy efficiency projects for buildings, both for households – with an emphasis on tackling energy poverty – and private companies, as well as public buildings and infrastructure.
- The eligibility of heating and district heating projects in lignite regions that are based entirely on renewables.
- The possibility of financing energy storage infrastructure in lignite regions with technologies other than hydrogen (pump hydro energy storage, batteries, thermal storage).
- Enhancing women’s participation in the labour market and recognizing the explosive problem associated with the flight of young people (though without the inclusion of specific programs).
- The emphasis placed on supporting existing businesses in lignite regions and not just on attracting new and large companies.
Despite the progress in relation with the 1st draft, the 2nd draft of the Territorial Just Transition Plans still has negative points. Specifically:
- The governance system remains very centralized, without allowing the participation of local and civil society representatives in decision-making.
- Land reclamation that creates only temporary jobs is still eligible for funding from the Just Transition Development Program (PDAM).
- The allocation of resources both among regions in transition and, mainly, priority axes is unsubstantiated and problematic. The channeling of the lion’s share of resources (47%) into a general and vague support for entrepreneurship, while only 15.9% and 6.9% of resources are directed towards the two key axes of energy transition and circular economy respectively, is of particular concern.
You can read here (in Greek) the detailed comments that the Green Tank submitted to the consultation