In her article for New Money, Maria-Christina Doulami, Communications Officer at The Green Tank, reviews the latest data on the climate crisis in Greece and worldwide, emphasizing the urgent need for action.
August 2025 was the third hottest on record in Europe, while global CO₂ emissions from the energy sector reached a new high of 37.8 billion tons. In Greece, power generation emissions have already exceeded the annual target set by the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), putting the country off track. Wildfires this year released 37 million tons of CO₂ — an amount comparable to the annual emissions of an entire country, such as Portugal.
The article highlights the pressing need for a just transition: reducing dependence on fossil fuels, investing in clean energy and renewables, improving energy efficiency across buildings, transport, and industry, and protecting the most vulnerable citizens. At the current pace of emissions, the global carbon budget to keep warming below 1.5°C will be exhausted within the next two years.
August 2025 was more than just hot — it was a loud wake-up call that the time for action is running out.
Read the full article [in Greek] here.
English version below
Record Temperatures and CO₂: A Wake-Up Call on the Climate Crisis in Greece
By Maria-Christina Doulami, Communications Officer, The Green Tank
August 2025 was recorded by the European Copernicus program as the third hottest August in history. This is not just another cold statistic; it is a loud wake-up call that the climate crisis is accelerating, translating rising temperatures into wildfires, extreme weather events, and human losses.
Globally, CO₂ emissions from the energy sector reached a new historic high in 2024, hitting 37.8 billion tons. Summer heatwaves further increased demand for air conditioning, adding hundreds of millions of tons of CO₂ and confirming a vicious cycle: the hotter the planet becomes, the greater the energy demand—and the more emissions are produced—as long as we continue relying on fossil fuels for electricity generation.
Wildfires in Europe this summer released approximately 37 million tons of CO₂, an amount comparable to the annual emissions of an entire country, such as Portugal. This shows that extreme temperatures are not isolated events but precursors of a dangerous future for people and the economy.
In Greece, during the first eight months of 2025, power generation emissions reached 10.56 million tons of CO₂, already surpassing the annual carbon budget of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), which stands at 10.2 million tons.
August offered a brief respite, with emissions dropping to 1.32 million tons (a 26% decrease compared to July) thanks to lower lignite and gas use and increased renewable energy production. Nevertheless, Greece is already off track to meet its 2025 climate target, just months after the NECP revision.
Within this context, The Green Tank emphasizes that Greece needs a different path: reducing dependence on fossil fuels, supporting the transition with social justice in mind, and systematically monitoring emissions released into the atmosphere. In its interventions and analyses of the NECP, the Emissions Trading System (ETS), and the Social Climate Plan (SCP), the organization highlights the need for investments in clean energy, energy storage, and efficiency, as well as large-scale renewable energy deployment and improved energy performance in buildings, transport, and industry. Policy must deliver measurable reductions in atmospheric emissions while protecting the most vulnerable citizens.
Science warns that at the current rate of emissions, the global carbon budget to keep temperature rise below 1.5°C will be exhausted within the next two years.
August 2025 was not just hot—it was a wake-up call that time is up, and the NECP “bill” risks going unpaid. Every delay narrows the window to avoid the most dangerous impacts.
The time to act is now. The question is not whether we will reduce emissions, but whether we will do so quickly enough to save the future before it burns along with the present.
