News

The ARTEMIS documentary series takes viewers on a journey across the Mediterranean, showcasing how science, innovation, policy and local communities can work together to protect and restore some of the region's most valuable marine habitats: seagrass meadows.

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 this issue, we bring together the latest highlights from our work on energy, climate, nature and Just Transition. From Posidonia seagrass meadows and marine ecosystems to electricity prices, carbon emissions and fossil gas, and from power generation to buildings, transport and industry, we connect the different pieces of a transition that is moving forward—but not always at the same pace for everyone.

Ioli Christopoulou, Policy Director and co-founder of The Green Tank, spoke on the Radio City programme on Athens 9.84 about the importance of Posidonia meadows for biodiversity, coastal protection and climate resilience, as well as the need to strengthen restoration efforts in Greece and across the Mediterranean.

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.

The eleventh issue of The Green Tank's newsletter has been published, covering developments over the past six months related to the Just Transition of lignite regions in Greece and across Europe (January–June 2026).

Funding for the transition of Greece's lignite regions must continue during the next programming period (2028–2034). This was among the key messages delivered by Ioli Christopoulou at the event "Cohesion Policy 2028–2034 | National and Regional Partnership Plan", organised by the General Secretariat for the Partnership Agreement (NSRF) of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance on 9 July 2026 at the Athens Conservatoire (Odeon of Athens).

As EU Member States prepare their National Restoration Plans under the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and engage in negotiations on the priorities of the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework, a new report from the Interreg Euro-MED ARTEMIS project highlights what is needed to move from the legal protection of Posidonia meadows to the systematic implementation of restoration actions at national and Mediterranean scale.

In the first six months of 2026, domestic gas consumption reached 34.4 TWh, down slightly from the all-time high set in 2025. LNG ranked first in imports for the six-month period and reached a record high (22.07 TWh), while imports via Sidirokastro continue as usual, though the majority are re-exported (7.35 TWh, 47.5% of the six-month total).

The carbon intensity of electricity generation reached a historic low in May 2026 (200 g CO2/kWh), as it also did for 2026 as a whole (227 g CO2/kWh), thanks to record-breaking generation from renewables and hydropower during the first five months. Without the significant curtailments of renewables during this period (1.3 TWh), the average carbon intensity would have been 14.2% lower and below 200 g CO2/kWh. The Agios Dimitrios lignite-fired power plant emitted 0.11 million metric tons during its final month of operation and 1.58 million metric tons over the five-month period, remaining the top polluter.

Renewables ranked first in electricity generation and reached a 9-month high in May with 2,573 GWh, despite significant curtailments (418 GWh, or 14% of RES generation) and the comparatively higher absorption by the first batteries (9.5 GWh, accounting for just 2.2% of RES curtailments). In addition, there was an increase in production from fossil gas and lignite compared to the previous month, resulting in the average monthly price on the day-ahead market remaining the same as in April at 89 €/MWh. Cumulatively, the first five months of 2026 saw record levels for both RES generation (11,930 GWh) and RES curtailments

The Green Tank's Policy Director and co-founder, Ioli Christopoulou, and Nature Policy Associate, Dimitra Syrou, were guests on ERT's Infinitely Curious with Katerina Batzaki, where they discussed the ecological importance of Posidonia seagrass meadows and the urgent need to protect and restore them.

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…