No new concessions for hydrocarbon exploration – Commitments at the ocean protection conference

The undertaking of 21 commitments for the protection and management of the Greek seas and coastswith an estimated implementation budget of over 780 million euros, the Prime Minister announced yesterday. Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the first day of the “Our Ocean Conference 2024” International Conference held at the “Stavros Niarchos” Cultural Center.

Among them, the creation of two new marine parks to protect important areas in the Ionian and Aegean is included. In fact, the Minister of Environment and Energy Mr. Thodoris Skylakakisanswering reporters’ questions about whether the mining plans hydrocarbons in our country conflict with the protection of the seas, he expressly assured that there will be no new concessions of sea plots for hydrocarbon research in Greece, beyond the existing ones.

What commitments does the country undertake?

According to what was announced by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Thodoros Skylakakis, in their speeches in the context of “OOC-9”, among the commitments undertaken by our country are:

• The creation of the two marine parks which, according to Mr. Mitsotakis, will increase the size of Greece’s marine protected areas by 80%, covering a total of approximately one third of the country’s territorial marine waters.
• The ban on trawling in national marine parks from 2026 and in all marine protected areas by 2030.
• The operation from 2026 of a state-of-the-art surveillance system of protected marine areas, using drones, satellites and artificial intelligence.
• Reducing plastic waste from Greek waters by 50% and microplastics by 30% by 2030, compared to 2019.

Greece’s commitments also include the mapping of marine habitats, the development of a special program to improve the environmental situation in the Corinthian, Thermaic, Saronic and Pagasitic Gulfs, the “green” transition of shipping with the electrification of ships in ports, the so-called “cold ironing” etc.

In total, the commitments made by government missions and organizations from all over the world in the context of the 9th Athens Conference exceeded 400, with their value, according to Mr. Mitsotakis, estimated at more than 10 billion dollars. In fact, the former US Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry made the… final addition, noting that within the framework of all nine conferences held since 2014, 2,500 initiatives have been undertaken with a total value of 138 billion dollars.

2 billion euros from the Decarbonization Fund

For the financing of Greece’s commitments, as well as other actions aimed at making, as Mr. Mitsotakis characteristically said, “the Greek Polynesia, greener”, the Islands Decarbonization Fund, whose “piggy bank” will also come forward it is filled by the auctions of emissions rights and can reach _ depending on the price of the rights _ as much as 2 billion euros. From this “wallet” according to the prime minister, energy storage projects, Renewable Energy Sources, water reservoirs, etc. will be financed.

Mr. Mitsotakis also spoke about Greece’s progress in terms of emissions of gaseous pollutants which have been reduced by 43% since 2005, energy production from lignite which has decreased by almost 90%, etc. “Greece is a leader in the field of Renewable Energy Sources, ranking fourth in the European Union in terms of penetration of wind and solar energy in the energy mix. And we will continue to lead, especially in new fields such as offshore wind farms“, he underlined.

In addition, he referred to the adoption by law of the goal of protecting at least 30% of our country’s land and sea surface by 2030. “Greece was the first EU country to recognize key areas of biodiversity in its national legislation. We have established a special protection regime to prohibit the construction of new roads and other man-made surfaces in nine iconic mountain areas, which we have named “Lost Mountains”, and we have extended the same logic to the sea, identifying more than 200 unspoiled beaches in marine protected areas where we prevent any commercial exploitation”, he pointed out, stressing that certain areas must remain untouched and completely unaffected by mass tourism.

Source: ot.gr