The new National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEK) was presented today by the political leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
The new ESEK constitutes the country’s road map for the achievement of specific energy and climate goals, with a milestone in the year 2030 and the final goal of achieving climate neutrality in 2050.
The event held at the main building of the Bank of Greece was attended by institutional bodies, representatives of energy companies and representatives of Civil Society.
Welcoming the event, the governor of the Bank of Greece, Mr. Yiannis Stournaras, pointed out: “At the Bank of Greece, we have been systematically dealing with climate and sustainability issues for the last 15 years. Since 2009, with the creation of the Climate Change Impact Study Committee (EMECA), we have been contributing, through research, to the critical issue of climate change.
Our studies have shown that the costs of climate change are predicted to keep increasing, as long as no measures are taken to mitigate the phenomenon. In fact, the Bank of Greece, as part of its participation in the eight-year LIFE-IP AdaptInGR project (2019-2026), started last December to publish new study results, with updated forecasts for the climate changes of the next decades, the effects of climate change in vulnerable sectors of economic activity and the assessment of vulnerability of the Greek economy to climate change”.
With this plan, Greece can and must obtain energy, national independence,” Mr. Skylakakis emphasized
The Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Thodoros Skylakakis, underlined that the National Plan for Energy and Climate is realistic, in relation to the goals set and takes into account new data that occurred since 2019 – when the first ESEK was drawn up. These include the fact that we have already exceeded the targets for both the penetration of Renewable Energy Sources into our energy mix and the reduction of Greenhouse Gases.
“We are pioneers, we as Greece can say that we are successful and better than others” said Mr. Skylakakis.
The minister noted that in the effort being made for the energy transition, there is also a deep, economic perspective.
“With this plan, for the first time since the industrial revolution, Greece can and must gain energy, national independence,” Mr. Skylakakis emphasized, to add: “This plan changes the country’s deepest economic background. This extremely important development will happen before our eyes in the coming years and we will not believe it. It will create new economic and industrial opportunities, a very significant improvement in our balance sheet. And this change is the basis for a strong Greek economy and for a strong Greece in the coming decades.”
Mr. Skylakakis also referred to the real change – as he described it – that ESEK brings to the benefit of consumers. He emphasized that “thanks to the investments we are making, which have a very low marginal cost, we will have very cheap and abundant, clean energy”.
Afterwards, the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy and president of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the ESEK, Mrs. Alexandra Sdoukou, briefly presented the main aspects of the revised Plan. As he characteristically said, “the revised ESEK achieves difficult and delicate balances, as it describes the country’s vision and ambition for Climate Action and the Energy Transition, while at the same time it is fully concerned with realism and pragmatism”.
He pointed out that the ESEK is, essentially, the road map for a new, developmental production model for the country, with an emphasis on the green transition, digitization, the reduction of energy costs, the modernization of infrastructure and the creation of domestic added value. In addition, he highlighted the social dimension of ESEK, which includes a multitude of policy measures that will give citizens access to abundant, clean and affordable energy. Mrs. Sdoukou made special mention of the expected contribution to the development of the economy, thanks to the investments with high added value that will be made, with measurable results in the increase of GDP and the creation of jobs.
The general secretary of Energy and Mineral Raw Materials, Mr. Aristotelis Aivaliotis, referred, in his turn, to the three challenges that ESEK faces, characterizing it as a “revolutionary” text. “The first challenge is behavioral, as ESEK changes people’s behavior and like any change, it has to deal with their reaction. The second is financial, as we need to find the money until 2030 and 2050 to implement the goals. Finally, the third challenge has to do with the ability to implement, with the people, whether government agencies or businesses or ordinary citizens who will embrace and implement these specific changes”, he noted.
The general secretary of Natural Environment and Waters, Mr. Petros Varelidis, characterized the new ESEK as ambitious, which operates within the framework of the climate law and praised the role played by the support of the Government in achieving the goals of the green transition. “From the perspective of environmental licensing and the acceptance of the projects required by the citizens, we know the difficulties that exist and we should all work in this direction to overcome the difficulties. The goal is to have a green transition with absolute respect for the environment and fully informed citizens,” he stressed.
The round of placements was closed by the members of the ESEK Interministerial Committee, the NTUA professor, Mr. Pantelis Kapros and the President and General Director of KAPE, Mr. Dimitris Kardomateas.
Mr. Kapros emphasized that “the impression has prevailed that the energy green transition has a high cost. All analysis, however, concludes that this is not true. What matters in economics is the cost of the service that energy provides to the consumer. Indeed, investment spending is increasing. The figure of 450 billion euros in total was reported. These are investments that would have been made anyway, just at a slightly higher cost. The “key” to the macroeconomic impact is the ease of financing these additional investments.”
Mr. Kardomateas pointed out that “ESEK has ambitious goals. Already reducing greenhouse emissions by 58% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 are big challenges. We focused on power generation, because it is the big polluter and leads to cost reduction. The technology is mature, available and the investors are there. The challenge is to look at the ripening time and court proceedings that create delays and already the government is working in this direction.”
The event ended with the interventions of the agencies.
See here the new National Energy and Climate Plan (ESEK)
SOURCE: ot.gr
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