Thrasy Petropoulos

 

A HEAD of her visit to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Environment Minister Tina Birbili gave the Athens News a written interview in which she explained that the European Union should stick to its more ambitious proposal of an 80 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century and that Greece is not yet ready to turn its back on lignite. Rather, she says, existing power plants should be modernised to reduce emissions and green energy projects should be prioritised. At the same time, she says, nuclear energy has no place in the Greek energy mix.

 

 

Tina Birbili: Between 2000 and 2004, Greece was present at every major conference or event that had to do with the environment. During the Greek presidency [of the EU], the foreign ministry, under George Papandreou, took a leading role in the so-called Green Diplomacy initiative which was adopted by the EU.

 

From that point on the environment became a leading parameter in the foreign relations of the European Union. As you might remember, Greece was a member of the EU troika at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. Unfortunately, there was no followup from the governments that followed. What you mention about Bali is only one example of what happened in the recent past. In essence, all these years Greece was absent from all international forums.

 

This kind of practice has already changed. We are present in every council of ministers meeting and have contributed to the shaping of the EU agenda for Copenhagen. The prime minister will be present, representing both our country and the Socialist International. The Greek delegation will include me as environment minister, the deputy foreign minister, Spyros Kouvelis, and our national representative on climate change, Dimitris Lalas, who is an internationally recognised scientist on climate change issues. We will be assisted by a team of experts who have already worked under my supervision on our positions for the summit meeting.

 

Together with our partners in the EU, we want to reach a legally binding agreement on the issue of climate change within 2010. We want an agreement that will deal, among other issues, with the greenhouse gas emissions reduction, the financing of developing nations, technology transfer and deforestation. During the Spanish presidency of the EU we could then examine the legal details of such an agreement. 

 

 

It is important to understand that in such international meetings the dynamics change on a day-to-day basis. I am optimistic about what will be achieved in Copenhagen. The EU will once again provide a leading role and we will fight hard to persuade other countries to agree with our positions. 

 

Our goals are ambitious. We want to do something substantial for our planet and have a 30 percent cut of gas emissions by 2020 and over 80 percent by 2050. This is not an unrealistic goal. Of course, I realise that it will not be easy, since we have to change - on a global scale - both the way we think about our environment and the way we produce and consume. 

 

 

The developed nations should be prepared to discuss in good faith the concerns of the developing nations, whose positions are based on a very difficult reality. It is not just for the developing nations to ask their citizens to change their way of thinking about development when they are doing it themselves. It is necessary for the developing nations to think about the environment in a different way. Similarly, however, the developed nations must be ready to assist them to develop in an environmentally accepted way. 

 

The economic crisis is making things more difficult. We have to take this into account. On the other hand, we do not have time to lose. Greece will contribute its proportional share towards meeting the agreement in Copenhagen. 

 

 

We have changed radically the philosophy for obtaining the necessary permits. This week I presented to parliament the proposal of a new law that will cut through the bureaucratic inertia that has been a stumbling block to moving forward with such investments. We are changing everything. We have simplified procedures for the necessary permits. We are introducing procedures common to other European nations. We are cutting the time needed for obtaining all necessary papers for renewable energy projects from close to five years to eight or ten months. 

 

All our efforts will be centred on an equation that will include a mix of renewable energy, natural gas and lignite. The old power plants will be modernised with the addition of state-of-the-art filters and all necessary equipment to become less polluting. There is, of course, one more parameter: we are undertaking a major effort to save energy by introducing incentives and procedures for more environmentally friendly houses and buildings. We are determined to meet our obligations that arise from the Kyoto Protocol and the EU 20:20:20 commitments.

 

 

You got something wrong there. I never said that lignite has no place in Greece’s energy mix. Coal and nuclear energy have no place in Greece’s energy mix. As I mentioned above, we will modernise PPC’s power plants, we will introduce new procedures, we will use advanced technological mechanisms to reduce pollution. Green energy is our priority and the proper use of lignite has a place in this energy mixture I mentioned above. 

 

The prime minister has been very clear on this issue. Nuclear energy has no place in our new energy planning. None whatsoever.

 

 

We are undertaking a major effort to move forward with renewable energy projects that will use our competitive advantage: the wind and the sun. There are a lot of proposals for such projects that have been submitted and, unfortunately, have been left in the drawers of the ministries by the previous government. Our new law on renewable energy projects will take them out of the drawers and into the implementation phase. The Public Power Corporation will also play a major role in this effort.

 

 

Scientifically, I suppose, there is such a “tipping point”. If we continue operating the way we are, we could possibly reach such a point. However, this doom scenario has no place in our thinking. At this point in time, no one has the right to go to Copenhagen with a pessimistic attitude. We have to be optimistic because things are moving forward. We have to be optimistic because then and only then will we be able to convince other nations outside the union that the goals set by the EU are realistic and effective. We do not have the luxury to fail. We will fight hard to achieve our goals.