Climate change and a ‘green energy’ transition in Greece’s shipping sector were the main focus of US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, during his visit to Athens on Monday.
During his visit, Kerry met with Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and discussed the challenges posed by climate change and ways to strengthen cooperation between Greece and the United States in dealing with the climate crisis and achieving the goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Mitsotakis stressed during the meeting the Greek efforts in curbing greenhouse gas emissions and emphasised “the very rapid penetration of renewable energy” into the country’s energy mix.
“You know how committed Greece is to this agenda and how much progress we have made on numerous fronts over the past three years,” the Greek Prime Minister told Kerry, according to a press release.
“We plan to add 2 gigawatts of renewable energy sources in 2022 alone. And this ranks us among Europe’s pioneers on this front.”
The two sides also discussed Greece’s hosting of the Our Ocean Conference in 2024.
“The fact that Greece, with its amazing shipping and maritime history, will take the reins after Panama is a perfectly logical choice. So this will be a great step,” the US climate change envoy said.
The two sides then stressed the priority given to ambitious but feasible solutions for an energy transition in the shipping sector, including a “green shipping corridor.”
Mitsotakis hailed US initiatives for reducing the energy footprint of shipping and expressed hope that they will help in the rapid adoption of global measures.
Several Greek and US officials also attended the meeting, including Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and American Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis.
READ MORE: Greek island becomes first ‘green’ island in the Mediterranean.
Source: Ekathimerini and AMNA.gr.
