Greece
Introduction
Greece is located in the Balkan Peninsula. It is the land of high peaks and having more than 1400 islands makes it among top tourist destinations. In the after-World War II period, Greece witnessed fast commercial and societal alternation. Greece associated with European Union in 1981.
Greece has the population of 11.4 million with the area of 131,957 sq. km. The GDP/Capita stands at $23,260. Its currency is euro. Life expectancy of men stands at 78 years while that of women stand at 83 years.
Greece on Economic Stage
Shipping and tourism are the main grantors to the economy. However in the late 2000s, Greece has faced serious economic blows because of international economic disaster of 2008, triggering Greece to crumble under the strains of debts. The 2008 credit crisis had declined the living standards as well.
Geography
Greece is situated alongside of Mediterranean Sea. Two out of three area of Greece is hilly or mountainous having sharp inclinations. Greece has the most prolonged seacoast in Europe. One out of three Greece individuals lives along the seacoast.
Climate of Greece
Greece goes through rainy and mild winters, while warm and dry summers are witnessed. In eastern part and western part of the country, the sum of rainfall is nearly equal.
Entities Working for Progress on Environment
Greece went for the Kyoto protocol in the year of 2002. Ministry for Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works (MEPPPW) work accomplishing the goals of Kyoto protocol.
NOA- the National Observatory of Athens is a body which look after the high-tech duties concerning with climate change matters and environment.
Environmental Performance Index
Greece stands at 23 in environmental performance index achieving overall score of 73.28
Figure 1: The position of Greece in the sectors described in the thereafter index with colors indicating the related characteristics.
Figure 2: Depicts the position, score and ten year change of Greece in the concerned sectors.
Environment and Economy
Following 10 years (1997-2007) of high rates of monetary advancement (4% GDP yearly development rate, 3.8% yearly profitability development rate), the Greek economy was struck by the significant worldwide economic crunch in 2008.
With a specific end goal to go up against the crunch, reactivate manufacture forms, and give a boost drive to the interior markets, the administration actualized a program of crisis measures. Another development for the Greek economy was regarded vital. Government strategies amid the 2008-2012 period included the following activities:
• Foundation of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change (MEEC) in 2009.
• The progressive opening of the home energy exchange.
• The unbundling of energy generation and supply from control transmission and power dispersion.
• Encourage entrance of flammable gas use in transportation, warming, fabricating and modern generation.
• Foundation of the green house gases (GHG) outflows registry as indicated by EU regulation.
• The usage of the urban waste administration program and a progression of measures for the ecological effectiveness of structures and developments.
• National arrangements completely mirrored to EU approaches concerning maintainability, natural assurance and green development.
Air Quality
The investigation demonstrated that in 2009 there was a 7.3% decline in the discharges from acidifying substances (SO2, NOx, and NH3) and a 10.3% reduction in tropospheric ozone forerunners (NOx, NMVOC, CO and CH4) contrasted with 1990. There was a hike of 51.5% in primary PM10 emanations amid the like period.
The most considerable areas of emanation in 2009 included mechanical energy (because of oxidization), transport, while farming had the biggest share in NH3 discharges. Mechanical development and administrations, and households were assessed to be the most critical segments for the production of primary PM10 and PM2.5, separately.
Water resources
Water needs are frequently secured by transmission and capacity holder, which extraordinarily hike up the cost of development of water storage centers. Human liveliness causes a continuous decline of the surface and groundwater assets, essentially in seashores and urban or farming territories on the eastern piece of the mainland.
Wastewater treatment plants work in most vast and medium-sized urban communities and manage metropolitan wastewater contamination.
Nature and Biodiversity
Greece is considered as a “noticeable” for biodiversity as it holds of 6200 plus local species.
There has been a descending pattern in the Red List Index (RLI) for Greek bird species amid the most recent 17 years. This demonstrates the quantity of bird species facing the threat of eradication is expanding. This pattern is primarily connected with the loss of their living spaces, their auxiliary and practical deterioration, contamination of environment and disarrangement.
Around a large portion of the territory of Greece utilized for rural purposes has a High Nature Value (HNV). Farming and forest covers 51% of the whole territory, of which 18% are forests, 15% is timberland utilized for pasturing and 18% is cultivated area.
The fundamental driver of loss of biodiversity in Greece are identified with past and today’s strategies identifying with area utilization, horticulture, fisheries, wood utilization, transit, tourism and generation and utilization plans.
Tourism and Environment
The tourism business has witnessed development. The quantity of entries of outside visitors exhibits a long upward pattern, while take-home from tourism has been falling because of the development in mass tourism. Such tourism has additionally a huge effect on nature in this way undermining long-range improvement.
The most delicate territories are the beach front regions. The most shocking impacts of ecological downgrading are the seaside going towards vacationer resting-places, and jam-pack on seashores. The enormous usage of water amid water-scarcity cause stress on water wealth, especially in the islands. Over-pumping because of the requirement for water has different effects in these zones, for example, irreversible salinization of groundwater aquifers. The tourism business is additionally a maker of extensive amounts of garbage and trash. Administration much of the time experience issues in handling the garbage and solid waste.
Urban Environment
Urban zones are developing, while timber and farmland are falling. There is a attempt to advance the more ecologically advocate methods of transport. The boom towns with the top most air contamination issues and transport buzz are Athens and Thessaloniki. The metropolitan territory of Attica has the most serious issue in scrap and trash handling. It has 35 uncontrolled waste transfer destinations. The air contamination and the absence of ventilation in Athens raise the “Urban heat island effect”, which exacerbates amidst the summertime.
Greece’s main problems regarding environment
Main ecological issues carrying significance for the state are mentioned below:
Adjustments to the effects of environmental change
Environmental change stands to be a developing ecological issue. The Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEEC) is on the way to the improvement of a national policy. Activities to address environmental change must include adjustment in approach towards a feasible, green economy and low or zero carbon discharges with the utilization of modish machinery.
Natural Ecosystem Preservation
Safety of the ecosystem must not be undermined during economic disaster as Greece has a high assorted variety of species and biological systems. Ministry is to take steps for its preservation.
Settlement of the marine and seacoast ecosystem
Include utilizing the devices of the Marine Spatial Strategy, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, the approach tending to decrease and the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region.
Greece’s Violations of Kyoto Protocol
In 2008, Greece was expelled from U.N. carbon exchange as a retribution for disobeying greenhouse gas reporting guideline. It was the early such verdict since the Kyoto Protocol had come into life. Further, the Bonn-based UN Climate Change entity noted that Greece had failed to have proper pattern of registering greenhouse gas emanation.
Policy Responses to Environmental Challenges
The National Waste Management Plan (NWMP) and the National Waste Prevention Program are right now under planning. Particular measures incorporate advancing waste recuperation and reusing. Local waste administration designs, covering the land an area of every district, will be refreshed consolidating the standards, bearings and measures of the NWMP.
For water need has been given to the improvement and open conference of River Basin Management Plans (RBMP). Greece has set up a national observing project for the evaluation of the status of surface water and ground water. The program screens natural, general physicochemical and particular concoction parameters, and in addition need toxins. The checking system bears 2000 observing focuses and it has been in activity since 2012.
Since 2010, the Ministry surveys bathing waters as per Directive 2006/7/EC, exhibiting an abnormal state of consistence: more than 98% had “phenomenal and great quality” and near 100% had “in any event adequate quality” out of 2162 showering waters observed in 2013.
The core element of national energy arranging are to decrease reliance on imported energy, hike up the entrance of renewables, accomplish a critical decrease of green-house gases discharges by 2050 and fortify user safety. In 2012 the stake of inexhaustible sources in the energy showcase was 15.1% (source Eurostat) contrasted with 7.1% out of 2004.
Conclusion
Greece stands among vulnerable countries to climate change as Mediterranean zone is among vulnerable regions to climate effects because of its sensitivity to hiking up of temperature and droughts. Further, carbon emissions are high as 6.31 metric tons of CO2 were emitted by Greece in 2013. Among these concerns, violation of Kyoto Protocol by Greece was the addition of fuel to the fire as its emanations of GHGs were above 26 percent. Being the 48th largest economy and tourism-dependent state , the preservation of environment must be viewed as nerve center.