CLIMA+

Greece aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 54 per cent by 2030 and reach climate neutrality by 2050. An important instrument in this context is the European Emissions Trading System, which has included maritime transport, buildings and road transport since 2023. The European Union (EU) has set up a Social Climate Fund, which aims to cushion the financial burden of carbon prices for low-income households. The EU has also established a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. It is used to account for the CO₂ emissions of imported goods to ensure fair competition and climate change mitigation.

The project with its full name “Technical support for the development of a Social Climate Plan and the implementation of the EU Emissions Trading Systems as well as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in Greece (CLIMA+)” supported its Greek partners in implementing new EU climate policy requirements.

The focus of the project was on exchanging ideas with other EU member states and expanding the expertise of the Greek project partners. In this way, the project in Greece helped with efforts to implement suitable climate change mitigation measures and mobilised additional funding for climate action. It ensured the competitiveness of products from Greek industry compared to imported products from countries with lower environmental standards. The project has been co-funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument.

• The project developed Greece’s first Social Climate Plan. This enabled €5.3 billion to be drawn down from the Social Climate Fund.
• It advised the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy on how to establish administrative processes for emissions trading in maritime transport, the buildings sector and road transport. As a result, over 5,700 monitoring plans for Greek ships have been reviewed under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
• It strengthened the knowledge and capacities of the Greek project partners regarding the implementation of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in Greece.