Greece uses the Recovery Fund and the new NSRF to be at the vanguard of the green transition, stated the Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis, during his presentation at the 14th Annual Capital Link Sustainability Forum, entitled “Sustainability – Investments & Development».

“The Recovery and Resilience Fund and the new NSRF have an important environmental and green dimension, and Greece uses them to be at the forefront of the green transition,” noted the minister. Referring to the new NSRF, he emphasized that 30% of the funds foresee green actions corresponding to up to 7 billion euros for environmental investments, which the country must promote and exploit, either in actions of the State or in actions related to green entrepreneurship. “There are hundreds of millions of programs like this that the private sector should benefit from,” he said. At the same time, he underlined that 40% of the budget loans provided through the Recovery Fund must necessarily relate to green transition projects. “We have two serious tools that are being leveraged and running satisfactorily. We are one of the leading countries in absorption, but this does not mean that we should be complacent, especially in the Recovery Fund, times are suffocating. And it’s a marathon at 400m pace,” he said.

Mr. Hatzidakis recalled that Greece dynamically entered the green transition area in 2019: “The prime minister himself had spoken at the UN assembly then. We started to act on many and different levels: delignitization, electrification, national reforestation plan, integrated waste management, etc. Also, the spread of RES in many different sectors was promoted”. He also emphasized that these actions are carried out in the framework of the ESEK, which foresees specific, measurable and ambitious goals until 2030. . euros by 2030. We are talking about large-scale interventions that show the seriousness of the issue and the challenges for both the state and the business and private sectors”, he underlined.

Referring to the National Strategy for Green Financing, which constitutes the road map for the mobilization of resources from public and private sources to finance investments in the green transformation of the economy, he focused on three key elements:

  • In the further integration of the green dimension in the state budget: This is a move that has already come into force from 2024. In the context of green budgeting, the positive, negative or neutral effect on the environment is examined for each category of expenditure. “And this tool should be extended to the level of actions of the ministries and public bodies, as well as to the planning of public investments”, he said.
  • In the adoption of the UN’s sustainable development goals, as well as the ESG criteria by the public administration in the entire range of its functions.
  • In the formation of a clear, transparent and reliable framework for the implementation of green investment projects with financing through banks or the capital market.

In addition, Mr. Hatzidakis made a special reference to the doubling of funds in the state budget to deal with the effects of the climate crisis. “The words ‘Thessaly’ and ‘Daniel’ illustrate what we want to say. For this reason we have doubled the relevant funds in the 2024 budget from 300 to 600 million euros”, he noted.