PM on Copenhagen Results

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA) Addressing a press conference on December 18, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou stressed that the Copenhagen United Nations climate summit was an historic moment.

 Papandreou noted that he is pleased to have been committed to the ambitious goals set out by the European Union and added that he hoped that these same goals had been met by other developed countries by the end of the summit.

Regarding Greece’s contribution, he said that as a traditional naval force, Greece will undertake the responsibility of contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases by shipping.
Likewise, Greece will not forsake its commitments to forward initiatives in the Mediterranean, supported by the forthcoming Spanish Presidency. Deputy Foreign Minister for climate change issues, Spyros Kouvelis, on his part, underlined that the Greek delegation had been actively involved in all international meetings held at Copenhagen. “[Greece] is beginning to appear as a force that is pushing an agenda for a different model of growth,” he pointed out.

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Southeastern Europe Faces a Real Danger of Desertification

(REEK NEWS AGENDA)   Southeastern Europe faces a real danger of desertification and becoming another Sahara Desert in 100-150 years, underlined Sir Nicholas Stern – the United Kingdom’s Head of the Government Economic Service and Adviser to the Government on the economics of climate change and development, during the presentation of the Greek-language Executive Summary of his Report at the foreign ministry on Thursday27 November 2008. The Stern Review is one of the most important documents to have been published in recent years on how to confront the greenhouse effect.  The review’s basic conclusion is that immediate action, on a global level, to deal with climate change is not only an environmental and social imperative, but is also dictated by economics. Sir Nicholas underlined that to deal with the desertification risk SE Europe can seek to become energy producer for the entire Europe by using solar and wind power. Addressing the event, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis praised the contribution of the British government in the study of the economic dimension of the greenhouse effect and maintained that there is immediate need for an agreement to deal with climate change.  Stern Review: Final Report; Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Human Security Network Conference on Climate Change