GREECE LOOKS TO REINVIGORATE ECONOMY THROUGH “GREEN TECHNOLOGIES”

Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis appeared at the Woodrow Wilson Center to discuss Greece's efforts to shift away from fossil fuels while still facing an economy-crippling financial crisis. He discussed his nation’s goal of raising renewable energy usage ten-fold to meet European Union renewable targets for 2020.

Greece has attempted to reinvigorate climate change talks by suggesting a regionally focused approach that would allow other countries outside of the European Union to formulate climate measures that fit their national needs. It has already begun negotiating with other Mediterranean nations and has pointed to the possibility of climate-induced droughts in African and Asian as motivation for other countries to utilize the same approach.

In December 2009, the U.N. Climate Change Conference attempted to produce a legally binding treaty to reduce greenhouse gases, but the "Copenhagen Accord" is not legally enforceable. Countries from around the world are set to meet later this year for U.N.-sponsored climate talks in Cancun, Mexico.