Mitsotakis at COP28: Despite climate devastation, a ‘new Greece is emerging’

Despite the "climate devastation" experienced by the country in recent times, "a new Greece is emerging," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has told the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai.

"We have cut our coal use by over 80 percent. We are growing our economy at a much faster pace than the European average, while we are reducing emissions. In total our emissions are down 43 percent from 2005 as we turn increasingly to renewable energy," he said.

Greece had "one of the best performances of any European country" in terms of renewable energy, he added.

"Last year our penetration of wind and solar was the 7th highest in the world and our installed capacity was the fifth highest on a per capita basis," the prime minister said, adding that wind and solar power now generate half of the country's electricity needs.