Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met today, at the Maximos Mansion, with the US President’s Special Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, who is visiting Greece.

During the meeting, the challenges of climate change and the deepening of the cooperation between the two countries to deal with the climate crisis and achieve the goal of zero emissions by 2050 were discussed.

“It is our great pleasure to welcome you to Greece. I really enjoyed the last meeting we had in Riyadh. It is a great privilege that we are able to discuss with you the global challenges we face in relation to energy, biodiversity, and climate change,” said the Prime Minister, at the start of the meeting.

“You know how committed Greece is to this agenda and how much progress we have made on numerous fronts over the past three years. I would particularly like to point out the rapid penetration of renewable energy sources into our energy mix. We plan to add 2 gigawatts of renewable energy in 2022 alone. And this ranks us among Europe’s pioneers on this front,” he added.

The discussion was particularly concerned with the preparation of the organisation of the International Conference “Our Ocean Conference” in 2024 in Greece.

“Of course, our climate agenda is very broad. I am particularly interested in the issue of protecting our marine ecosystems and I am very happy that we will be able to organize the “Our Ocean Conference” in 2024. I would also like to congratulate the Minister on his commitment to this cause. I am sure it will be a very successful Conference. It will also be an opportunity for us to highlight the special importance we attach to the protection of the very sensitive marine ecosystems of the Mediterranean. I have a huge interest in this particular issue”, noted Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Referring to the importance of the Conference, John Kerry said, on his part: “We are very excited about the fact that Greece will organise the Conference “Our Ocean Conference” in 2024. Many do not realise the connection between oceans and the climate crisis. One cannot solve the issue of the climate crisis without also addressing what is happening in the oceans. And vice versa. “One cannot solve the problems related to the oceans without paying due attention to the climate crisis because the acidity levels of the oceans are changing dramatically.”

“With 90% of the warming ending up in the ocean, it has a huge impact on phenomena such as flooding, in the intensity of the storms but also in the weather conditions. We are in this together. The fact that Greece, with its amazing shipping and maritime history, will take the reins after Panama is a perfectly logical choice. Therefore, this will be a great step,” he added.