On Tuesday P4P Peers met with a group of senior MPs from the Greek parliament as part their IPU hosted visit to Westminster. Peers joined cross-party MPs from the Commons to hold a roundtable discussion on climate and nature issues and explore areas of potential joint working.
The delegation outlined Greece’s ambition of reducing emissions by 55% by 2030 and their desire to engage closely with the UK on the energy transition, including through sharing learnings on scaling up solar and wind energy, upgrading grid infrastructure, developing regional interconnectors and securing public support for change.
One area of shared concern between the two parliaments, as leading maritime and shipping nations, was the need for global collaboration to mitigate the negative impacts of human activities on our seas and oceans. Dr. Dionysia Avgerinopoulou, one of the visiting MPs from the governing NEA DEMOCRACY party in Greece, will coordinate the global Our Oceans Conference taking place in Greece this April. She explained the conference will focus on global efforts to restore ocean health and how to green maritime and tourism sectors.
There was also a discussion about the outcomes of recent global climate conferences, and the urgent need to create more green finance to help meet global targets to decarbonise and restore nature.
In a year in which both Greece and the UK have experienced extreme weather, there was a shared view that these events are leading to a growing public awareness of climate change – and the need to act, which will be crucial in helping both parliaments to secure the public support needed for responding adequately to climate and nature challenges.
