Greece Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

air pollution; air emissions from transport and electricity power stations; water pollution; degradation of coastal zones; loss of biodiversity in terrestrial and marine ecosystems; increasing municipal and industrial waste

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

Climate

temperate; mild, wet winters; hot, dry summers

Land use

agricultural land: 63.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 19.7% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 8.9% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 34.8% (2018 est.)

forest: 30.5% (2018 est.)

other: 6.1% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 80.7% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 0.11% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.01% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.04% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 14.62 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 62.43 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 9.8 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 5,477,424 tons (2014 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 1,040,711 tons (2014 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 19% (2014 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 1.69 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 330 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 8.11 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

68.4 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 8

global geoparks and regional networks: Chelmos Vouraikos; Grevena - Kozani; Kefalonia-Ithaca; Lavreotiki;  Lesvos Island; Psiloritis; Sitia; Vikos - Aoos (2023)