Topic: 2025 – Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality
Country: Greece
Delegate Name: Avi Messamore
Committee: United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
Topic: Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality
Country: Greece
School: Mattawan High School
As the climate changes and air quality worsens, the environment and the well-being of humanity suffers. If steps are not taken to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the entirety of Earth will be lucky to survive past 2100. Greece is concerned with the negative health effects caused by the rise in temperatures and the number of wildfires occurring, which feed back into the poor air quality. Since Greece is already dealing with water scarcity, the concern of maintaining crops through irrigation rises as crops are forced to change due to the temperature changes, making growth unsuitable for certain crops.
From 1990 to 2021, Greece produced 0.21% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. (Being globally the 44th largest contributor). Greece’s greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 20% from 1990 to 2019. Even so, Greece’s energy sector is producing the highest rate of greenhouse gas emissions within the country and must be dealt with. The other major emission producers are the livestock and construction sectors. The energy sector amounts to 72.9% of Greece’s GHG (of that, the electricity/heating industry makes up 33.3% of that), and agriculture amounts to about 10% of GHG. 44% of Greece’s land consists of agriculture, and with the rising heat and poor water irrigation, many crops will be killed off, namely olive trees and vineyards. The rising temperatures lead to an increase in heatwaves and wildfires. The number of heatwaves per year is predicted to increase to 9 by 2050. In 2013, Greece was hit by an economic crisis, forcing citizens to use the cheaper, but economically costly, wood burning to heat homes. This caused intense smoke over several cities. Greece fears another economic dip will create the same results. Greece also receives dust and sand carried over from the Sahara Desert. Alongside this, the city temperatures are 8-10 degrees higher than the surrounding rural areas, leading to increased health risks. As air quality decreases and temperatures rise, within cities, there will be an increase in energy consumption to cool buildings and an increase in cardiovascular disease. Greece and the EU have planned to drop greenhouse gas emissions to 55% by 2030 and to net zero by 2050. But steps must be taken in order to achieve that future.
Greece urges delegates to be considerate of the fragility of economies when implementing any solutions. The delegation of Greece believes there are a few sound ways to deal with the decrease in air quality. Constructing urban parks and green roofs can help drop temperatures in urban areas by 2-3 degrees Celsius. Further nature restoration (afforestation and reforestation) can help remove CO2 from the air. Alongside this, creating campaigns to inform farmers on alternative farming methods (crop diversification, crop rotation, managing irrigation, etc.) as the climate changes can help ensure their crops’ survival. Countries should also pave the way for their citizens to move away from vehicular travel and air travel. Alongside those, we should promote traveling by train and moving towards pedestrianizing roads. There is also potential in investing in green energy sources, so industries and cities can move away from wood burning.
References:
https://www.dianeosis.org/en/2021/12/the-consequences-of-climate-change-in-greece/
https://www.iqair.com/newsroom/european-energy-crisis-fuels-poor-air-quality-poland-greece
https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/environment-at-a-glance-country-notes_59ce6fe6-en/greece_444d90df-en.html#:~:text=Emissions%20of%20most%20major%20air,pollution%2C%20especially%20in%20southern%20Greece.
https://www.emission-index.com/countries/greece#:~:text=The%20sector%20that%20produced%20the%20most%20emissions,and%2010.5%25%20of%20total%20GHG%20in%20Greece.
https://www.es-partnership.org/community/regional-chapters/south-east-europe/greece-hesp/environmental-pollution-in-greece/#:~:text=Transport%2C%20electricity%20power%20stations%2C%20overexploitation%20of%20water,pressures%20on%20the%20state%20of%20the%20environment.
