How much LNG can the Greek seas hold?

The market’s almost zero interest in gas transported through the Vertical Corridor shows the uncertain future of dependence on a particularly problematic fossil fuel. Unfortunately, the Greek economy is sinking into uncertainty and long-term economic dependence on the oil industry, without any plan or perspective, causing serious damage to unique and valuable marine ecosystems, such as the Thracian Sea.

The narrative that Greece can become an LNG hub is based mainly on circumstances rather than on solid economic or energy conditions. Therefore, the environmental organizations Hellenic Ornithological Society, Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, Greenpeace, MEDASSET, and WWF Greece express their strong concern about the following:

• The continued promotion of the Alexandroupolis LNG terminal as a project of importance to the Greek economy, while the financial analysis sent by the Greek authorities to the European Commission reveals that “the project would not be economically viable without state aid.” . Although the overall finances of the project are not at all transparent or publicly available, public subsidies of at least €272 million have already been approved for this environmentally damaging and dangerous project.
• While the adequacy of the country’s infrastructure to meet the needs of the Greek market for natural gas has been established, the same project is sometimes misleadingly presented as important for the country’s energy security. However, it has been documented that the Alexandroupolis LNG terminal and other planned natural gas import facilities serve purely export purposes.
• Recent approval of a new floating LNG regasification system within the same Natura area, the marine protected area “Marine Area of Thrace” GR1110013. ASFA Thrace recently received environmental terms approval (AEPO), which makes no mention of the fact that facilities such as this one, which fall under the provisions of the Seveso Directives (EU legislation on major industrial accidents), are prohibited within Natura protected areas.This is a protective provision of our national law, which is particularly important as specific measures for the protection of Natura areas are still pending (in continued violation of the relevant judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU). The blatant circumvention of the law raises serious questions of legality.
• In any case, the “accumulation” of two regasification facilities (ASFA Thrace and ASFA Alexandroupolis) in the same protected area seriously threatens the marine environment and the country’s most productive fishing grounds, its rare biodiversity (fish, cetaceans), as well as the quality of the atmosphere.
• Due to high methane emissions, climate science has made it clear that regasified LNG is not the clean transition fuel that companies and the government are touting. As pointed out in the explanatory memorandum to the European Methane Regulation 2024/1787, “methane is second only to carbon dioxide (CO2) in terms of its overall contribution to climate change and is responsible for about one-third of the current global temperature increase. The amount of methane in the atmosphere has risen sharply worldwide over the last decade.”

Environmental organizations are expressing concern about the complete lack of measures to implement the European Methane Regulation, which imposes some minimum mitigation, monitoring, and transparency measures.

The country’s dependence on fossil fuels and, by extension, on oil companies is a source of geopolitical instability, permanent environmental degradation, and serious consequences for the economy and society. Dependence on fossil fuels is not development — it is an economic, social, and environmental trap. Real progress lies in the strong institutional protection of valuable natural ecosystems, the transition to clean energy with strong guarantees of environmental protection and social participation and justice, and transparency and broad participation in the decision-making process.

As the Prime Minister emphasized a few days ago, opening the chapter on constitutional reform, “it is time to dare to make major changes that will strengthen the prestige of institutions and the confidence of citizens, introducing regulations for the better functioning of the political system in the face of the great challenges of our time and keeping pace with new developments, such as artificial intelligence and the climate crisis.” Policies that plunge future generations into dependence on environmentally destructive fossil fuels do not signal progress and concern for future generations, but a regression to fossilized ways of thinking that science itself tells us should be consigned to the dustbin of the past.

Environmental organizations emphasize once again that the best service to future generations and, at the same time, to strengthening the prestige of institutions and public confidence is legal certainty and the alignment of law and policy with scientific data and imperatives . Protecting nature and halting climate change are matters of urgent social interest that must be addressed as a matter of priority.

In December 2023, the environmental organizations Hellenic Ornithological Society, Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, MEDASSET, Greenpeace Greece, and WWF Greece filed an appeal with the Council of State to overturn the decision approving the environmental terms of the Alexandroupolis ASFA. The organizations argue that the project, which has been established within a marine protected area, should be canceled due to its serious impact, despite the fact that similar activities are prohibited within Natura 2000 areas. The environmental organizations are also requesting a judicial review of the impact of the activity on the unique and particularly vulnerable Mediterranean population of the monk seal, whose habitat is shrinking, and more generally point to the incomplete assessment of the impact on biodiversity (including fish populations in the area). In their appeal and additional arguments submitted to the Supreme Court, the organizations focus on the critical issue of the understatement of methane emissions, which is the most potent greenhouse gas. In addition, they ask the court to assess the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the project, in accordance with the country’s commitments under national, EU, and international law.