Climate Change

Κλιματικές αλλαγέςThe emission of the GreenHouse Gases (GHGs) from human activities increases the temperature of the atmosphere causing climate changes with environmental, financial and social impacts in the direct future. The GHGs trap the temperature of the sun in the atmosphere similarly to the envinoment within a greenhouse.

The main GHGs are the carbon dioxide which is emitted from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and various industrial byproducts (methane, nitrogen oxides, chlorinated hydrocarbons, etc). The 80% of the GHG emissions in the European Union (EU) emanate from the production and use of energy and the trasportation.

As a first step in the problem of climate change, EU has targeted, for all Member States until 2020, the 20% reduction of the emission of GHGs. In the implementation of this target contribute  projects with integrated natural & material resources management during the entire duration of their "life cycle" (from the abstraction, conveyance, trasformation, consumption and potentially the reuse of the waste products). That means finding new methods for higher production with less resource input, milder impacts and different ways of consuming in order to minimize the danger of scarcity and polluting of the resources.

Furthermore, for the reduction of the emission of the GHGs, the EU strategy includes the Emission Reduction Credit System that was initiated in 2005. According to this system, every facility that emits GHGs receives an allowance limit per year. If the facility emits less than the allowance limit, it can sell its excess. The facilities that expect to emit more than the allowance limit, they can either invest in techologies for emission reduction or acquire additional allowances to cover the extra emissions.

Even if the emissions of the GHGs are reduced significantly, the climate changes will appear up to a certain degree due to the emissions they have been already occured. Thus, the adaptation to the climate changes is complementary to the reduction of the emission of the GHGs. Examples of projects that adapt to the climate change include the assessment and management of flood risks for coastal areas due to the increase of the sea level, the development of crops that withstand the droughts, etc.