Another blow for Greece’s Green Fund
In the context of a new urgent act of legal content, the Greek Government introduced a further reduction to the allowable expenditure, which now cannot exceed the 2.5% of its total deposits.
The Green Fund sits on approx. €1,2 billion, collected and legally bound for urban environmental improvement, nature conservation, forest management and energy efficiency. According to its constitutional law 3855/2010, the Green Fund can also function as a lending facility, in support of green economy initiatives.
Given that the General Government Budget does not provide environmental funding (excluding wages and operation expenses for the environmental administration authorities), the Green Fund is the only national source of environmental funding. The significance of this development is considerable since it limits the environmental budget of the country and cripples the prospects for green economy.
Sources: Ministry of Finance (in Greek), 10 conservation NGO alliance (in Greek).