(Bloomberg) -- Greece introduced its first climate law, with a focus on low-carbon energy, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis steps up efforts to tackle the effects of the global environmental crisis.
The premier outlined his “ambitious” goals at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, including a ban on sales of new combustion-engine cars from 2030. While the law has been long-planned, extreme weather events this year have brought Greece's vulnerability into sharp focus.
Mitsotakis flagged on Monday that the country was ready to approve the legislation, amid European Union efforts to achieve climate neutrality by mid-century. Thursday's announcement followed his visit to the United Nations COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, where world leaders have been discussing sweeping measures to battle the global climate crisis.
Greece's law also states that all new taxis and a third of new rental cars in the country's two biggest cities -- Athens and Thessaloniki -- should be hybrids or electric vehicles from 2025. In the housing sector, the legislation introduces a ban on oil burners in all new-build properties as of 2023 in areas where the “natural gas network is sufficient.”
Record-high temperatures in Greece this summer, combined with strong winds, caused a series of wildfires that burnt for more than two weeks, razing a large part of northern Evia, an island close to Athens. Evia was also severely affected by flash floods that struck the country in October.
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