Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Well, it is day three of the COP twenty nine
Speaker 2: Climate Conference here in bakuaz de Verjan, and as world
Speaker 2: leaders discuss new ways to finance the climate change challenge,
Speaker 2: Donald Trump's return to the White House remains a topic
Speaker 2: of discussion. Joining me right now is Greek Prime Minister Kariakosminsuttaki.
Speaker 3: Is.
Speaker 2: It's wonderful to have you with us.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: I've been here a couple of days now, and I've
Speaker 2: had talks with several people, from policymakers to some of
Speaker 2: the big leaders, and I've got to say it's difficult
Speaker 2: not to feel a little bit disheartened if you look
Speaker 2: at this state in the direction of travel. Many agencies
Speaker 2: are warning that this is going to be the warmest
Speaker 2: year on record. We continue to see the effects of
Speaker 2: climate change, reeking, disaster and havoc around the continents, even
Speaker 2: in Europe. What is your feeling of where we are
Speaker 2: in climate's ambitions versus where we need to get to.
Speaker 4: Going to these gatherings for many years now, and there
Speaker 4: seems to be a repeating pattern of ambitious targets and expectations.
Speaker 3: Which eventually are not met.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, if you look at Europe, important
Speaker 1: changes are being made towards the energy transition, but we
Speaker 1: all understand that these changes.
Speaker 3: Need to be accelerated.
Speaker 1: I come from a Militaranian country and the Meditarian is
Speaker 1: a hotbed for climate change.
Speaker 3: You saw what happened in Spain. We had similar.
Speaker 1: Floods, thank god, with a less loss of human life
Speaker 1: last year in Greece. So my concern is that as
Speaker 1: much as we focus on long term mitigation, and Greece
Speaker 1: is certainly doing its part, we need to place more
Speaker 1: emphasis on short term adaptation and helping our people cope
Speaker 1: with climate disasters, which we know will happen with increased frequency.
Speaker 1: So when we think about funding, this is not just
Speaker 1: about helping the poorer countries with our energy transition. It
Speaker 1: is also helped be more mature economies dealing with the
Speaker 1: impact of climate change today, which makes a whole debate
Speaker 1: even more complicated.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, but let me just ask you a grease specific question.
Speaker 2: Last year was the minute wildfires their droughts as well.
Speaker 2: I wonder if Greece has to put in a national
Speaker 2: strategy to deal with, say, adequate motor supply in the
Speaker 2: years ahead. Is that something that you're thinking about.
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, when you look at the headline numbers,
Speaker 1: no country has brought down No European country has brought
Speaker 1: down its emissions faster since two thousand and five than Greece.
Speaker 1: We produce more than fifty percent of our electricity from
Speaker 1: renewables and this will go up to eighty percent within
Speaker 1: the next five to six years. So we're certainly doing
Speaker 1: our part in terms of making the energy transition work
Speaker 1: for Greece. At the same time, we understand that we
Speaker 1: need to focus more on adaptation. We're spending more than
Speaker 1: two billion years in civil protection. Our number one obligation
Speaker 1: is to protect human lives when a catastrophic climate event strikes.
Speaker 1: But of course managing our water supplies is going to
Speaker 1: become a critical my priority for the foreseeable future. We
Speaker 1: know we're faced with extreme weather events and with droughts,
Speaker 1: and we have a very ambitious plan to make sure
Speaker 1: that we use our water supplies with a maximum amount
Speaker 1: of efficiency. So for us in Greece, the climate crisis
Speaker 1: is already here. That is why I'm also advertating at
Speaker 1: the European level to devote more funds and cooperation to
Speaker 1: the question of adaptation and the Mediterranean countries will play
Speaker 1: a leading role in this initiative going forward as we
Speaker 1: talk about our inter European financing envelope for climate.
Speaker 2: One of the conversation topics looming large here again in
Speaker 2: the Climate conference is the return of President Trump to
Speaker 2: the White House. The US, for the last couple of
Speaker 2: years have gained a lot of credibility on the climate front.
Speaker 2: There is a concern that some of that US leadership
Speaker 2: may fall to the wayside, given that President Trump's own
Speaker 2: stance is a bit more skeptical towards many of these
Speaker 2: climate ambitions and the climate agenda. Who do you think
Speaker 2: will pick up the helm. Is it going to be
Speaker 2: Europe leading the charge forward on climate discussions or is
Speaker 2: it going to be China.
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, let's see what President LEC. Trump
Speaker 1: will actually do, and I do hope that we won't
Speaker 1: see a repeat of the US leading, you know, the
Speaker 1: Paris Agreements.
Speaker 3: Two quick points.
Speaker 1: First of all, Europe is leading on the climate transition,
Speaker 1: but we account for six percent of global emissions, so
Speaker 1: we clearly cannot do this on our own. But we
Speaker 1: do understand that focusing on clean tech also from our
Speaker 1: perspective of strategic autonomy is going to be particularly important
Speaker 1: for Europe, and we do intend to dedicate significant funds
Speaker 1: toward that direction. When I look at the US, there's
Speaker 1: national policy, but there's also a clean tech revolution taking
Speaker 1: place in the US, financed primarily by private by private capitals,
Speaker 1: or the US being a very innovative economy. I do
Speaker 1: expect that many innovative solutions which will help us address
Speaker 1: the climate prices will still come from the US.
Speaker 2: Reading that you actually have had a call with the
Speaker 2: President ELEC. Trump, can you give us any insights into well,
Speaker 2: not specifically what was discussed, but what you were expecting
Speaker 2: in his second term visa v relations with Europe.
Speaker 1: Well, I had a very friendly called with President Trump.
Speaker 1: I am a relatively experienced leader, so I had an
Speaker 1: opportunity to work with him during his first mandate, and
Speaker 1: of course I stressed the importance of the Greek US relations.
Speaker 1: Greece is a pillar stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and
Speaker 1: we've worked very closely with the US and I do
Speaker 1: expect this relationship to continue. When I look at what's
Speaker 1: happening in the US from Europe's point of view, I
Speaker 1: think it emphasizes the need to work very hard to
Speaker 1: support our strategic autonomy and to make sure that the
Speaker 1: European economy becomes more competitive. Flip back to what Draugi
Speaker 1: told us in his report. We discussed this as the
Speaker 1: last European Council. I think it is time to move
Speaker 1: from words to actions. We have a very clear list
Speaker 1: of deliverables in terms of how we can make Europe
Speaker 1: more competitive. I think there was already a sense of
Speaker 1: urgency that we're lagging behind even before the election of
Speaker 1: President Trump to the White House. I think we will
Speaker 1: address this question with a renewed sense of urgency.
Speaker 2: Now, what if President Trump starts applying terrorifts on European goods?
Speaker 2: Will there be an incentive for Europe to retaliate? Then
Speaker 2: you enter into this tit for tat trade war.
Speaker 1: I'm a big believer in free trade and I don't
Speaker 1: believe in teris in principle, and I think that a
Speaker 1: trade war would be bad both of the US and
Speaker 1: for Europe. I do think there is a possibility on
Speaker 1: the US European relationship to work with President Trump and to.
Speaker 3: Find a win win a solution.
Speaker 1: For example, Europe will be looking to import a more
Speaker 1: liquified natural gas from the US, and I'm talking about
Speaker 1: LERG because we understand that in the interim, until renewables
Speaker 1: hit their full potential, we will need a natural gas
Speaker 1: for the foreseeable futures. That will certainly help us in
Speaker 1: terms of our trade.
Speaker 3: Balance with the US.
Speaker 1: So I think there are ways to discuss with the
Speaker 1: US administration and to find the win win solutions. I'm
Speaker 1: a big believer in the Transatlantic partnership, and I think
Speaker 1: when we look at the big global challenges of the
Speaker 1: world the station, we need to continue to work strongly
Speaker 1: with the US to address those challenges.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, one thing that I do question is Trump's approach
Speaker 2: to multilateral frameworks, and we know from his first term
Speaker 2: that he's sort of preferred by lateral approach with leaders
Speaker 2: around the world. What does that do to your collective
Speaker 2: standing and stands visa v approaching some of these relationships specifically,
Speaker 2: you know, when you talk about trade and when you
Speaker 2: talk about defense, is Europe going to be unified?
Speaker 1: I think that's a good question, and I think we
Speaker 1: all have, you know, bilateral relations with the US.
Speaker 3: Preseradly has one.
Speaker 1: We have a Defense Corporation agreement because you know, defense
Speaker 1: is a national prerogative. But when it comes to trade,
Speaker 1: I do need to point out that this is a
Speaker 1: competence of the European Commission, and we will negotiate with
Speaker 1: the US as a European Union, and of course we
Speaker 1: have much more leverage in doing so. I think you
Speaker 1: will see a combination of US strengthening our bilateral ties
Speaker 1: but also speaking with one voice when it comes to Europe.
Speaker 1: The challenge for Europe is to first of all get
Speaker 1: to the point where we speak with one with one
Speaker 1: voice on these issues. But again, as I told you,
Speaker 1: there is a renewed sense of urgency in terms of
Speaker 1: focusing on European competitiveness, and we have a European Commission
Speaker 1: that is very much committed in moving towards that direction.
Speaker 1: So I'm cautiously optimistic that we will be able to
Speaker 1: deliver on our general.
Speaker 2: So let me just stand on a Greece specific question
Speaker 2: on the economy. Greece actually has been growing much faster
Speaker 2: than other economies in Europe the last couple of years.
Speaker 2: Poor European countries is struggling. Career free countries are actually
Speaker 2: doing much better. Do you see Greece's economy as being
Speaker 2: able to continue and sustain the momentum that's in place.
Speaker 1: I don't think many people would have placed their beds
Speaker 1: five or six years ago that Greece would be a
Speaker 1: country with very stable public finances, growing much faster than
Speaker 1: the Eurozone, bringing down our debt at a very very
Speaker 1: fast pace, attracting investment, creating new jobs. Yes, very optimistic
Speaker 1: about the Greek economy in the short two medium term.
Speaker 1: We have three more years in our term. We have
Speaker 1: a stable government that is able to deliver on reforms,
Speaker 1: we continue to bring in investment. We had a record
Speaker 1: year when it comes to tourism. We're investing a lot
Speaker 1: in cutting edge sectors, including tech. So I think we
Speaker 1: have a very good growth story which is certainly attracting
Speaker 1: the interest of the international financial community, and I do
Speaker 1: expect Greek growth to continue to deliver.
Speaker 3: My number one focus is on making.
Speaker 1: Sure that we converge which Europe at a fast pace
Speaker 1: and we sort of make up for.
Speaker 3: The lost ground of the last decade.
Speaker 1: And of course bringing up our wages and addressing the
Speaker 1: cost of living crisis is my number one priority these days.
Speaker 2: Fantastic Prime Minister, Thank you so much for speaking with us.
Speaker 2: That was the Greek Prime Minister Kiriakos Mitsotakis. Thank you
Speaker 2: very much.