Climate change is a topic that has been talked about a lot in school in recent years. I even did a project in my biology class about proposing a way to protect our ecosystem as it is important that we act now on these important topics. As most of Greece is composed of many islands it calls for eco-innovations. 

  Greece focuses on renewable energy and this can be seen throughout the city of Athens as we saw many solar panels as well as wind turbines to promote clean energy. Although these measures have been taken to promote clean energy, in recent years the uptake of clean energy has slowed down tremendously and it is seen as Greece ranks very low compared to other countries within the EU as it is below their average but it is slowly creeping up it. Most of these eco-innovations rely heavily on research activities that are funded by the EU, this is a struggle for Greece as these eco-innovations require technological innovations and that is not Greece’s strong suit. As a result of this there are policies being put into place to help with this struggle, and the first step is the implementation of a circular economy. 

The recent economic crisis within Greece took a large toll on the country and this affected environmental protection within the country. This can be seen through lack of public knowledge on environmental protection innovations, malpractice by authorities, and limited enforcement of laws by local authorities. 

Greece relies heavily on innovation to help with its technological advancements as this is something that Greece struggles with. Most startups go to the EU for patents for better chances of funding which Greece can not provide which is hurting them with the new startups that could help them tremendously with innovation, Greece only has about 4.68 million patents compared to the EU average of 17.31 million. 

Greece is still below average eco-innovation activities as only small or medium sized enterprises use sustainability in Greece is 18% compared to the EU average of 25%. There is more growth in recent years of eco-innovation in different sectors of Greece but they can not be classified as fully developed and sustainable as they are not at their full potential and need improvement. Although Greece is on the right track there is still a lot that needs to be done to bring it to standard especially in comparison to the EU.