The country’s first climate-change draft bill, carrying binding 2030 and 2040 carbon emission targets, as well as a climate neutrality commitment by 2050, is expected to be submitted to parliament within the next few days after having adopted many comments forwarded during consultation.

Deadlines that had been set for the use of heating fuel boilers as well as vehicles with internal combustion engines appear set to be granted extensions of a few years.

A ban on the installation of heating fuel boilers in areas equipped with sufficient natural gas networks will now probably not come into effect until 2024 or 2025, instead of 2023, as was intended by the draft bill prior to revisions.

A plan for the withdrawal of all carbon-emitting taxis in Athens and Thessaloniki by early 2025 also appears set to be given an extension, of two years. The same applies for new rental cars and new company cars.

It remains unclear if the draft bill will include revisions to binding targets for industrial activity emissions, especially energy-intensive enterprises subject to the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).

EVIKEN, the Association of Industrial Energy Consumers, during consultation, supported that this category of enterprises must be exempted from a 30 percent emission reduction target between 2023 and 2030, as stated in the original draft bill.