Greek, not Green: Green Politics and Environmental Attitudes in Greece – Another Greek Exceptionalism?

In recent decades, Green parties have achieved notable electoral successes across Europe, shaping debates on climate change, energy policy and the green transition. Indeed, green transition has become a central pillar of EU policy since the launch of the EU Green Deal in 2019, raising however both positive and negative reactions both in Greece and across the EU. In Greece, the success of Green parties and the prevalence of issues relating to climate change mitigation and the green transition seem to be more subdued. Despite a fragmented political landscape since the financial crisis, Green parties have struggled to gain traction while evidence suggests that readiness and demand for the green transition is lagging. This discussion will explore why, focusing on questions such as:

• Why has the Green movement not had electoral successes in Greece comparable to other European countries?
• How do public attitudes in Greece towards the green transition (including decarbonisation and renewables) compare with other European countries?
• How ready is the Greek electorate for the green transition?
• Are green issues sufficiently represented within / internalised by mainstream parties, rendering a Green vote unnecessary?

Meet our panelists and chair

Professor Iosif Botetzagias: Department of Environment, University of the Aegean. He earned his Ph.D. from Keele University in 2001, focusing on green politics in Greece—a subject on which he has published extensively in journals such as Environmental Politics, Environment & Behavior, Global Environmental Politics, South European Society and Politics, Sustainability, The Hellenic Political Science Review, and Society & Animals. He is the author of The Federation of Ecologists Alternatives: The First Greek Green Party (1989–1992) (Lambert Academic Publishing: Saarbrucken, 2011), and has co-edited Sustainable Politics & the Crisis of the Peripheries: Ireland and Greece (Emerald, 2011, with Liam Leonard) and Ecological Political Parties: The European Experience and the Greek Dimension (Green Institute, 2011 [in Greek], with Wolfgang Ruedig).

Petros S. Kokkalis: Secretary of Political Party ‘Kosmos’ & Former Member of the European Parliament (Greens/EFA). He is a Greek environmental advocate and politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2019 to 2024. Representing Greece, first with the Progressive Alliance – SYRIZA and later joining the Greens/EFA group, his work focused on integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals into the core of EU policymaking. As a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), he was a shadow rapporteur on key legislation, including the Green Claims Directive and the Social Climate Fund. An outspoken proponent of a post-growth economic model, Kokkalis has consistently argued for the EU to move "beyond GDP" toward metrics based on well-being and environmental regeneration. Before his European mandate, Kokkalis was Vice-Mayor of Piraeus (2014–2019), where he was responsible for climate policy and local economic development. He is also a pioneer in Greece's green ecosystem as the co-founder of Organization Earth, an environmental education NGO, and Aephoria, an incubator for green and blue economy startups. He holds a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. In 2024, he founded Kosmos, a green political party in Greece.

Theodota Nantsou: Head of Policy, WWF Greece. She serves as Head of Policy at WWF Greece and chairs the Strategy Board of WWF’s European Policy Office. She studied philosophy in Athens and holds a master’s degree in environmental ethics from Lancaster University. Her work centres on policies tackling the climate crisis, climate-related displacement and migration, nature conservation, nature-based solutions, and governance for sustainable development.

Yannis Paraskevopoulos: Founding Member and Former Co-Spokesperson - Οικολόγοι Πράσινοι (Ecologist Greens). Born in Athens in 1960, Yannis Paraskevopoulos has studied law and political science. Since the mid 80s, he has been part of the successive political ecology projects in Greece. He was a green activist in Green Cities citizens’ initiatives, the climate movement, and sustainable mobility and transport campaigns. Involved in the anti-globalization movement, he has also been a grassroots trade union organizer in the 90s. In 1990-1 he volunteered in the office of Green MP Anastasia Andreadaki. A founding member of Oikologoi Prasinoi, he has been involved in Green policy work and has held senior positions, including as party co-spokesperson (2010-11) and co-lead candidate in the 2012 national elections. In 2009-11 he has been a senior aide to Green MEP Michalis Tremopoulos. He later distanced himself from the party following their 2015 election support to SYRIZA, and finally left in 2020 to become a founding member of Prasinoi. He has published numerous articles on issues including Green cities, sustainable transport, globalization, nationalism, the Greens-Left relationship, the GND and Green responses to the Greek crisis, as well as on current Green transition challenges in Greece. Currently he is focusing on Palestine, exploring pathways toward just peace and co-existence.

Chair: Professor Vassilis Monatiriotis: Director, Hellenic Observatory Centre; Eleftherios Venizelos Chair of Contemporary Greek Studies; Professor in Political Economy

More about this event   

The Hellenic Observatory (@HO_LSE) is internationally recognised as a leading research centre on contemporary Greece and Cyprus. In 2024, it became the LSE Centre for Research on Contemporary Greece and Cyprus with a strategy to expand its research base within LSE and beyond. The Centre produces world-leading, non-partisan research, critically engaging with key issues and fostering debate among academics, policymakers, and the public. Its work spans academic research, knowledge exchange, and policy impact.

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