Cross-Sectoral Environment Strategy 2020-2023

This Cross-Sectoral Environment Strategy is a nationwide document that reviews and develops for the period 2021-2023 the Strategy proposed for the the period 2017 - 2020. starts from the analysis of what has been achieved in implementing the objectives stated in the first document and which remain substantially the same in this updated form and which are (i) environmental pollution levels are low and controlled; (ii) the natural environment and biodiversity are managed and maintained in a sustainable manner; (iii) the necessary measures to adapt to the effects of the phenomenon of climate change, to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, to reduce desertification, and to confront disasters and environmental emergencies are taken and adopted; (iv) the environmental legislative system is updated, activated and integrated, the environmental institutional framework is possible and efficient, and international cooperation is enhanced; and (v) levels of environmental awareness, knowledge and behavior are enhanced and generalized.
To make agriculture more productive and sustainable, the document aims to (i) properly manage agricultural waste; (ii) regulate the use of fertilizers and agricultural pesticides; (iii) increase the area of irrigable land irrigated from treated water sources; (iv) increase the application of organic farming patterns; (v) control hunting and overgrazing; (vi) apply the concept of sustainable production and consumption in agricultural activities; (vii) increase annually the area of cultivated land or protected from degradation and/or desertification; (viii) enhance the ability to deal with environmental disasters and mitigate their effects.
To increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, it is necessary (i) an effective, environmentally safe, and healthy management of solid waste services; (ii) an increased amount of hazardous waste collected and treated; (iii) enhanced environmental control and inspection procedures; (iv) an increased amount of medical waste collected and treated; (v) linking diseases with their causes of environmental pollutants; (vi) supply all citizens with water in a sustainable manner from reliable sources; (vii) improved efficiency of water distribution systems; (viii) protect water sources from pollution and depletion; (ix) wastewater systems from the collection, transportation and treatment operate with high efficiency; (x) ensure safe traffic environment; (xi) controlled environmental pollution levels in the transport sector; (xii) increasing the number of industrial establishments that apply the concept of production and consumption sustainable; (xiii) preserving biodiversity and protecting natural heritage sites; (xiv) increase the quantity and quality of available water (conventional and non-conventional); (xv) encourage tourism facilities to take into account the environmental dimension; (xvi) promote tax and financial incentives targeting environmentally friendly projects and initiatives; (xvii) contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation; (xviii) increase the amount of electrical energy produced locally from renewable energy; (xix) increasing the number of facilities and establishments that adopt green building.
As for Governance, the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers shall follow-up and monitor the implementation of this Strategy for each sector and prepare the strategic results framework through which the progress is monitored.