Environmental policy is not carried out with grandiose but empty words, but with projects, persistence, political will, strategy and results, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said on Friday on the occasion of World Environment Day.

According to Athens News Agency, during a visit to the Psytalleia sewage treatment plant, the prime minister said that "It requires political forces that see and recognize the problems where they exist, that speak the truth to the citizens, that dare to apply the policies that the country needs. And on the environment, there is only one choice, that between words and works, between barren nihilism and action, between responsibility and irresponsibility."

He said environmental protection was a lasting and daily battle, "and there is still much to do."

The World Environment Day "underlines the pressing need to actively meet, with determination and effectiveness, the greatest challenge faced by humanity today, which is to preserve the planet's viability."

Protection of the environment, preservation of bio-diversity, a turn to green growth and renewable energy, tackling climate change, are causes that concern everyone collectively and individually, Karamanlis said, adding that it was everyone's duty to join forces and contribute to a common, concerted effort.

"Greece, fully cognizant of the graveness of the situation, has in recent years been implementing a responsible, structured strategy on the environment," the prime minister said.

The government's institutional initiatives that establish a new framework for environmental protection through the national spatial planning framework, the tripling of installed power from renewable energy sources (RES), the advancement of major projects, the consolidation of 18 new protected regions and the incorporation of more than 20 percent of the country's territory in the Natura network, are measurable results, Karamanlis said.

Source: Xinhua