Press release

Time running out: NGOs call on EU Commission to halt fossil fuel push in Greek seas

8 September 2025

NGOs are calling on the European Commission to urgently put an end to Greece’s blatant disregard of EU environmental law, demonstrated by their granting of oil and gas passes in the Hellenic Trench without assessing the impacts on its unique biodiversity.

As Greece burns in a record-breaking summer of scorching heat and wildfires, its government is again busy giving fossil fuel companies access to its seabed, opening the path to drilling permits that will exacerbate the biodiversity and climate crises and cause untold harm to iconic endangered species in the Mediterranean.

NGOs worry that time is running out for the Commission to act – with a brand-new tender by the Greek government for additional fossil fuel exploration and exploitation near marine protected areas closing on 10 September. 

ClientEarth, WWF and Greenpeace lodged a complaint with the European Commission in 2023 to hold the Greek government to account for serious and systematic breaches of EU environmental legislation. They are asking again for the Commission to halt the repeated greenlighting of offshore oil and gas exploration near Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). They warn that failing to do so would set a dangerous precedent, neglecting cornerstone environmental law in favour of fossil fuel companies’ interests.

ClientEarth lawyer Francesco Maletto said: “Oil and gas drilling in the home of whales and dolphins, in the midst of devastating climate impacts - how much clearer a mandate does the Commission need to act? The Commission has a clear legal and moral obligation to uphold EU environmental law. These activities are putting irreplaceable marine ecosystems at serious risk, all for fossil fuels that are driving ecological breakdown and climate chaos. Protecting nature is climate action. Expanding fossil fuels is not.”

WWF Greece legal sector leader Anna Vafeiadou said: “At a time when the climate crisis is intensifying at an alarming rate, there is simply no justification for planning new oil and gas exploration and exploitation projects. In the ominous shadow of the escalating climate crisis and in light of the recent groundbreaking advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, we call on the Greek Government to be a true climate champion and stop all plans for new oil and gas drilling in Greek seas. We also urge the Commission to fulfil its duty as the Guardian of the Treaties and to act with the urgency that the climate crisis demands”.

Greenpeace climate campaigner, Costas Kaloudis said: "During this summer we experienced devastating wildfires in Greece once again, that are connected to the rapidly changing climate in the Mediterranean region. While our land and seas suffer from the intensifying impacts of climate change, the government of Greece persists in offering them up for fossil fuel exploitation, thereby aggravating the same problem we must do everything to solve. It is a crucial moment for the European Commission to act fast in order to help the European Commission mitigate climate change and to adhere to its role of protecting the valuable ecosystem and the precious animal populations of the Hellenic Trench."

The complaint to the Commission comes amidst concerns about its repeated failure, under leadership of Ursula von der Leyen, to act and enforce EU environmental law. In August 2024, Politico revealed that since 1 December 2019, the EU executive had only opened 559 legal proceedings over environmental law violations against EU countries, trailing her predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker (645 cases), and José Manuel Barroso (1,314 cases in his first, and 845 in his second mandate).

Meanwhile, the Greek government’s efforts to promote investments in the hydrocarbon sector comes at a time when devastating climate impacts in the country are clear to see. These crises unfold amidst a backdrop of bold declarations from the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis regarding Greece’s alleged leadership on climate and conservation action. In recent months, the EU adopted an EU Ocean Pact focusing on protecting and restoring marine health, including from seabed extraction. Yet these statements ring hollow when held alongside plans to greenlight drilling on the fringes of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which would have a devastating impact on endangered whales, dolphins, Monk seals and Loggerhead turtles.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

About the oil and gas exploration and exploitation permits: 

  • See the map regarding the new potential drilling areas here. 
  • Evidence shows the hugely harmful effects of fossil fuel exploration - loud seismic waves, and a drastic increase in the number of sea vessels - threaten endangered species found across the Hellenic Trench, a biodiversity hotspot of global ecological importance, that extends from the northern Ionian Sea to south of Crete. 
  • International fossil fuel giant Chevron and national company HELLENiQ Energy have both expressed formal interest in having further areas opened up for oil and gas activity and the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy has accepted – starting the process for official licensing. Chevron is the world’s second biggest private hydrocarbons company, based in the USA and active in more than 180 countries. 
  • EU nature laws require Greek authorities to fully assess the impact that such activities have on threatened marine life in protected areas, known as Natura 2000 sites, before giving them the green light. However the Greek government, also based on decisions of the Parliament and Council of State, persistently allows offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities to go ahead without the proper assessments. 

About the complaint

  • ClientEarth, WWF Greece and Greenpeace Greece originally wrote to the European Commission in December 2023 demanding the start of an infringement procedure against Greece. After an initial threat to close the case, the European Commission confirmed at the end of 2024 that they would pursue an investigation. In light of the concerns around the decisions currently being made in Greece, the lack of escalation by the Commission is likewise concerning. In the latest exchange with the Commission (September 2025), the NGOs reiterated the need for the Commission to take enforcement actions against the systemic breaches of EU law by Greek authorities.

 About the Greek government climate and biodiversity pledges:

  • At COP29 in Baku, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis presented Greece as “a pioneer [of] the energy transition”, whilst at the UN Oceans Conference last June, he proclaimed “Greece wants to be at the forefront of protecting the unique biodiversity of Greek seas... we see our marine ecosystem not only as part of our identity, but also as an obligation to protect for future generations.” Here, the Greek Government presented itself as a champion of marine biodiversity preservation with the declaration of two new marine parks. Yet one of these - the Ionian Sea marine park, is adjacent to the new oil and gas blocks, meaning its conservation goals would be immediately jeopardised.

Further Context:

  • Greenpeace has recently released a study stating that new oil and gas could be banned in the EU to meet human rights and climate obligations. 
  • A UK judge ruled in January that approval for two major new oil and gas fields was unlawful – in part because the company had not factored the ‘downstream emissions’ (carbon emissions that result from burning oil and gas) into their impact assessment. 
  • The Commission themselves recently published the European Ocean Pact, which emphasized the importance of “reduc[ing] Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels, including extracted from the seabed, in view of the risks on the marine ecosystems”.  
  • In July 2025, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus experienced one of the most devastating months of wildfires. Tens of thousands of acres of farmland, homes, and resorts were destroyed, with a significant part of the island of Kythera burned. An attribution study has found that the wildfires were made approximately 10x more likely by climate change.
About ClientEarth

ClientEarth is a non-profit organisation that uses the law to create systemic change that protects the Earth for – and with – its inhabitants. We are tackling climate change, protecting nature and stopping pollution, with partners and citizens around the globe. We hold industry and governments to account, and defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. From our offices in Europe, Asia and the USA we shape, implement and enforce the law, to build a future for our planet in which people and nature can thrive together.