## 3 Evaluation of Needs of Greek Agriculture in the Context of the New CAP
However, at this point it is important to note that from the perspective of an agricultural policy it does not seem appropriate to subsidize emission reductions which are accounted for in other sectors, assuming that they are already subject to specific mitigation measures from other policy areas. This is, for example, the case for emission reductions from nitrogen fertilizer production installations, which are already included in the scope of the EU Emission Trading System. Such emission mitigation technologies that can be adopted by agricultural producers. Indicatively, in the livestock sector, mitigation actions can include anaerobic digestion at farm scale, low nitrogen feed, linseed as feed additive, nitrate as feed additive, vaccination against methanogenic bacteria in the rumen, and specific breeding programs to increase milk yields of dairy cows, and ruminant feed efficiency. In the crops sectors, some mitigation actions could include precision farming, variable rate technology, better timing of fertilization, nitrification inhibitors, rice measures, fallowing histosols (organic soils), and increasing legume share on temporary grassland. An integrated framework of interactions among desertification, biodiversity loss and climate change is graphically presented in Figure 4, below. In its recommendations for Greece's CAP, the EU [43] showed that significant pressure has been exerted by Greek agriculture on national natural resources, with the greatest risks from climate change being observed in the quantity and the quality of irrigation water and soil erosion. In terms of energy generation, the use of RES in Greek agriculture is low compared to the rest of the EU, though this is being remedied through long term investments in RES (including biomass power generation) which can also help Greece with economic growth [49]. This creates a definite margin for improvement, especially when considering the high energy-producing potential of Greece from solar and wind. Significant issues in the initialization and implementation phases of the planned interventions were revealed by the examination of the prior implementation of the CAP's environmental and climate policies. Agricultural scientists have long warned that the EU's CAP is inefficiently spent, while there is a glaring mismatch between the budgets and declared aims of the CAP, and the most money is allocated to the least successful initiatives [9]. Moreover, a pronounced bias of payments [50] is also reported toward regions with the highest rather than the lowest GHG emissions [51], in conflict with the climate objective of the CAP. However, the financial distribution also demonstrated that areas with low GHG emissions or substantial amounts of farmland with strong conservation values did receive significant support. Such situations might serve as illustrations of sound investment policy. These results also showed that one important path to CAP improvements should  
Figure 4: Relationship between desertification, biodiversity loss and climate change. Source: Adapted from European Court of Auditors, Special Report No 33, Combating desertification in the EU: a growing threat in need of more action. consider spatial targeting. Here again, the EU can insist that its Member States provide evidence that pertinent CAP subsidies are directed to areas where they clearly provide benefit to the environment. This should also be on track with other complimentary climate change adaptation and mitigation actions [52], as it is also crucial to remember that Greek agriculture should make a \"green transition\" by combining economic, environmental, and social sustainability in a fair, gradual, and balanced way, as it has been visually represented at Figure 5, below. These three dimensions come together to form an integrated design of policy measures and interventions by general and specific objectives of the new CAP to address the effects of climate change requires broader reforms, synergies, and a change in the overall production culture.