"Greece is the only country in the European Union not to have convinced the United Nations that it has a credible system (to measure greenhouse gases)," Dimas, himself a Greek, told Flash Radio.

"This has to be done under UN specifications... the (Greek environment) ministry assured me that it would be done," he said.

The environment commissioner also added that Greece's figures on carbon dioxide reduction estimates were different from those of the EU.

Greece said it would cut its emissions by 16.6 percent in the next four years but Dimas said the EU's estimate of the reduction was six percent, from 71 million tonnes in 2005 to 69 million tonnes in 2008-2012.

The EU's executive arm and environmental organisations such as WWF and Greenpeace routinely castigate Greece over its failure to tackle carbon dioxide emissions, one of the main contributors to global warming.

Dimas, who addressed Greece's parliamentary committee on the environment on Thursday, also questioned the unchecked construction of swimming pools and golf courses on Greek islands and the Peloponnese region as these areas face frequent water shortages.

"These activities must meet local conditions," Dimas said. "Building pools next to clean seas is not logical, also for hygiene reasons... and it makes no sense to build golf courses in arid areas."

Greek environment minister George Souflias said in a statement that the nation's monitoring system would be improved with an influx of scientists.
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