The E.U. must stand closer, more decisively and with new policies, to the local communities that are suffering the consequences of the climate crisis, was the general conclusion of the eventon protecting municipalities from the effects of climate change, which was co-organised by Member of Parliament Dimitris Tsiodras with the Network of Cities with Lakes.

In his intervention, the MEP and spokesperson of the New Democracy Eurogroup stressed that “municipalities are at the forefront of the great challenges of our time and that we should support their efforts, which is the foundation for building resilient and sustainable communities in Europe”.

He added that “precisely because the risks associated with the climate crisis are locally asymmetric, the policies implemented to address them must respond to different local needs, while ensuring solidarity and strong cooperation between our communities“.

Andreas Stergios, President of the Network of Cities with Lakes and Mayor of Argithea Karditsa, spoke about the long-standing work of the Network, which is one of the most active networks in Europe and highlighted the challenges facing the municipalitieswith natural or artificial lakes and the impact of natural disasters such as the “Janus” and “Daniel”. He noted that “the climate crisis is neither a technical issue nor a merely sensitive issue. On the contrary, these issues are axes of environmental and social justice“.

Epaminondas Trivilos, Coordinator of the Network of Cities with Lakes, stressed the importance of training and operational preparedness for natural disasters and noted the challenges arising from the fact that many of these areas are mountainous and island at the same time.

Eleftherios Stavropoulos, European Commission official, referred to the European Union’s financial instruments for dealing with natural disasters and the scientific data available to the Research Centre towards prevention and the use of good practices for dealing with natural disasters such as floods.

The event was attended and intervened by Aristides Tasios, Vice-Regional Governor of Central Greece, AnastAnastKayaoglou, Mayor of ParanestiuDrama, Eustathios Koulus, Mayor of Gortynia Arcadia, Ioanna Kalimeri, Municipal Councillor of ThEtoloakarnania, Zoe Marigou, Municipal Councillor of the Municipality of HerakleiaSerron, Nikolaos Koutsogiannis, Mayor of Naoussa, Lambros Palantzas, Municipal Councillor of the Municipality of Descati Grevena, Vassiliki Mega, Municipal Councillor of the Municipality of Ioanniton, Vassiliki Branzos, General Secretary of the Municipality of Lake PlastiraKarditsa, Epaminondas Trivilos, Coordinator of the Network of Cities with Lakes and Elena Mourelatou, Scientific Associate of the Network.

In their interventions they highlighted issuesregarding the need for support for shielding cities to address weather events that exceed thecapacities of local authorities, assistance to municipalities to enable them to participate more actively in European policies, on specific problems facing their municipalities, while referring and to other practices for the economic and tourist developmentof the regions, protecting biodiversity and tackling pollution, as well as addressing problems such as demographic decline.

The event was attended by MEPs George Avtias, Frentis Beleris, Sakis Arnaoutoglou, Nicos Farantouris, MEPs Giorgos Vrettakos and Katerina Kazani, a representative from the Office of the President of the EPP Parliamentary Group, Manfred Weber, as well as a representative from the Greek Permanent Representation in Brussels.