The Climate Change Hub, in the context of its initiatives to activate society in order to contribute to addressing the climate crisis and strengthening the national effort to achieve the green transition, participated in the Athens Democracy Forum 2024 and organized for the fourth consecutive year the annual breakfast event.
This year, given that the national and European climate laws have placed local government at the heart of the green transition process, the Hub Team chose to dedicate the working breakfast to local government and the challenges it faces in this process. This event, entitled “Local Authorities are in the centre of climate action. Can Greek Municipalities cope with this challenge?”, was held on Tuesday 1 October 2024, at the Hotel Grande Bretagne.
The panel, moderated by Ms Maria Logotheti, President and CEO of the Climate Change Hub, was attended by Mr Dimitris Papastergiou, Minister of Digital Governance, Mr Savvas Chionides, Secretary General of Local Government and Decentralization of the Ministry of the Interior and Mr Grigoris Konstantellos, Mayor of Vari, Voula, Vouliagmeni and First Vice President of KEDE. Mr Achilles Tsaltas, DCF President and CCHuB Board Member and Mr Anthony Kefalas, DCF Vice-Chair and CCHub strategic advisor opened the proceedings.
As it emerged from the breakfast event, the objectives of the green transition, in accordance with the requirements of the national and European climate laws, have not been achieved at the local level. It became clear from the discussion that the path towards shaping a new green consensus, founded upon a different kind of local economy, the economy of tomorrow, needs to be defined at practical level. We need to transform an unsustainable and weak local administration system to build something better by carefully motivating all actors, by explaining what the new system should be like and what the transition should entail. But over and above, the state should provide authority, capacity and funding to local leaders. It is worth noting that there were reported cases of local leaders who, often going beyond the narrow limits of their competences, consistently and dedicatedly serve the goal of green transition, with remarkable results. However, without the authority and resources, the continuation of their work is not guaranteed. Therefore, there is an urgent need to create a one-stop-shop that can gather and disseminate information, provide expertise and network local stakeholders at national level and with the European and international scene. The Climate Change Hub was created to respond to this need, focusing its work at the local level, with the aim of engaging society in the green transition process.
The discussion was opened by the Minister of Digital Governance Mr Dimitris Papastergiou, stressing that “the climate crisis is a global threat that requires immediate action. Global warming, extreme weather conditions, and rising sea levels are already affecting our cities. At the Ministry of Digital Governance, we are taking initiatives, utilizing modern technologies to address this crisis, with Artificial Intelligence playing a crucial role in this effort. Through the “National Micro-satellite Program”, we are building our own valuable toolbox in space, allowing us to develop more accurate climate models. At the same time, with the European initiative for AI Factories, which has sustainability at its core, we will have the ability to harness “big data” for designing new environmental policies, embracing a green technology approach”.
Then, the Secretary General for Local Government and Decentralization of the Ministry of the Interior, Mr Savvas Chionides, representing the Minister, Mr Theodoros Livanios, pointed out that “local authorities are at the centre of climate change and the importance of continuing and intensifying the activation of municipalities and regions is crucial. To the question of whether municipalities in Greece can meet this challenge, the answer is that this direction is no longer an obligation but an imperative. We all know that the key issue is the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The European Union has committed to providing incentives for Member States to adopt and implement them. In this direction, the Greek Government and the Ministry of Interior, which I have the honour to represent, are moving forward with concrete projects and specific directions in Agenda 2000-2030. At this level, there are the “Filodemos” and “Antonis Tritsis” programmes, which are of great interest to municipalities and local communities. Many local authorities have already participated, the total cost may exceed € 3.5 billion and is expected to leave a specific footprint throughout Greece”.
Finally, the Mayor of Vari, Voula, Vouliagmeni and First Vice President of KEDE Mr Grigoris Konstantellos congratulated the organizers of the breakfast event for the initiative of the high-level meeting on the climate change, with the participation of top government representatives and with equal representation of local government. As he stressed, “through this dialogue we have the opportunity to highlight the capacity and degree of readiness of local government to play a catalytic role in the practices required to address perhaps the most important problem of our generation, which is none other than the impact of climate change on our planet”.
The following speakers participated in the discussion: Petros Kokkalis, former MEP, Secretary and Co-Founder of the political party “Kosmos”, Nikolaos Raptis, Deputy Governor of Thessaly for The Climate Crisis, Yannis Kokkaliaris, Mayor of Kozani, Nikos Chrysogelos, Deputy Mayor of Climate Governance and Social Economy, Lydia Karra, Chairman of the Board of the Hellenic Society for Environment and Culture, Dimitris Lalas FACE3TS SA, former President of the Athens Observatory, Leadership Council/Climate Change Hub, Nikos Charalambides, Executive Director Greenpeace, Athens Office, Lia Papazoglou, Co-Founder of Ecogenia, Peter Brown, CEO Climate Democracy Initiative, Michael P. Nash, Film Director.
During the discussion, a video was shown, in which representatives of international networks (Stelios Diakoulakis, C40 Cities, Konstantina Karydi, CCHub/RCC Europe, Vasileios Latinos, ICLEI Europe, Marnie McGregor, GCoM, Maria Vassilakou, former Deputy Mayor of Vienna, EU Mission on 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities), expressed their views on whether first and second level local authorities have the capacity and expertise to act as pillars of the process at local and regional level, and what is needed to achieve this. They were also asked whether there is a need for new institutional arrangements and resources or whether it is sufficient to provide expertise and proper support. You can watch the video here.
The President and CEO of the Climate Change Hub, Ms Maria Logotheti, closing the breakfast event, presented an open proposal of the Hub to the Ministry of the Interior. The Climate Change Hub, in its capacity as the only entity that focuses horizontally at local administration, can set up a committee, a task force, with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, of local authorities, of public and private sector, of NGOs, and of Academia in view of preparing a set of measures that should be implemented in order to effectively assist local authorities in their role as focal points for green transition.
