The summer time Greece found the local weather disaster

Within the run-up to Greece’s two parliamentary elections in Could and June, the local weather was of little or no concern to the political events. Lower than 0.5% of pre-election speeches of all of the political leaders contained the phrases “atmosphere” or “local weather change”. The topic was conspicuously absent even from the ultimate TV debate between the leaders of the nation’s most outstanding events.

This appears to go towards the priorities of Greek residents. In response to the most recent Eurobarometer survey, 94% of Greeks consider that “tackling local weather change and environmental points ought to be a precedence to enhance public well being.” One other survey by Metron Evaluation discovered that 29% of Greeks contemplate local weather change the largest subject going through the planet right this moment, adopted by the destruction of the pure atmosphere (21%). Nevertheless, in terms of the largest points going through Greece, a special image emerges: the price of dwelling tops the Greeks’ issues, adopted by the economic system and solely then by environmental destruction (9%). 

This may partly clarify why Greece’s inexperienced events should not flourishing. Within the June elections, the Ecologist Greens obtained 21,188 votes, or 0.41%, whereas the Inexperienced & Purple alliance bought 15,725 votes, or 0.3%

In contrast, the climate-sceptic, conspiracy-minded far-right occasion Niki (“Victory”) bought 3.69% of the vote, gaining 10 seats within the Greek parliament. In response to an article hosted on the occasion’s web site “By concentrating on carbon dioxide [emissions], the speculation of local weather change has change into the instrument for sustaining international energy and thru it, international wealth”. 

Shortly after the June election, Greece skilled disastrous wildfires that prompted no less than 28 deaths and burned greater than 120,000 hectares of land. In September, the nation’s central area of Thessaly was hit by devastating floods. Eventually, local weather change made its look within the Greek political and media debate.

Of their protection of the environmental disasters, a number of Greek media retailers quoted English-language information experiences. Widespread government-friendly publications Efimerida and Newsbomb, referring to an article printed in Deutsche Welle, titled, “Greece is on the forefront of local weather change”. Newsbomb additionally quoted the BBC’s title “Floods in Greece: Prime Minister Mitsotakis warns of a really unequal battle with nature”.

Ekathimerini, the English-language model of certainly one of Greece’s most important newspapers, quoted Mitsotakis telling CNN, “We did the perfect we might” in coping with the catastrophic fires. “I’m afraid that that is going to be the fact that areas just like the Mediterranean will face sooner or later”, Mitsotakis added. These narratives have contributed to the depoliticisation of environmental disasters in Greece’s public debate. 

This isn’t a brand new development. Again in 2018, former left-wing prime minister and Syriza chief Alexis Tsipras reacted to the floods in Mandra and the wildfires in Mati, within the capital’s Attica area, saying that Greece must replace civil safety protocols as a result of “local weather change means we are going to face extra frequent excessive climate occasions”. Then-opposition chief Mitsotakis replied sarcastically, “Mr Tsipras found right this moment that local weather change causes excessive climate occasions”. 

Polariasation and de-politicisation

The late Eleni Kapetanaki-Briassoulis, a geographer and professor at College of the Aegean, warned in 2021 {that a} fatalistic acceptance of the impacts of local weather change shifts accountability to distant causes, thereby sidelining “native (particular person and collective) choices and interventions on pure sources”.

“The dominant narrative of local weather change, by sharpening the dimension or somewhat complicated the native/contextual with the worldwide/distant, exonerates a portion of the official and unofficial culprits and redistributes the blame, spreading it over a bigger inhabitants,” Kapetanakis-Briassoulis wrote.

Nevertheless, the federal government went one step additional, attacking the scientific group within the aftermath of final summer time’s disasters. In September, when the Nationwide Observatory of Athens (NOA) reported a 195% enhance in burnt areas regardless of a 52% discount within the variety of wildfires in 2023 in comparison with the annual common from 2002 to 2022, the federal government accused the Observatory of being politically motivated. Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum Sofia Voultepsi spoke of a “propaganda of numbers”, whereas MP and former minister Stelios Petsas referred to “political video games”, including, “I don’t like its function”.

In early December, the federal government moved from phrases to deeds, saying its intention to include the NOA into the Ministry of Local weather Disaster and Civil Safety. Researchers from numerous establishments oppose the change, citing issues over the independence of the Observatory.

Political controversies apart, final summer time’s environmental disasters introduced the local weather disaster to the fore, presumably marking a change in media attitudes. In response to an evaluation by the Nationwide Community for Local weather Change CLIMPACT of over two thousand information objects printed on-line between 2009 and 2020, protection of the local weather disaster by the Greek media was missing for a number of causes.

First, journalists weren’t keen on detailed reporting about local weather change, whereas 11% of the analysed content material reproduced local weather sceptical views. Second, though the results of local weather change are already tangible in Greece and throughout the globe, 28% of the analysed articles completely referred to local weather impacts anticipated at some unspecified time sooner or later. Solely 17% of them talked about the consequences of local weather change within the current.

Third, the articles targeted totally on nationwide governments as accountable for addressing local weather change and its impacts. Native and worldwide actors (the EU, residents, native authorities, environmental teams, and NGOs) have been talked about much less steadily.

On a extra optimistic notice, the evaluation discovered that one in two information articles included statements by specialists. One in three contained statements by politicians, adopted by members of civil society (14.5%), residents (12%), and enterprise representatives (9%).

As famous within the survey, the presence of scientists within the media can improve the general public’s understanding of the hyperlink between local weather change, human exercise, and pure disasters. Nonetheless, CLIMPACT stresses that on-line media discourse – which frequently reproduces offline discourse – must change into extra explanatory and to higher convey the urgency for political motion on local weather change.

Alexandra Politaki, European Local weather Pact ambassador in Greece, wrote in a latest article that the nation lacks large-scale data and awareness-raising campaigns designed centrally and applied over time by state our bodies. As a substitute, individuals are uncovered to “pictures of present or future disasters, […] fragmentary pictures that provide nothing greater than impressions. Thus, key ideas […] corresponding to adaptation, transition, local weather neutrality, European Inexperienced Deal, and Simply Transition Mechanism, are left with out broad understanding”, argued Politaki.

Even the Nationwide Local weather Regulation, adopted in Could 2022 and aiming to cut back Greece’s greenhouse gasoline emissions by 55% by 2030 in comparison with 1990 ranges and internet zero by 2050, didn’t obtain the visibility it deserved. The approval of the legislation, which a number of environmental NGOs contemplate insufficient to fulfill the 1.5-degree goal, adopted a public session interval of solely two months between late 2021 and early 2022.

This inadequate public session “has been mirrored within the Local weather Regulation, in addition to the dearth of a complete method, depth, and political imaginative and prescient,” says Politaki.

Authorized threats

Political polarisation and weak media protection should not the one issues plaguing the general public debate on local weather in Greece. Certainly, as consideration has grown round environmental points, there has additionally been a rise in lawsuits towards journalists by financial pursuits, together with firms concerned within the power transition. Intimidatory authorized motion generally known as SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit In opposition to Public Participation) has focused journalists who uncover environmental injury or report on environmental issues round large-scale mining and power tasks. 

Examples embrace a lawsuit filed by renewable power firm WRE HELLAS towards Tasos Sarantis and the newspaper Efsyn for his or her reporting; one by a high-ranking govt of Hellas Gold towards the web information outlet Altherthess and journalist Stavroula Poulimeni, who reported on environmental air pollution linked to the corporate’s mining operations in Greece’s northern area of Halkidiki; and one by recycling firm Antapodotiki Anakyklosi towards journalist Thodoris Chondrogiannos for an article printed within the unbiased information outlet Inside Story. 

Authorized threats don’t solely concern journalists. ONEX shipyards focused an area environmental NGO on the Cycladic island of Syros; a wind power firm sued 100 residents of the island of Tinos for mobilising towards the set up of wind generators; and one other wind energy firm filed a lawsuit towards 9 authorized entities on Andros, additionally within the Cyclades, after that they had contested the development of a highway by the corporate. The listing might go on.

“These SLAPPs don’t solely try to impede our obligation to offer data unbiased of political and financial pursuits. It’s also the appropriate to obtain data that’s step by step being restricted’’, explains Stavroula Poulimeni. Thankfully, most native communities and lots of environmental organisations stood in solidarity with journalists and NGOs towards the burgeoning trade of intimidatory lawsuits.

But silence prevailed in many of the nation’s mainstream media. Right here, for the local weather and atmosphere to be remembered, it took flooded cities, mud-covered villages and 1.7 million acres burnt in a single summer time.

Since 2016, Greece has had a Nationwide Technique for Local weather Change Adaptation (NSCA), primarily based on a 2011 examine by the Financial institution of Greece. Nevertheless, seven years after the technique was developed, Greece has but to approve the 13 Regional Local weather Change Adaptation Plans (PESPACA) wanted to implement the NSCA. Little appears to have modified even after final summer time, and the media comprises little reporting on the matter.

Higher media independence is essential if we’re to offer the general public with high quality data on local weather impacts and responses whereas holding politicians accountable. There’s additionally an pressing have to “co-educate” scientists and journalists to assist them higher talk the complexities of local weather science and higher clarify the social and financial impacts of the disaster.

This text is a part of a sequence devoted to local weather discourse within the European media. This undertaking is organised by the Inexperienced European Basis with the assist of the European Parliament, and in collaboration with Voxeurop and the Inexperienced European Journal.