Disaster is the new reality of the Mitsotakis government

We have entered an era of catastrophes. And in recent years Greece has been living in this era constantly.

Climate change has already happened and we can see its effects in the form of “extreme weather events”, catastrophic water shortageincreased risk large forest fires all over the world. We have seen it in many countries, we have experienced it in our country and we are experiencing it now.

Right now, there is a very large forest fire raging in Attica (article written on August 13), which is spreading to areas that we considered residential, part of the “urban area” of the metropolitan metropolis. We are facing situations that we had not thought about before, even in times of large fires.

I know that the conditions are unprecedented and extremely difficult. And I have no doubt that those involved in the aftermath are doing everything they can, many of them showing real heroism and selflessness.

But we already knew that for a long time We are facing unprecedented and extremely difficult times. We knew that the situation would become more and more difficult with each passing year. We knew that the limits of fire suppression mechanisms would be tested. And at some point, we would have to ask ourselves whether we have really met this challenge in recent years.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to talk about “responsibility” and looking for the guilty at this moment, when the disaster is just unfolding. Although it is obvious that there is a long-standing and very serious responsibility here, as well as political culprits, because citizens cannot feel that they live in an unprotected country and are completely defenseless, expecting that the fire will be put out when it reaches the sea.

I mean something more global, something that goes to the root of the problem and explains a lot – but does not excuse it. I believe that we have not realized, as we should have, how much things have already changed. And because we have not realized this, we are still largely unprepared. In other words, at present, those who hold the fate of countries in their hands do not think and, moreover, do not act in a way that demonstrates a real awareness of the criticality of the situation.

Although the climate catastrophe, both in the form of efforts to prevent its escalation and in the form of actions to limit its consequences, must be one of the main, if not the most important, issues that concern us and around which resources, both national and European, are mobilized.

Instead, the evidence shows that the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, which is responsible for disaster and crisis management and climate change, has been given very few resources (or has been successfully stole. Editor's note), given the rapid changes. It is worrying and angering that even the Recovery Fund, which was supposed to cover a significant part of the needs for equipment, specialists and human resources, has allocated very little money, and until recently this percentage was only 1%.

I don't think there is a more important “national task” at the moment than achieving real security and protection from disasters, and in the medium term, reversing the process of climate change so that we can truly build a sustainable future.

Because I don't believe that the answer at the moment is to fatalistically accept that disasters will happen more and more often and that all we can do is ensure, through systems like 112, that there are no casualties and, through the expansion of forms of private insurance, to provide additional compensation for those who will suffer more and more often.

Such a direction would be an unacceptable reconciliation with the catastrophe; it would be tantamount to accepting what has become the new norm.

And I fear that is exactly what we are doing until we realize that we have moved to a new level of both the threats and the scale of the impact that disasters can have.

In the face of this reality, the state and those responsible for it cannot remain at the level of “we did everything we could.” They must move to “we did and are doing what we must do.” Otherwise, they are still in the middle of the problem.

Lefteris T. Charalambopoulos is the editor of the largest Greek publication in.gr

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