Greece and the Mediterranean: Which countries have adopted an environmentally friendly policy, and which have still mountains to climb?

The Mediterranean sea is a unique mosaic of ecosystems in which we find a huge number of endemic birds. The responsibility for the protection of this unique natural environment lies among all the countries of the Med and if we don’t all agree on some common rules, for critical issues, like water, sea pollution etc, we’ll all lose. Our country has one of the richest ecosystems, but is one of the poorest in terms of effective environmental policy. Unfortunately, we are still drowning in our garbage and our illegal building, whilst a comprehensive and long term policy for the environment is absent.  

What changed by Al Gore and the IPCC winning the Nobel Peace Prize for their environmental action?

The fact that Al Gore and the IPCC won the Prize, connected, for the first time, an issue that in the minds of most people is purely environmental, with a socio-political term: peace. Hereafter, it becomes clear that environmental problems are in their nature social, with political and financial extensions. Was the problem solved? Of course not, but surely it is an important landmark. It is tragic, however, that at the same time, thousands of miles away in Bali, governments once more couldn’t agree on taking drastic measures against climate change.

The Earth has seen 8 cycles of temperature rise and fall in the last 450,000 years, according to science. Between 1300 and 1850 there were near ice age conditions. In 1975 the media warned of a large concentration of ice and coming disasters, for reasons opposite to today’s global warming situation. To what point have these fears been popularized?    

Almost the entire scientific community is clear when it claims that current increase of world temperature can’t be explained with the natural cycles of climate changes, and had to be attributed to human activities and the emissions of gas that derive from those activities. As opposed to 1975 – when only a handful of scientists had mistakenly predicted a “new ice age” – the tens of thousands of academics and environmental bodies around the world have strongly placed the issue of environmental change, publish one research after the other, enjoy the general acceptance of the public and win Nobel Prizes. There is now no way that climate change can be denied, on the contrary, another very important issue has risen. How fear that has conquered citizens, won’t lead to indifference and apathy, but will turn them into a creative social movement. How will we radically change the way we produce and consume energy and create a society of low carbon volume? This is the essential task and for that we will work as hard as we can.

Is there sustainable support for environmental organizations, capable of helping them keep their voices loud?

An NGO – of environmental or other character – will disappear if it’s not capable of retaining its freedom of choice and keeping an independent speech. The target is for these organizations to be supported financially and morally by citizens; this kind of support “legalizes” them socially and offers them independence. We shouldn’t exclude support by other bodies, private or government run.  An NGO whose purpose is to create a spirit of participation and cooperation in every aspect of society, whether it’s about the state or the private sector, or single citizens, doesn’t divide people into “good” and ”bad”.  But there is a need to satisfy some prerequisites – clear rules, absolute clarity and preservation of the right for independent criticism.

The Ministry of Environment, Land and Public Works is oficially on the same side as environmental organizations. Is it really?

Unfortunately, up until now, the Ministry is mostly involved with public works and less with environment and land. Thus, although environmental organizations constantly propose certain solutions and ask for a dialogue on critical matters of our country, there is no partner to be found within the Ministry. During the last 4 years of his administration, the current Minister has denied dialogue; he hasn’t answered a single letter of the many that we’ve sent, and he hasn’t met with any of the most active organizations. He has lately accused WWF of being “liars, populists and political”. With such a low level of political civilization how can somebody cooperate in order to find common grounds?

Dimitris Karavellas is the director of WWF Hellas.