Greece Invests Over €2 Billion to Fight Climate Change Effects
- Fire season could be challenging given high temperatures
- Nation implements largest international procurement program
A firefighter sprays water on the flames during a wildfire in Chasia, Greece in Aug. 2023.
Photographer: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty ImagesGreece is investing €2.1 billion ($2.27 billion) to protect the nation from natural disasters caused by climate change as wildfires are already breaking out ahead of fire season, which normally starts in May.
The Aegis program is the first of its kind in Greece. According to Panagiotis Stampoulidis, the executive director of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, which will oversee procurement for it, it will also be Greece’s biggest-ever procurement program. The initiative will provide new and upgraded equipment to the Ministry of Civil Protection, including amphibious firefighting aircrafts, drones for aerial monitoring, fire detection and extinguishing systems, fire control centers and more than 1,000 firefighting vehicles.