The President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou announced tonight at the Acropolis Museum the opening of the annual international conference of the “Athens Democracy Forum”, which is under her auspices, with the central theme “Do we dare to hope?” and which focuses on the difficulties facing liberal democracy today, the resilience it can demonstrate in the face of various existential threats and dangers, as well as its future and prospects.

During her opening speech, Mrs. Sakellaropoulou asserted that “one of the most important challenges for Democracy and our Democratic System of Governance is the effective response to climate change, which has already reached crisis and “state of emergency” dimensions.”

He recalled this summer’s record high temperatures, along with wildfires and recent catastrophic floods, and stressed that they “prove, more than ever, that the climate crisis is the greatest security challenge of our century”, adding that

“At the same time, it is putting severe pressure on our democratic framework due to its effects on food security, migration, water scarcity, biodiversity loss and natural disasters.».

He made special reference to the role of scientists and their warnings, pointing out that “The scientific community has warned us about the dangers of inadequate preparation. It has also shown that the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of prevention. We now know what is needed to tackle climate change: cooperation, bold financial support, especially for the most vulnerable, and an end to our dependence on fossil fuels with a swift shift to green energy solutions and more sustainable economic pathways».

He also underlined that “The climate crisis cannot be dealt with without fully sensitizing and convincing the members of our societies of the urgency of the situation. This is the only way to overcome the political cost barrier. In order to achieve this, we must also think and act in terms of social and climate justice, so that no one is left behind.”

In the same context he stated that “The European Union must also explore new ways to contribute to the costs of the green transition. The final outcome will depend on whether we can put into practice effective solutions to address these issues and provide more security for our citizens».

Finally, he emphasized that “Time is not on our side. We must take bold action immediately” and concluded by saying that “If a drastic response is not given, our democracy will be weakened and the future of the next generations will be seriously undermined. But if we can meet this challenge of our time, we can certainly dare to hope».

The following is the full speech of Mrs. Sakellaropoulou:

“I am pleased to welcome you to the Athens Democracy Forum. As always, this truly important initiative is honored with the presence of many internationally recognized speakers.

The central theme of this year’s forum “Dare we hope?” it focuses on the difficulties facing liberal democracy today, the resilience it can demonstrate in the face of various existential threats and dangers, and its future and prospects.

I am convinced that one of the most important challenges for democracy and our democratic system of government is to deal effectively with climate change, which has already reached crisis and “state of emergency” dimensions.

This summer’s record high temperatures, along with wildfires and recent devastating floods, prove, more than ever, that the climate crisis is the greatest security challenge of our century. At the same time, it is putting severe strain on our democratic framework due to its effects on food security, migration, water scarcity, biodiversity loss and natural disasters.

The scientific community has warned us about the dangers of inadequate preparation. It has also shown that the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of prevention. We now know what is needed to tackle climate change: cooperation, bold financial support, especially for the most vulnerable, and an end to our dependence on fossil fuels with a swift shift to green energy solutions and more sustainable economic pathways.

Meanwhile, there is also a need to strengthen our capacity to adapt to the devastating effects of climate change that are already occurring, by building the resilience of societies, cities, infrastructure and productive economic sectors.

In Europe, we already have a working and detailed plan, the European Green Deal, which is the road map for decarbonising the economy by 2050 while committing to a just transition. Of course, its success depends on the willingness of national governments to follow this path and align their policies with the imperatives of the green transition.

Greece is directly affected by climate change, because the Mediterranean is, as scientists say, a “hotspot” of climate change. Therefore, it has every interest to advocate robust measures and support international and regional initiatives. In May 2022, the Greek Parliament passed the National Climate Law, a landmark text regulating the transition to climate neutrality. A national climate law is the strongest statement a state can make to show that it is serious about this goal.

However, the importance of climate action has lost steam, at least temporarily, in the face of the enormous threats facing energy security today. While our country had decided to launch its green transition after the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis affected short-term priorities, including a delay in phasing out coal or even investing in new mining activities of fossil fuels in order to meet our energy needs. Indeed, we need more consistency in accelerating the green transition, which is underlined by the REPowerEU plan to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

The climate crisis is putting democracies to the test of how to work together to protect a public good. The most difficult task in achieving this is to ensure the participation of all stakeholders in the effort. It is not enough for governments or local authorities to take action on their own, nor for the private sector and organized civil society to simply be aware of the problem. A high level of coordination and mobilization of all agencies and citizens in the sectors they serve is required.

We also need to improve communication between scientists, politicians and society. The coronavirus pandemic has shown that we need to rely more on scientific knowledge for political decision-making. The implementation of these decisions, however, requires the cooperation of civil society. In the context of climate change, we need to inform citizens about why climate transition is necessary and keep them informed about the dilemmas that arise in this process. Let them know about the benefits they will get and how they can contribute to this effort.

For too long, we have seen climate change as an environmental problem providing technical solutions. It is now certain that this is also a social problem, where the solutions broaden to include economic, political, cultural and institutional changes. Some of these have the potential to transform society to address multiple critical objectives related to climate change and building resilience, including combating poverty and inequality, food and water insecurity, biodiversity loss and health crises.

The democratic framework offers solutions to these problems. Representative parliaments can hold governments accountable, citizens have constitutional rights, independent media can ensure the free flow of information, and civil society organizations can actively participate in policy-making.

We live in a democratic system, which we honor and protect with our struggles. The climate crisis cannot be tackled without fully sensitizing and convincing the members of our societies of the urgency of the situation. This is the only way to overcome the political cost barrier. In order to achieve this, we must also think and act in terms of social and climate justice, so that no one is left behind. The European Union must also explore new ways to contribute to the costs of the green transition. The final outcome will depend on whether we can put into practice effective solutions to address these issues and provide more security for our citizens.

Time is not on our side. We must take bold action immediately. If there is no drastic response, our democracy will be weakened and the future of future generations will be seriously undermined. But if we can meet this challenge of our time, we can certainly dare to hope».