The “Adaptation of the Region of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace to Climate Change” was the subject of the Conference on Thursday, October 17, co-organized by the Region of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace (PETH), the Union of Greek Regions (UNR), the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (CUM) and the Hellenic Society for Environment and Culture (ELLET), in the hall of the Great Club of the city of Kavala, in the presence of the Governor of PETH and President of the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Committee of the UNR, Christodoulos Topsides.
The event was also attended and delivered by the Secretary General of Forests of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, Stathis Stathopoulos, the Regional Governor of Peloponnese, Dimitris Ptochos, the President of the Board of Directors of the Green Fund, Ioannis Androulakis, the Mayor of Kavala, Theodoros Mouriadis, the Mayor of Pangaio, Philippos Anastasiadis, the Mayor of Nestos and President of the Regional Council of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace, Savvas Michaelides, while the Deputy Regional Governor of Kavala, Theodoros Markopoulos, the Mayor of Doxato, Giorgos Vogiatzis, representatives of the university and scientific community, representatives of organizations, civil society, executives of the local and regional administration, etc.
This is the 9th consecutive Conference implemented within the framework of the LIFE-IP AdaptInGR Project with the aim of informing and raising awareness of local communities in the 13 Regions of the country on climate change, through the presentation of relevant policies and strategic plans. Similar events have been held in the Regions of Western Greece, Crete, Ionian Islands, Western Macedonia, Central Greece, North Aegean, Central Macedonia and Peloponnese, while they are also planned for the Regions of South Aegean, Attica, Epirus and Thessaly.
During the Conference, the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Plan (RCAP) of PAMT was presented in detail, followed by presentations by distinguished speakers on the most important areas of vulnerability in the specific Region, as well as the available innovative technologies to address the impacts of climate change. Specifically, the Conference focused on the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems, arboriculture, coastal erosion, infrastructure resilience and civil protection.
Furthermore, the Governor of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace stated in his speech that the Region of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace faces climate change as a reality and manages it as such, while he pointed out that on the one hand the LIFE-IP AdaptInGR Project is a useful tool, the most important action for Greece's adaptation to the impacts of climate change and on the other hand the conclusions of the Conference will form the basis of the planning and relevant actions of the Region of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace.
The event concluded with the discussion "Landscape and Land Use Adaptation of the Region of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace to Climate Change" and the screening of a video on the impacts of climate change on the landscape and cultural heritage in Europe and the wider Mediterranean region, by ELLET.