Grèce

This report provides a global assessment and outlook on wildfire risk in the context of climate change. It discusses the drivers behind the growing incidence of extreme wildfires and the attribution effect of climate change. It outlines the environmental, social and economic impacts of wildfires by illustrating the losses and costs observed during recent extreme wildfire events. Building on this, the report presents the findings of a cross-country comparative analysis of how countries’ policies and practices have evolved in recent years in light of observed and projected changes in wildfire risk. The analysis draws on in-depth case studies conducted in Australia, Costa Rica, Greece, Portugal and the United States. The report underlines the urgent need for governments to scale up climate change adaptation efforts to limit future wildfire costs.

This work leverages globally consistent data on parks from Google Maps, in combination with the computational power of Google Maps Directions API to quantify accessibility to parks across nearly 500 metropolitan areas in six countries: Estonia, France, Greece, Mexico, Sweden, and the United States. We combined high resolution population data from Worldpop with parks data and navigation estimates to measure: (1) Fraction of the population with access to parks within a 10-minute walk; and (2) the median walking time to the closest park. We find large differences in access to parks between countries, as well as large variability across cities and their respective commuting zones. To demonstrate how this framework can support cross country comparisons and efforts to track progress towards SDG11, we assessed access to parks by income group in selected countries, finding that the median walking time to a park is shorter for residents of low income neighbourhoods both in French and American metropolitan areas.

The Territorial Review of Greece offers analysis and policy guidance to strengthen regional development and well-being. It examines Greece’s regional development framework, the EU Cohesion policy and multilevel governance in Greece. Since the global financial crisis, Greece has undertaken an impressive number of structural reforms. Recovery initiated in 2017 but the current COVID-19 pandemic is slowing down Greece’s efforts. The country is now facing a number of strategic development priorities including fostering digitalisation, improving entrepreneurial and business ecosystems, and addressing environmental challenges. These new priorities must also tackle existing social challenges and mitigate rising inequalities. The Review examines a range of policies that have the potential to propel inclusive growth in Greece’s regions and improve the quality of life for their residents. It stresses that policies for economic growth, social capital and environmental sustainability are more effective when they recognise the different economic and social realities where people live and work. OECD work illustrates the importance to align place based regional development strategies with sectoral policies (support for private investment, infrastructure and human capital policies) in each place to generate multiplier effects. To fulfil this task, Greece will need to continue advancing the reform of its institutional and fiscal multi-level governance system.

Migrants, including native-born children with migrant parents, account for 23% of Athens’ population (664 046 people), while the number of refugees and asylum seekers has rapidly increased since 2015 and is currently estimated at 18 000. To respond to the refugee inflow, Athens developed bold and innovative initiatives, often beyond their direct responsibilities, and sought supra-national and non-state sources of funding (i.e. Stavros Niarchos Foundation, British American Tobacco, etc.). This emphasis on reception and integration of newcomers is the result of strong political will and cooperation with non-state actors, in line with the city's broader priorities since 2010 including anti-discrimination and improving equal access to social services. Integrating newcomers through jobs is particularly challenging given the high unemployment rate that Greece has experienced. In addition, newcomers often have the desire to continue their journey towards northern European countries, reducing their incentives to integrate and learn Greek.While identifying various innovative practices, the OECD case study of Athens highlights the need for more reliable sources of financing and dialogue among levels of government. Data on migrant integration at the local level would support more evidence-based national, regional and local policy making.