Kikilias: New technologies and innovation will help improve the management of natural disasters

Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias on Monday referred to the prevention and management of natural disasters through the use of new technologies and innovation, in order to build more resilient societies.

Kikilias was speaking at the ECONOMIST conference "The Seventh Sustainability Summit for SE Europe and the Mediterranean", taking place on Monday and Tuesday in the Attica resort of Kavouri.

Kikilias emphasised, among others, that integrating modern technologies into the management of crises caused by natural disasters helps improve preparedness, response and recovery efforts. "The synergy between innovation and disaster management will play a critical role in building resilient societies and reducing the human and economic toll of these catastrophic events," Kikilias underlined, while adding that from early warning systems to the use of artificial intelligence, the integration of these tools enables authorities and societies to deal more effectively with the challenges of natural disasters.

"We have only one choice, either to accept things as they are or to stand up and fight to reduce the rate of these incidents," he said.

At the same time, the minister noted that the strategy is prevention so as to find a way to limit the impact of the climate crisis but also to make societies more resilient.

"We are experiencing a climate crisis and some scientists are talking about climate collapse if we don't all act together. We have to find a way to contain things and be resilient. Our strategy is prevention," he underlined.