Greece

Could reforms on the horizon in Greece mean the end of environmental protection?

How much difference can a Green mayor make? An interview with Lefteris Ioannidis, mayor of Kozani, Greece.

For decades, a wave of privatisation has been rolling across Europe, making many investors, banks and consultancies rich but making few citizens happy. The great neoliberal promise of privatised utility companies providing water, power and transport more cheaply to their customers has regularly been shown to be deception and even, in many cases, a lie.

On Greece’s Halkidiki peninsula, in the North-East of the country, a monumental battle is taking place. The town of Ierissos and its inhabitants have become emblematic of this struggle, by taking a stand against an immensely powerful opponent. That opponent is Eldorado Gold.

Guerrilla gardening and local consumer-producer networks are redefining life in today’s Greek cities. While the crisis has shifted politicians’ attention away from the climate, “transition and recovery movements” work hard to keep the environment on the agenda.

Eldorado Gold now owns all gold-mining projects in Greece. The company is harming the environment and avoiding taxes; and the way Greece deals with this problem can determine some important developments in Europe.