Accuracy

The government is currently trying to rid itself of its great sins, of the demons of wiretapping that continue to haunt it, despite the filing by the judicial authorities of the absolutely unconstitutional action of its officials in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And to transfer its interest to the privileged, according to the Prime Minister, zone of the economy, for the performance of which it boasts almost self-admiringly.

As from time to time he propagates, after passion, the Minister of Finance, who is also monitored by the EYP, Mr. K. Hatzidakisthe Greek economy is growing faster than the European average, the country is developing into an international investment destination, inflation is on the way to control despite jumping back to 3% and even though average wages are growing faster than this, unemployment is falling, falling last June at 9.6%, at levels lower than 2009!

According to the finance minister “everything is going well, public finances are robust, public debt under control, the Recovery Fund is a strong basis for boosting investments, the private sector is strengthening and economic policy is overperforming”allowing him to declare, in view of the programming of the International Exhibition of Thessaloniki, that he is not going to change, but will insist, perhaps with some minor corrections, on this mix and shape.

However, it hides the serious challenges it faces, the additional burdens, the new demands and in particular the commitment of significant resources formed by the quadrilateral of climate change, the energy transition, the upcoming water crisis and the consequent food production that already have a multiple impact on production , in the prices of goods and by extension in the lives of citizens.

Climate and energy

There is no longer any doubt that the climate phenomenon is constantly giving and will continue to give catastrophic events and events. This year’s extremely hot and dry summer, in addition to the extensive country-wide water shortage, which torments producers, tourist entrepreneurs and citizens, caused a multitude of fires, tied up unprecedented resources and forces and fortunately at the moment did not have dire consequences, corresponding to the recent of the past, but had a dramatic effect on the shallow, imperfectly organized and insufficiently interconnected electricity market.

The explosion of electricity prices and the hasty temporary regulation to relieve consumers exposed the problem and demonstrated the need for wider regulation, with “cutters” and “barriers” to uncontrolled price formation. The interconnectedness of the climate phenomenon with the energy transition requires new policies and much more investment capable of bringing a new balance, which will not hurt and cause uncontrolled price explosions every now and then. The government after the July fiasco is already facing the wrath of both domestic consumers and industry which sees the excessive cost of electricity adding burdens and undermining any efforts to strengthen competitiveness.

If the current heteronormative relationship is maintained, the double objective of dealing with the climate phenomenon and the energy transition will be undermined and the result will be absolutely disastrous for the Greek economy. In general, the government cannot stand politically, nor the country financially, the defense of the absolutely liberal doctrine in an imperfectly organized energy market.

The water crisis

But it is not the only complication of the current period. The water sufficiency crisis is already here. All over the country, local authorities are making calls to limit water consumption. From Crete and Laconia to Thessaly and the Macedonian plains, water is becoming increasingly scarce. In combination with the rise in temperatures affecting production, fruitlessness and microfruitfulness have shaken the production of cereals this year, as well as tree crops.

In Crete, the Authorities called on the producers to avoid the summer production of tomatoes, cucumbers and pumpkins and to focus on the autumn production of the greenhouses, in the hope that it will rain in between and the dams will recover at least part of the lost water reserves. The danger of the desertification of many areas of insular and mainland Greece is now becoming visible and will require concerted efforts in the future.

The water crisis is now taking on large dimensions and everything indicates that infinite resources and significant investments will be needed in order to deal with the subsequent, existential crisis of food production.

The food

In the wider scientific community, domestic and international, there is a common belief that the world will soon be faced with a food crisis of unique dimensions. The population explosion in Africa, India and elsewhere combined with the impending desertification of large areas, the water crisis, the limitation of productive land and the slow improvement of agricultural production techniques, are multiplying the world’s needs for food, highlighting their production in first priority project. It is indicative of the fact that the Malthusian theories that want the Earth unable to adequately feed its ever-growing population are coming back to the fore. Some scientists speak of a “food polycrisis”.

According to in.gr, the Cornell University professor Chris Barrett, which specializes in agricultural economics, argues that “the pattern of gradual decline in global hunger has now been reversed and malnutrition rates have increased by 21% since 2017.” He recorded that inflation-adjusted wholesale food prices have increased by 50% since 1999. Between 2020 and 2023 the wholesale price of olive oil tripled and that of cocoa quadrupled in less than two years. Economists now recommend that governments hold strategic food reserves, on par with oil, to shield themselves from international food crises.

According to the World Resources Institute we will need to add two Indies of arable land to meet the world’s food needs in the second half of the 21st century

According to him, today more than a third of the Earth is used for food production and almost 70% of fresh water for agricultural irrigation. The Latin American equivalent is used for agricultural production and the African equivalent for livestock grazing. According to the World Resources Institute, we will need to add two Indies of arable land to meet the planet’s food needs in the second half of the 21st century. Which means deforestation, more carbon dioxide emissions and of course, agricultural land cannot be offered for the rapid “planting” of photovoltaics, as is often the case in the Greek plains and the Greek plateaus. Somewhere, that is, the goals tend to become contradictory.

Be that as it may, new challenges come to the fore with great speed and call for a redefinition of national priorities and above all inspired, combined and visionary policies. The quadrilateral of climate, energy, water and food is here and will require other solutionsfar exceeding the self-aggrandizing government…