EIB loan for flood and fire protection

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending Greece 220 million euros to help safeguard against floods and wildfires occurring more often as a result of climate change as well as against other natural disasters such as earthquakes, it said on Friday. The financing will be used to buy fire trucks, firefighting planes and helicopters, drones and rescue vehicles and fund control centers.

The support will aid a multi-year Aegis plan to strengthen the country's civil-protection mechanism. Greece was hit by deadly wildfires in 2017 and 2018, and devastating wildfires in 2021 and 2023, as well as by catastrophic flooding in September 2023.

“We have seen first-hand the devastation caused by deadly wildfires and floods in Greece in recent years,” said EIB Vice President Kyriacos Kakouris. “This support will help the country respond more quickly and effectively when disaster strikes, protect lives and better prepare for natural disasters and pandemics.”

The investment is part of the EIB Group's EU-wide Climate Adaptation Plan and follows an initial loan to Greece of €375 million in January 2021.

“When I took charge of the portfolio at the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, I pledged I would implement the Aegis program as quickly as possible,” Minister Vassilis Kikilias said. “It is a significant, emblematic program for which Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis secured funds worth €2.1 billion with the aim of upgrading civil protection and protecting the country against the natural disasters caused by the rapidly evolving climate crisis across the planet. Within a few months we have managed not only to put all of the projects to tender, but we are also progressing to the next stage, their contractualization.”

He went on to thank the EIB, “which is one of the three sources of funding for Aegis, for the excellent cooperation that we have developed during the effort to implement a program that is vital for the protection of human life, fellow citizens' property, the environment and our country's forestry resources,” he said.

The new loan, along with the one in 2021, represents the first targeted direct EIB support for civil protection and disaster preparedness in Greece. It is also the largest amount of EIB aid for disaster management and response in Europe. The program will be implemented until 2025.