Citizens’ perceptions and environmental risk assessment in Eastern Mediterranean: The case of Limassol

Journal title ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Author/s Michalis Makrominas, Angelos Menelaou, Demetris Kletou
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2025/1
Language English Pages 32 P. 5-36 File size 561 KB
DOI 10.3280/EFE2025-001001
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This paper provides a comprehensive study assessing anthropogenic-related environmental risks for the coastal city of Limassol, Cyprus. The case of Limassol is interesting because it is characterized by an increased number of industrial activities, both varied and tightly concentrated in a relatively small geographic area. We initiate the research by looking at citizens’ perceptions for environmental threats through an extended opinion survey. We utilize the results of the survey to direct our research across 6 industries, involving 88 institutional stakeholders. For each sector, we map industrial activities to potential threats and qualify the risk level of each threat as the likelihood of risk realization times the impact to citizens’ wellbeing should the risk event occurs. We thereon identify areas in which threats are interactive and the corresponding risks synergistic. Our findings inform a range of policy recommendations for ameliorating man-made environmental risk for coastal cities. Discrepancies between citizens’ perceptions and actual data underscore the importance of effective risk communication.

Keywords: environmental risk-assessment, synergistic risk, risk communication, environmental security, anthropogenic activities.

Jel codes: R11, G28, I15

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Michalis Makrominas, Angelos Menelaou, Demetris Kletou, Citizens’ perceptions and environmental risk assessment in Eastern Mediterranean: The case of Limassol in "ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT" 1/2025, pp 5-36, DOI: 10.3280/EFE2025-001001