He is the world's leading professor of fires and climate change, and he has been coming to Greece since 1985, therefore he has excellent knowledge of the Greek reality. The Athens-Macedonian News Agency located Johann Georg Goldammer, professor of "Ecology of Fires" at the renowned Max Planck Institute of the University of Freiburg, a unique professor in Europe in this field and head of the "Global Fire Monitoring Center” (GFMC) of the UN.
The main cause of the deadly and devastating fire in Mati was "the alteration of the natural landscape and land-use change", said Johann Georg Goldammer, adding that the change of habits have led to the abandonment of the countryside. He then submits a proposal, "to put together a national 'holistic plan' for the prevention and treatment of such disasters as in Mati."
In regards to what the Greeks should do directly, the world's leading expert says: "Everyone, not just the Greeks, should adjust to the changes that climate change brings. It will be painful, because we must finally say goodbye to past habits, so that we can generally make the environment resistant to such extreme weather situations. For example, to say goodbye to old town planning standards and to plan together in the long term. Climate change must become a major political issue. It is very important because it will determine the future evolution of the world. It must be done even if it hurts." 
On the question of whether it was possible to extinguish two simultaneously evolving fires in western and eastern Attica, he replied: "No, because in Mati the fire evolved within a few minutes", adding that even American firefighters are unable to face fires with winds of 120 kilometers an hour. 
Finally, he highlighted the role played by the unregulated construction and the narrow, deadlocked roads, while in the question of the agency on whether it was possible to evacuate Mati, Professor Goldammer answered, citing the international experience again: "No, in these circumstances any evacuation plan could not have worked', given that 'the fire expanded too quickly and with great severity'.