The Greenest Capitals of Europe – Where does Athens rank?

Having green spaces in urban areas is important on multiple counts as they not only provide communities with places to relax, exercise and socialise, but they also bring wildlife to the area and help in the fight against global warming through carbon dioxide sequestration.

Tree cover can even lower the temperature of a city by several degrees during heat waves by providing shade and a process called evapotranspiration.

According to data from the European Environment Agency (EEA), compiled by Statista, trees cover 30 per cent of land in 38 of Europe’s capitals when viewed above.

The Nordic city of Oslo has the greatest per cent of green space at 72 per cent, followed by the Swiss city of Bern (53 per cent) and the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana (50 per cent).

Paris falls far below the European average, with only 20 per cent of the city under tree cover. The French capital ranks behind Madrid (39 per cent) and Rome (24 per cent).

Greenery is even rarer in Athens, where trees cover only a tenth of the urban surface. At the same time, the Cypriot capital of Nicosia closes the ranking of the selected cities, with a rate of only 4 per cent.

Photo by https://sumfinity.com/- Nico Trinkhaus

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