The two-day 9th summit of Economist on sustainability in Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean continues today, Tuesday, titled “The Ninth Sustainability Summit for SE Europe & the Mediterranean: Seeking a new balance amidst a derailed green transition,” which began yesterday, Monday, October 13, 2025, under the patronage of H.E. the President of the Republic, Konstantinos Tasoulas, at the Divani Apollon Palace & Thalasso in Kavouri.
Read: 9th Economist Sustainability Summit: Forecast for 2.2% GDP growth in 2025
Second day of the Economist’s 9th Sustainability Summit for Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean
Giorgos Giannis, Professor and Director of the Transportation Planning and Engineering Department, National Technical University of Athens
“The European Union has set clear goals, roadmaps, and budgets for the transformation toward sustainable transport. Greece follows its directives, however, with limited effectiveness due to the lack of sustainable mobility culture and ineffective engagement,” commented Professor and Director of the Transportation Planning and Engineering Department at the National Technical University of Athens Giorgos Giannis. In this context, he emphasized that fundamental changes in mobility patterns are required, both in infrastructure and management, with corresponding budgets. “Changing mobility culture starts with sincere engagement by authorities, followed by shared responsibility,” added Mr. Giannis.
Charis Sachinis, CEO, EYDAP
EYDAP CEO Charis Sachinis referred to the challenges that increased droughts in the Mediterranean due to climate change create for water management. “We have the resources, but we need to see how we can manage to utilize them,” he noted characteristically, speaking about solutions like desalination: “It’s an expensive sport both to install the mechanism and to operate it, as it requires a lot of energy. However, if you manage to have cheap energy, then you can run desalination at low cost.” Mr. Sachinis also described the method of reuse and broadly explained the importance of the water management sector, noting that Greece has a plan that will soon be presented by the government.
Stellina Siarapi, General Secretary of Private Investments
To the extent that we have adopted the sustainability model, the future will be much better for younger generations, observed General Secretary of Private Investments Stellina Siarapi, who emphasized the education factor. She spoke of a productive transformation underway in Greece through sustainable development interventions that, in her opinion, will create a strategic advantage for the country.
Marianna Nathanail, Head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group Office in Greece
“The European Investment Bank, which has now established itself as Europe’s climate bank, created the first climate roadmap in 2020. In this context, it has undertaken the commitment to implement investments worth 1 trillion euros by 2030, with 50% of annual financing concerning sustainable development investments,” emphasized Marianna Nathanail, Head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group Office in Greece, stressing that sustainability today is not a luxury.
Theodoros Gavriilidis, Head of Investments, LAMDA Development
The sustainability policy developed by the Hellinikon investment was described by LAMDA Development Head of Investments Theodoros Gavriilidis, who spoke about designing destinations with a positive environmental footprint. “It may sound theoretical, but believe me, it has absolutely practical application,” Mr. Gavriilidis noted characteristically, explaining that sustainability constitutes an extremely high priority in the company’s investment strategy. “We had the policy and the financing came and clicked into place,” he added, emphasizing that the company has so far drawn loans exceeding 400 million euros in this direction.
Achilleas Ioakeimidis, Director of Sustainable Development, PPC
PPC Director of Sustainable Development Achilleas Ioakeimidis referred to the importance of reporting for financial information as a process with value for evaluating companies based on ESG criteria, while speaking about the strong pressure the corporate sector faces today as it is called upon to balance among many different sustainability standards.
Antonios Mountouris, Director of Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainable Development, HELLENiQ ENERGY
“Quantification in economic terms of risks and opportunities within the framework of energy transition has been put on the table, which serves as a guide for the business sector aiming for adaptation,” emphasized HELLENiQ ENERGY Director of Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainable Development Antonios Mountouris, who described the tools available today on the resilience and competitiveness duality.
Kiara Konti, Partner and Head of Sustainability Services, EY Greece
To measure, manage effectively, and ultimately monetize as a company the benefit of the process, you first need to understand well what negative impact from climate change means, commented Kiara Konti, Partner and Head of Sustainability Services at EY Greece, who analyzed the application of sustainability standards in business terms.
Ioannis Nikolaou, Professor, Democritus University of Thrace
Sustainability and economic management should constitute a unified approach in business strategy, emphasized Democritus University of Thrace Professor Ioannis Nikolaou, who spoke about the “strong sustainability” trend as the model that will govern companies’ actions in terms of tools for embedding sustainable development.
Scholarships for summit participants
Three scholarships exclusively for summit participants were offered by METLEN Energy & Metals for the Executive Education program of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) titled “Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance: Management tools and strategy formation,” supported by UN Global Compact Network Greece. The drawing was conducted through a certified procedure during the summit under the coordination of NKUA Professor Andreas Papandreou, who noted that this substantial initiative gives young people the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in sustainable development and ESG matters.
