The ESG conference
Hilton Nicosia, 20 May 2024
Hilton Nicosia, 20 May 2024
POWERED BY
Speakers
Prof. Cameron Hepburn
Battcock Professor of Environmental Economics Cameron Hepburn is the Battcock Professor of Environmental Economics at Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He is also the Director of the Economics of Sustainability Programme, based at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. Cameron has published widely on energy, resources and environmental challenges in the world’s leading journals (such as Nature and Science) across several disciplines, drawing on degrees in law and engineering and masters and doctorate in economics (as a Rhodes Scholar). He has co-founded three successful businesses and provides advice on energy and environmental policy to governments. |
Dr. George Pechlivanoglou
Director General of Eunice Energy Group George Pechlivanoglou studied mechanical engineering (BSc) and completed the MSc in renewable energy technology at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. He completed his doctoral dissertation (Ph.D.) in the field of wind turbine aeroservoelasticity at TU Berlin, Germany, and did post-doctoral work at the same institute. Has published more than 90 scientific papers and holds more than 13 national and international patents. George Pechlivanoglou has 18 years of industrial experience in the wind energy market and 10 years of experience as a wind energy expert designer and wind turbine technical inspector with international collaborations and a global project portfolio. He held the position of the technical director of SMART BLADE GmbH for 8 years and has established several global collaborations with corporations like 3M, Vestas, Nordex, etc. He is the former Wind Energy Committee Chair at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and a member of the German Chamber of Engineers (VDI) as well as the former representative of the Technical University of Berlin at the European Academy of Wind Energy (EAWE). Dr. G. Pechlivanoglou currently holds the position of Director General of Eunice Energy Group. |
Stella Kyriakides
European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety On 1 December 2019, Ms. Kyriakides became the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety. In the area of health, she is leading the Commission’s work on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, to help improve cancer prevention and care and is in charge of developing a new Pharmaceutical Strategy to ensure that Europe has enough affordable medicines to meet its needs. Her responsibilities also include supporting Member States in improving the quality and sustainability of health systems, creating a European Health Data Space to promote health-data exchange and support research. She is also in charge of ensuring full implementation of the European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance and working towards a global agreement on antimicrobials. On food safety, Commissioner Kyriakides is leading the new ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy for sustainable food, covering every step in the food chain from production to consumption. Her responsibilities also include ensuring enforcement of animal welfare laws and promoting European standards globally as well as ensuring enforcement of EU laws on food safety and animal and plant health and leading the work to protect plant health, reduce dependency on pesticides and support low-risk and non-chemical alternatives. During the COVID-19 crisis, she has been leading the Commissions work to coordinate the EU’s health response and support Member States to tackle the outbreak. This includes working to ensure that essential goods and services can flow freely across borders, essential medicines and medical devices are available at affordable prices, and leading the EU’s efforts to secure access to safe and effective therapeutics and vaccines. Previously, Ms. Stella Kyriakides worked as a clinical psychologist in the Mental Health Services of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus in the area of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, from 1979-2006. In 2006, she was elected to the Cyprus Parliament and was re-elected in 2011 and 2016 for the Democratic Rally party, of which she was the Vice-President. In 2012, she was appointed Head of the Cyprus Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In 2017 she was elected President of the PACE, thus becoming the 30th President of the Assembly. She founded the First Breast Cancer advocacy organisation in Cyprus, Europa Donna - Cyprus where she served as President from 2000-2015. She was also President of the European Breast Cancer Coalition Europa Donna. She received many awards in recognition of her relentless efforts and work in support of women’s rights, children and patients’ rights and had numerous publications, research contributions/articles on children related matters and cancer in Cyprus and other European countries. |
Prof. Dimitris K. Melissas
Lawyer and Professor of Public Law at the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens Dimitris K. Melissas is a Lawyer and Professor of Public Law at the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens, specializing in Urban Planning Law, Spatial Planning Law and Environmental Law. He teaches at the Faculties of Civil Engineering, Architecture - Engineering and Surveying at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Director of an interdisciplinary Laboratory entitled "Digital Technology Laboratory for Technical Projects" at the School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens. Vice-President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for European Constitutional Sciences (Hagen - O.D. Germany). He has authored and edited 32 studies and 74 articles in Greek, German and English. He practices law before the Council of State and the Administrative Courts of Appeal in matters of urban planning, spatial planning and environment. |
Wopke Hoekstra
European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra is the European Commissioner for Climate Action since 9 October 2023. He was born on 30 September 1975 in the Netherlands. Before assuming office in Brussels, he held various political positions in the Netherlands and worked in the private sector prior to that. After graduating in law from Leiden University, and having studied at LUISS in Rome, he worked at Shell for two years. Thereafter, he completed an MBA at INSEAD in France and Singapore and worked for consultancy firm McKinsey & Company from 2006 to 2017, becoming partner in 2013. In 2011, Hoekstra became the youngest member of the Dutch Senate – for the party Christen-Democratisch Appèl (EPP), a party that he led between 2020 and 2023. From 2017 to 2022, Hoekstra served as Minister of Finance, and from early 2022 until August 2023, he was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. He was nominated as European Commissioner for Climate Action by the Dutch government. |
Irene Piki
Deputy Minister to the President Irene Piki is the Deputy Minister to the President since 1st March 2023. She studied Economics in the UK, (BSc Regional Science – Economics and Human Geography) at the University of Reading, followed by an MSc on Environmental and Natural Resources Economics at University College London (UCL). She was employed in the public service of the Republic of Cyprus as a career technocrat from 1997 to 2023, at various posts with a wide range portfolio, which includes issues relating to the economy, environment, regional policy, reforms and investments, as well as European issues. In September 2019 she took over as Head of the Strategy, Coordination and Communication Directorate at the Ministry of Finance. In March 2021 she was promoted to Director of Finance and in October 2022 she became the Director of Economic Policy and European Affairs. She has served as member of the Board of Directors of Invest Cyprus (CIPA), the Research and Innovation Foundation, the Cyprus Organization for Standardization, as well as the Cyprus Economy and Competitiveness Council. She has also represented Cyprus in various EU Committees relating to economic and cohesion policy issues. |
George D. Tsopelas
Chairman, McKinsey & Company, Greece & Cyprus Mr. Tsopelas joined McKinsey in London in 1994 and led the opening of the Athens Office in 2000. He has worked extensively in Banking, Insurance, Energy, Basic Materials and Economic Development in Europe, Middle East & Africa. Mr. Tsopelas holds an M.B.A from Harvard Business School. His undergraduate studies include a BSc in Economics & Econometrics and a BSc in Business Administration. |
Chris Angelides
Energy Transition, Decarbonization, Sustainability and ESG expert - Honorary Consul of The Republic of Cyprus to Texas Three decades of international, technical and commercial experience in the Energy industry across the value chain. Senior leadership roles in Strategic Planning, Operations, Non-technical Risk Integration, ESG/CSR and Stakeholder Management. Experience includes Performance Unit management with P&L responsibility, developing and implementing Sustainability Strategies, and establishing Strategic Alliance Partnerships to support the Energy industry transition to Net Zero Emissions. Proven as an effective leader with the ability to motivate and inspire people to think and work out of their comfort zone. Successfully managed business operations across sectors, and developed extensive knowledge and understanding of business cultures and regulatory policies across the globe. |
Andreas Neocleous
CEO at CYTA Andreas Neocleous is the first CEO of Cyta, Cyprus’ largest telecommunications organisation, to have been appointed from the private sector. On assuming his duties in January 2019, he redefined the organisation’s vision and set it on a course of growth and dynamic evolution, which has since resulted in a significant increase in revenue and profitability. Under his leadership, Cyta dealt effectively with COVID-19, simultaneously supporting households, businesses and all state services. During the same period, he negotiated and signed a landmark agreement allowing the broadcasting of all Cypriot football matches by all the island’s TV platforms. Before taking up his duties at Cyta, he was, among others, Director of Business and Customer Experience at MTN Cyprus, Commercial Manager at Ericsson and a Senior Technology Analyst at Goldman Sachs in London and New York. Through the course of his career, he has gained deep knowledge and experience of issues relating to leadership, reform, modernisation and corporate culture transformation. He has a PhD in Telecommunications & Digital Signal Processing and a Master of Engineering in Electrical and ElectronicEngineering, both from Imperial College, University of London. Proven as an effective leader with the ability to motivate and inspire people to think and work out of their comfort zone. Successfully managed business operations across sectors, and developed extensive knowledge and understanding of business cultures and regulatory policies across the globe. |
Alexandros Charalambides
Associate Professor at the Cyprus University of Technology Alexandros Charalambides is an Associate Professor at the Cyprus University of Technology, working primarily on (a) predicting energy production from solar systems and (b) how innovation and entrepreneurship can assist in our efforts for decarbonization. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London and in 2022 was the recipient of a Fulbright Visiting Scholarship to work at the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University in the said field. He served on the Board of the International Solar Energy Society, and as from 2024, will serve on the Board of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus. He is also the founder of Chrysalis LEAP, the first cleantech accelerator in Cyprus, and has trained more than 200 entrepreneurs on how to go from a research idea to a viable business. During his employment at the Cyprus University of Technology, he has successfully completed/currently run thirty (30) research projects (from EU, national and private funding sources), focusing on various aspects of sustainable development and entrepreneurship. His research activities resulted in three (3) PhD being awarded and more than ten (10) research associates being employed, and more than twenty (20) journal papers, and a plethora of conferences and other presentations. |
Maria Panayiotou
Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Dr Maria Panayiotou was born on June 5, 1982 in Larnaka. She studied History and Archeology at the University of Cyprus from where she graduated in 2004 with honors. In 2006 she completed her postgraduate studies at the University of Birmingham where she earned an MPhil (B) in Modern East Mediterranean History. In 2017 she was awarded a PhD in Modern and Contemporary History from the University of Cyprus. In January 2024, she had the honor of being appointed by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, as Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, handing over the post of Environmental Commissioner of Cyprus which she held since March 2023. She served as the Head of the Press Office and Spokesperson for the EDEK socialist political party, from March 2016 to February 2023. From 2004 to 2022 she has worked on more than seven excellence research projects, co-financed by the European Development Funds, the University of Cyprus, the Research and Innovation Foundation, and the Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation. Her employment as a member of the Scientific Team of the University of Cyprus for the “Cyprus File” project for the period 2007 - 2010, stands out. In the period 2017 - 2022 she has worked as a Specialist Scientist, teaching economic history at the Department of History and Archeology of the University of Cyprus. Dr Panayiotou's involvement in historical research formed a fundamental pillar in her career, gaining significant experience in archival research and skills in managing European research programs of excellence. In particular, her research into the economic history of Cyprus, the study of Cyprus' agricultural export trade and the analysis of British fiscal policy, strengthened her skills in analyzing quantitative and qualitative data. Her significant bibliographic contributions to research on Cyprus's ports, port infrastructure, and economic development are significant as they cover an important bibliographic gap. She has published dozens of scientific articles in mixed volumes and international scientific journals (such as the European History Quarterly) on these subjects, and has participated in numerous international scientific conferences, with the most recent being the International Conference of the Modern Greek Studies Association in Toronto, Canada. |
Lefteris Charalambous
Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company’s Athens Lefteris Charalambous is the Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company’s Athens office where he also leads the Energy & Heavy industry work. He is a core leader of McKinsey’s Global Energy and Materials Practice. He joined McKinsey in 2008 and since then has had extensive experience in serving clients in Greece, rest of Europe, Middle East and the USA in the power, oil & gas, metals, basic materials and other industrial sectors in large scale transformations. He brings particular expertise in the fields of corporate strategy, sustainability and technology enablement. Lefteris has been a core member of McKinsey “Greece 10 years ahead” economic development work and has led the effort to develop the “Net Zero Roadmap” for Greece and for Cyprus in cooperation with a broad range of institutions. He has also led various pro-bono initiatives to support energy transition and youth reskilling in cooperation with industrial associations and NGOs in Greece and beyond. He holds a Diploma in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. |
Michalis Persianis
Chairman, Fiscal Council Experienced Director Corporate Affairs with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry, focusing on CSR, CX, Marketing and Branding. Skilled in Crisis Communications, Journalism, International Relations and Corporate Communications. Strong media and communication professional. |
Constantinos Yiorkadjis
Mayor of Nicosia Constantinos Yiorkadjis is the Mayor of Nicosia sinceJanuary2, 2012. He holds two bachelor’s degrees with distinction (Magna Cum Laude with GPA 3.83), one in Economics and one in Business Administration, both from Boston University. During his long professional career, he had the opportunity to work in the highly competitive environments of the US and Europe, as well as in the demanding environments of developing markets in Asia and Africa. While still in university, he started working at Thermo Electron, Waltham Massachusetts, as a junior member of their treasury department, focusing mainly in the buying of currency futures. In 1993 he joined the Hellenic Bottling Company (HBC), first in Greece as a merchandiser and then as head of MIT organisation in the marketing department and later on as assistant to the HBC products brand manager. In December 1994 he moved from HBC to Molino, where he took the position of Marketing Manager for Coca-Cola Iasi, Romania. In July of 1995 he became Marketing Manager for Molino Romania based in Timisoara. In 1998 he took over the General Managers’ position for the sales territory and the production facility of Oradea. In January 2000 he joined FRIGOGLASS as Regional Operations Director and he took under his responsibility three production facilities (Ireland, Romania and Spain) as well as the Key Account responsibility for Coca-Cola, selling ice cold merchandisers to over 100 countries. In 2002 he became the Marketing Director of Frigoglass Cool Division having under his responsibility Product Management, Product Development, Sales/Competition and Coke Global strategy. In December 2005 he moved back to Cyprus with his family and in June 2006 accepted the position of marketing manager at CCHBC Cyprus (Lanitis Bros.). |