Lifting the policy, legal and socio-economic barriers to clean-energy investments
The Greek chapter is glad to invite you to a conference with keynote speaker Mr. Spyros Kouvelis, Founder and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development of the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) and former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece in charge of Economic and Environmental Affairs.
Climate change is the undeniable challenge of our era. The clean-energy transition lies at the heart of combating climate change by fulfilling the pledge of net-zero emissions by 2050. According to the International Energy Agency’s most recent Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by mid-century requires nothing short of a total transformation of our economies. Transforming the global economy from one dominated by fossil fuels into one powered predominantly by renewable energy, like solar and wind, will require massive infrastructure investments, which governments must lead and incentivise. For example, the share of renewables in electricity generation is expected to rise from 29% in 2020 to 60% in 2030 and to nearly 90% in 2050. COP26 has also stressed the imperative need to encourage investments in renewables.
In this interactive panel, Mr. Spyros Kouvelis will discuss with Dr. Aikaterini Florou (promo 2017) potential ways of lifting policy, infrastructure, and legal barriers impeding the further expansion of investments in clean energy. A Q&A session open to all will follow the discussion.
Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Spyros Kouvelis was born in Athens in 1964. He studied Economics at the University of Athens (BSc) and Agricultural/Environmental Economics at the University of Reading (MSc).
He has served as a member of the Hellenic Parliament, and he is Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). He is the Founder and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development of the European Public Law Organization (EPLO).
Spyros Kouvelis has developed the verImpact methodology for ESG assessment and certification of companies and investments, and he is the Chief Senior Advisor with VeRture, a European group of consulting companies on sustainable development policy, innovation, business development, and new technologies. He is the Founder and Patent holder with BabylonGardens, an Innovation Hub for Green Urban Spaces, with offices in France, Greece, and Cyprus, and he is an advisory Board Member of Sustainable Investments Oman, which introduces cutting-edge technological innovations in the MENA region on food security, energy and health.
Mr. Kouvelis has served as Senior Advisor to the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan for the Mediterranean Strategy on Sustainable development 2016-2025, and the Sustainable Consumption and Production Plan (Circular Economy), as the Program Director and Acting CEO a.i. of WWF in Greece, and as the Coordinator of the Mediterranean Unit of the Ramsar Convention (MedWet).
Dr. Aikaterini Florou is a Lecturer in International Economic Law at the University of Liverpool, the School of Law and Social Justice, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She is also the General Editor of the OUP Journal of World Energy Law and Business. Aikaterini graduated from Sciences Po in 2017 with a PhD degree in International Investment Law and Economics.
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