The 1st Athens ESG & Climate Crisis Summit, conceived and organized by Kathimerini, is launching on Tuesday afternoon at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.

The summit (October 19-20) will focus on the great challenges, expectations, and the solutions of businesses and regulatory authorities in confronting climate change and adopting environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) policies and standards.

Participants in this first “Kathimerini Summits” conference include Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leading government ministers, the Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, as well as several leaders, the United States and German ambassadors, commercial heavyweights, and policymakers from both the public and private sector.

On the afternoon of the first day of the summit, Tuesday October 19, Todd Stern, United States Special Envoy for Climate Change and the US chief negotiator at the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, will be sharing his insight.

On the same day, of particular note will be a conversation held between the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Christos Stylianides, who previously served as European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, and high school and university students. The young students will share their worries and concerns on the threat of climate change with the minister.

Bloomberg L.P. co-founder and former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, will also address the event at 4.58-5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Additionally, Alexandra Sdoukou, the Secretary General of Energy and Mineral Resources at the Ministry for the Environment and Energy, Dimitris Papalexopoulos, president of the Hellenic Federation of Businesses, Members of the European Parliament, and many other leading figures from both the political and business world will provide a framework for sustainable growth and the value of ESG criteria. The important role of the European Green Deal and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations in entrepreneurship, as well as the legal and regulatory framework of ESG criteria, will all be discussed.

On Wednesday October 20, the focus of the 1st Athens ESG & Climate Crisis Summit will turn to climate change and its associated risks, that often exclusively set the political, social, and economic agenda. Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Kostas A. Karamanlis and Tourism Minister Vasilis Kikilias will share their crucial insight on the matter.

A fireside chat between the prime minister and renowned Columbia economist Jeffrey Sachs, sustainable development specialist and author of multiple bestselling books, promises to be very interesting.

Other confirmed speakers include Environment and Energy Minister Konstantinos Skrekas, United States Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey R. Pyatt, the German Ambassador to Greece Ernst Reichel, the President of the Regulatory Authority for Energy Dr Athansios Dagoumas, the Chair of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission Vassiliki Lazarakou, the Director the Bank of Greece’s Climate Change and Sustainability Center Theodora Antonakaki, Chief Markets and Business Development Officer at the Athens Exchange Group Michael Andreadis, Chair of the Board of Directors at CSR Hellas Maria Alexiou, and others.

Book your tickets here and participate online, in both Greek and English, in the 1st Athens ESG & Climate Crisis Summit, brought to you by Kathimerini.

This article was previously published at ekathimerini.com.