21st CR Conference - 21st Corporate Responsibility Conference 2023 opens in Athens at SNFCC

The 21st Corporate Responsibility Annual Conference 2023 opened in Athens on Tuesday, October 24 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, discussing the theme " Pivoting the Human Right to Nature into Business Reality". The conference was organised by the Corporate Responsibility Committee of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.

In opening remarks welcoming conference delegates, American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Elias Spirtounias highlighted the importance of corporate responsibility for ensuring sustainable business practices and the importance of protecting human rights alongside the interests of business, including the human right to a healthy natural environment.

American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce President Nikolaos Bakatselos referred to the recent disastrous floods and fires, as well as international conflict, that left no room for complacency and noted that such catastrophic events will become ever more frequent. He said this made it imperative to consider how business, humanity and nature interact and seek a sustainable way forward, while highlighting the contribution of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce to the efforts to promote sustainable business practices over the years.

Pakis Papademetriou, Chair of the Corporate Responsibility Committee of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, said that for the last 21 years the Committee had created a team of like-minded people able to express complex aspects of sustainability simply and directly. He said this had focused on people and nature, an effort to make a number of small changes add up to big change. He cited a recent UN resolution that access to a healthy environment is a human right, as well as UN resolutions on business and human rights, the need for protection, respect and redress.

He also referred to changes in the legal framework for businesses as regards sustainability, including the imminent Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence directive, noting that the essence was to understand the link between human rights, the environment and how businesses are impacted. He stressed that a right to a health environment was fundamental but also highlighted the additional burden imposed on businesses by the needs that arise and to explore ways to navigate the difficulties.