Page 59 - EPLO ACTIVITY REPORT 2023

national and transnational crisis management regarding compliance with existing legislation and transnational
water import and export agreements.

Director of the Institute is Professor Ioannis Katsoyiannis, Assoc. Professor for Environmental Technology,
Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Prof. Ioannis Katsoyiannis is currently President of
the Association of Greek Chemists and of the Hellenic Industrial Property Academy. He is Chair of the Division of
Chemistry and Environment of the European Chemical Society and Associate Editor at the Springer Journal
Environmental Science and Pollution Research. From September 2023, Prof. Katsoyiannis will be academic visitor
at the University of Ca Foscari in Venice.

Discussion on zero pollution of the environment
14 March 2023

The Institute of Sustainable
Water Management and
Water Law organized a
successful workshop on “The
policy of the European Union
for zero pollution of the
environment and the
perspectives that open up for
development and innovation
in Greece”, at the EPLO
premises at the Roman Agora,
to discuss the policy of the
European Union for zero
pollution of the environment
and the perspectives that
open up for development and
innovation in Greece.

The EPLO statement at the UN Water Conference in New York
22 March 2023

The EPLO participated at the 2023 United Nations Water Conference at the UN headquarters in New York
represented by the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Water Management and Water Law, Professor Ioannis
Katsoyiannis, and the EPLO Director Professor Spyridon Flogaitis. Professor Katsoyiannis gave a statement in the
General Assembly on behalf of EPLO stressing among others that, although big efforts have been realized, there
are still hundreds of millions of people without access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation, while water
scarcity is threatening the available water sources in almost all the world. In addition, chemical pollution, which is
still a big problem, endangers biodiversity. During the conference, the EPLO and other stakeholders have run a
first batch of discussions and meetings that will pave the way towards water smart societies. The most important
outcome of the conference was that a lot of investment is still needed to realize the water-action agenda and time
is pressing.

Finally, the EPLO stressed that water is about peace. It is about sustainable development. It is about fighting
poverty, supporting food systems, and creating jobs and prosperity. Water is about human rights and gender
equality. That is why water needs to be at the center of the global political agenda.

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