At the Concordia Annual Summit 2025 in New York, the President of the Athanasios K. Laskaridis Public Benefit Foundation, Evi Lazou-Laskaridis, spoke about our most precious heritage: the sea. From the challenges of pollution to the power of collective action, she presented the Foundation’s ambitious environmental work, spearheaded by the Typhoon Project, and the message: “We are all part of the problem. But we can also be part of the solution. We need to change our relationship with the sea and rewrite its history – because we are the voices of the seas. Let’s join forces and create waves of change together.”

With references to Greek cultural heritage and global environmental issues, he began by noting that he comes from “Greece – the birthplace of democracy, philosophy and the Olympic Games”. He recalled that the country is known for the Parthenon, Zorba and its gastronomy, but also for something less prominent: “This small country, the size of Alabama, has the 11th longest coastline in the world.”

The world’s 11th largest in Alabama, the 11th largest in the world, is the 11th largest in the world in terms of land area.

As he stressed, the sea is not only a natural landscape but “the backbone of our way of life”. He stressed that tourism brings in almost a third of GDP and that “Greek shipowners control about a fifth of the world’s merchant fleet”. From the time of Odysseus to today’s ships carrying global trade, he noted, “the sea has always been our source of life.”

He then emphasized that “we live on a blue planet where 70% of the surface is covered by the ocean.” He pointed out that “more than 50% of the oxygen we breathe comes from the sea” and that it “regulates the climate, provides protein for billions of people, supports the global economy and is home to the greatest diversity of life on the planet.”

However, he warned that “the ocean is under siege” from pollution, overfishing, climate change, acidification and biodiversity loss. “Only 8.4% of the ocean is currently protected – and less than 3% is effectively protected,” he noted.

He made particular reference to plastic pollution, saying it “chokes our seas, destroys ecosystems, threatens biodiversity and ultimately harms our own health.” He pointed out that microplastics have been found “in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat… even in every human organ.”

Speaking about initiatives in Greece, he explained that the Foundation was established in 2016 “to honour the heritage of the sea and to take responsibility”. He noted that it started with small awareness-raising actions, but soon moved on to bolder projects.

He made a special mention of the Typhoon Project, launched in 2019 with “Typhoon”, a 72-meter vessel that “cleans the inaccessible coasts of Greece daily, documents every find and operates non-stop 365 days a year”. As he said, the ship has carried out more than 4,280 clean-ups and removed more than 873 tons of debris. “And yet,” he said, “on the second passages an 80% improvement is recorded. Simply put: the action is paying off.”

He also presented the Cyclone Project, which was launched in 2024 and focuses on land clean-ups around rivers, lakes and archaeological sites. “In less than a year and a half, it has removed one and a half times the volume of debris that Typhoon collected in six years,” he noted, noting that the volumes are several times greater.

He also pointed out that the foundation is working closely with universities and NGOs, using “ROVs, drones and artificial intelligence to detect and map pollution.”

Concluding the speech, he said: “The ocean is the backbone of life on Earth. If the ocean dies, we die.” He called on governments, scientific bodies, individuals and citizens to take responsibility, saying that “from choosing a reusable glass to volunteering and raising awareness – every action counts.”

“We are all part of the problem, but we can also be part of the solution. Let’s join forces and create waves of change,” he concluded.

The Concordia Annual Summit

The Concordia Annual Summit, one of the most important international forums on the future of the planet, was held this year in New York City from September 21-24, 2025. Each year it brings together leaders of nations, international organizations, business and civil society to build partnerships and promote solutions to the world’s most critical challenges.

On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the President of the Athanasios K. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, Evi Lazou-Laskaridis, spoke, highlighting not only the Foundation’s work to protect the marine environment – culminating in the Typhoon Project, the largest private initiative in the Mediterranean against marine pollution – but also its importance for Greece itself.

Through its activities, the Foundation contributes substantially to the formation of a new international image of Greece: a Greece that is a leader in environmental protection and an active participant in the common effort for a more sustainable future.