Amsterdam, May 2026 – Nikos Avlonas, President of the Center for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE), participated in the 3rd Annual World ESG & Climate Summit 2026, held in Amsterdam on May 27–28, 2026.

The summit brought together senior ESG, climate, finance, and sustainability leaders from major international organizations, including Siemens, DHL Supply Chain, Lloyd’s Register, ING Group, Merck Group, Evonik Industries, Vattenfall, Crédit Agricole CIB, BNP Paribas The Netherlands, NatWest, Arup, Mitsubishi Chemical Europe, Metsä Group, and the European Environment Agency.

At a time when ESG is facing sharper scrutiny, the summit sent a strong message to the market: sustainability is entering a new phase. The conversation is moving from disclosure to credibility, from ambition to evidence, and from public commitments to measurable business performance.

Representing CSE, Mr. Avlonas contributed to this international dialogue with his presentation, “Product Circularity as a Strategic Advantage: Ratings and Assurance.” His remarks addressed a critical question for business leaders today: how can companies prove that sustainability is embedded not only in corporate strategy, but also in the products they design, assess, and bring to market?

The presentation focused on three key points:

1. The role of product and organizational circularity in ESG performance, regulatory readiness, and market positioning.
2. New tools for assessing product circularity maturity, enabling companies to evaluate and compare circularity performance across products.
3. The value of Product Circularity Assurance in strengthening credibility and protecting companies against greenwashing.

“ESG leadership will belong to the companies that can prove performance, not simply communicate ambition,” said Nikos Avlonas. “The market is moving from statements to evidence, and from disclosure to credibility.”

The summit agenda reflected the increasing pressure on organizations to move beyond compliance and traditional reporting. Discussions focused on climate risk, sustainable finance, ESG regulation, assurance, circularity, supply chains, data, innovation, and business transformation.

Mr. Avlonas’ participation reinforced his role as an international voice in ESG and sustainability leadership. His contribution also highlighted a decisive shift in the global ESG conversation: credibility will increasingly depend on measurable performance, stronger governance, and verified impact.

For business leaders, the message from Amsterdam was direct and timely. ESG can no longer remain a reporting exercise. It must become a leadership discipline that connects strategy, products, data, assurance, and trust.