Ilias Efthymiopoulos has 40 years experience on Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development through national and international projects. He holds a Phd degree (Universite Paris VII) and is currently working as a local authorities’ consultant mainly in insular communities and regions. He has been the founder and director of Greenpeace, Greece from 1991 to 1997, and deputy Minister for the Environment in Greece (2000-2002). From 1998 to 2010 he has been the scientific director for the Summer Ecology University, in Greece.
Since 2006 he is the general director of the Aegean Energy & Environment Agency – AEGEA (the supporting organization of the Greek Islands). He is the author and/or editor of various publications on sustainable economy and European affairs.