Musonda Mumba, a Zambian National, is the Director for The Rome Centre for Sustainable Development under United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in close collaboration with Italian Government (Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition). The Centre focuses on three priority areas notably: Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Nature Protection. In her role, she provides strategic leadership on these matters through convening, collaboration, connecting and co-creation as the world navigates complexity and uncertainty, with the aim of achieving the SDGs collectively. Her ambition is that this work is done with a Systems Thinking lens and also Systems Leadership.

She has over 25 years’ experience in environmental and conservation issues globally. She is the Chair of the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration (GPFLR) and Vice-Chair for the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF). She is also the Founder of the Network of African Women Environmentalists (NAWE).

She has published widely in various journals, newspapers, articles and contributed to book chapters. Before joining UNDP, Musonda was the head of United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP’s Terrestrial Ecosystems Programme and served in various roles over a period of 12 years. Before working for UNEP, Musonda worked for the Zambian Government, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (in Switzerland), WWF (at International, UK and East Africa Regional Offices) and as such working with governments on Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

She received her BSc. Ed degree at University of Zambia (UNZA) and has a PhD from University College London (UCL) in Wetland Conservation and Hydrology.

Kay Van Damme is a zoologist, active in biological/biodiversity research in mainly (sub)tropical areas. Since 1999, he has been involved in research and biodiversity conservation and climate change resilience through green solutions in the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen). He was the scientific coordinator of the most recent UNEP-GEF biodiversity/conservation project for Socotra (Phase 1) and is currently co-coordinating the ongoing Frankincense Tree replantation project in Socotra, working with local communities.

Kay Van Damme is the author of over 80 scientific publications and has coordinated the scientific aspects of large-scale awareness campaigns (connect2socotra) for the importance of biodiversity in Socotra and associated challenges, in cooperation with UNESCO.

Van Damme’s current research mainly focuses on freshwater biodiversity (including research on zooplankton as model organisms) and water resource issues in Socotra. This is complemented with research on general conservation and raising awareness of the need for it, together with research on and replantation of Socotra’s endangered endemic trees which are crucial for increasing climate change resilience. (These plants are also of high importance to local communities for livelihoods and local cultural connections).

Kay Van Damme works at the fascinating intersection where cutting-edge science, international collaborations, biodiversity conservation, capacity building and awareness meet. He translates science into a more basically understandable form for global debates and initiates research projects focused on overcoming challenging conditions to improve both the conservation of nature and human livelihoods.

Steven Vanonckelen is passionate about the link between people, businesses (economy) and environment (ecology). He is proficient in the application and coordination of European projects, where cross-border and multidisciplinary partnerships are key. He is responsible for integrated knowledge sharing within the Department of Environment and partnerships with companies, regional administrations, educational institutions and civil society organisations.

Vanonckelen is coordinator of the €50 million Flemish Action Programme for Ecological Defragmentation project and Green Deal business and biodiversity projects. He is also involved in strategic planning of EU projects and SDGs.

Ranjit Barthakur is an ardent social entrepreneur, with a special interest in improving health and education, and preserving culture and environment across the Eastern Himalayas. He is the chief architect of the vision behind NaturenomicsTM – developed in collaboration with Globally Managed Services (GMS), and has co-founded several initiatives in the same vein. Through NaturenomicsTM, Ranjit and his team at the Balipara Foundation have developed Rural Futures, a vision for enhancing community-based conservation and social mobility through natural capital regeneration.

As the Founder & President of the Balipara Foundation, an organization focused on Eastern Himalayas, he has worked towards achieving ecological neutrality and building knowledge on the region. Through his role as Chairman of FICCI’s North East Advisory Council, he has contributed to the growth and development of the North East. He has been instrumental in developing a series of five volumes of Naturenomics™ defining the interdependence between ecology and economics.

He is currently a member of the governing board for ATREE, one of South Asia’s leading conservation and environmental cross-disciplinary research organizations.

A member of the Advisory Council of British Asian Trust, he works towards developing catalytic grassroots solutions for uplifting the disadvantaged population of South Asia.

Ranjit Barthakur is currently also a member of the Governing Board for the Centre for Microfinance & Livelihood, an organisation focused on researching, formulating and facilitating the implementation of Public Private Partnerships in Northeast India.

Kay Van Damme is a zoologist, active in biological/biodiversity research in mainly (sub)tropical areas. Since 1999, he has been involved in research and biodiversity conservation and climate change resilience through green solutions in the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen). He was the scientific coordinator of the most recent UNEP-GEF biodiversity/conservation project for Socotra (Phase 1) and is currently co-coordinating the ongoing Frankincense Tree replantation project in Socotra, working with local communities.

Kay Van Damme is the author of over 80 scientific publications and has coordinated the scientific aspects of large-scale awareness campaigns (connect2socotra) for the importance of biodiversity in Socotra and associated challenges, in cooperation with UNESCO.

Van Damme’s current research mainly focuses on freshwater biodiversity (including research on zooplankton as model organisms) and water resource issues in Socotra. This is complemented with research on general conservation and raising awareness of the need for it, together with research on and replantation of Socotra’s endangered endemic trees which are crucial for increasing climate change resilience. (These plants are also of high importance to local communities for livelihoods and local cultural connections).

Kay Van Damme works at the fascinating intersection where cutting-edge science, international collaborations, biodiversity conservation, capacity building and awareness meet. He translates science into a more basically understandable form for global debates and initiates research projects focused on overcoming challenging conditions to improve both the conservation of nature and human livelihoods.

Steven Vanonckelen is passionate about the link between people, businesses (economy) and environment (ecology). He is proficient in the application and coordination of European projects, where cross-border and multidisciplinary partnerships are key. He is responsible for integrated knowledge sharing within the Department of Environment and partnerships with companies, regional administrations, educational institutions and civil society organisations.

Vanonckelen is coordinator of the €50 million Flemish Action Programme for Ecological Defragmentation project and Green Deal business and biodiversity projects. He is also involved in strategic planning of EU projects and SDGs.

Ranjit Barthakur is an ardent social entrepreneur, with a special interest in improving health and education, and preserving culture and environment across the Eastern Himalayas. He is the chief architect of the vision behind NaturenomicsTM – developed in collaboration with Globally Managed Services (GMS), and has co-founded several initiatives in the same vein. Through NaturenomicsTM, Ranjit and his team at the Balipara Foundation have developed Rural Futures, a vision for enhancing community-based conservation and social mobility through natural capital regeneration.

As the Founder & President of the Balipara Foundation, an organization focused on Eastern Himalayas, he has worked towards achieving ecological neutrality and building knowledge on the region. Through his role as Chairman of FICCI’s North East Advisory Council, he has contributed to the growth and development of the North East. He has been instrumental in developing a series of five volumes of Naturenomics™ defining the interdependence between ecology and economics.

He is currently a member of the governing board for ATREE, one of South Asia’s leading conservation and environmental cross-disciplinary research organizations.

A member of the Advisory Council of British Asian Trust, he works towards developing catalytic grassroots solutions for uplifting the disadvantaged population of South Asia.

Ranjit Barthakur is currently also a member of the Governing Board for the Centre for Microfinance & Livelihood, an organisation focused on researching, formulating and facilitating the implementation of Public Private Partnerships in Northeast India.

Marco Sosa is an Architect (RIBA), Associate Professor and Chair of Design at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi. He holds a bachelor’s degree (Hons) and postgraduate diploma in Architecture, as well as a master’s in Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources from the London Metropolitan University. In 2012, Sosa published a photography book about the oldest functional mosque in the UAE. He has also designed, participated in and curated exhibitions, nationally and internationally.

In 2014, Marco was appointed Head of Design to the curatorial team for the First National UAE Pavilion at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale. Curated by Rem Koolhaas, this exhibition and its catalogue featured many of Sosa’s photographs. Sosa is interested in materials and their presence as space forming mediums that add materiality to a “place”, together with how to integrate digital fabrication techniques in the studio for Interior design learning.

Lina Ahmad is currently employed as an Associate Professor and Assistant Chair at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi. Ahmad holds a master’s degree (MArch) from the Architectural Association in London. She has over 10 years of professional experience as an architect working across different sectors and project stages.

Ahmad’s work has been exhibited extensively, including at the UAE’s National Pavilion at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale.

In 2015, she published a book titled “Cellular ‘Network’ City” which presents an investigation into the realm of algorithmic architectural design.

Lina’s work has been published and presented at various conferences around the world. She is passionate about modern heritage and is an advocate of digital fabrication technology, the concept of “design by making” in the design studio and its impact in regional higher education and the UAE creative industry.

An eco-entrepreneur, Stan’s passion for sustainability along with 20+ years of experience in the recycling industry has provided the knowledge needed to design and develop ever-innovative solutions for the recycling industry, the economy, and the environment.

Ibrahim Hafeezur Rehman studied in the UK as a Chevening Scholar in 2000 and has a doctorate from the University of Utrecht. He has over 26 years’ experience in projects and activities related to rural development, dissemination of Rural Energy Technologies, Natural Resources Management and, in particular, Watershed Development.

Rehman has worked with bilateral agencies, corporate set-ups and NGOs on issues related to alleviating poverty. His key focus areas include involving and consolidating grassroots institutions, undertaking initiatives pertaining to market development for clean energy technologies in rural areas, and implementing replicable models of efficient management of natural resources at the grassroots level.

Rehman has worked in various different countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Thailand and Belgium. He is a co-author of three books and has had several papers/articles published in reputed journals and magazines.

Tarek Sultan is the Vice Chairman of Agility. Sultan assumed leadership of the company in 1997, and spearheaded company’s growth into a business with a market cap of $7 billion. Agility is a pioneer in emerging markets, a leader and investor in supply chain services and innovation, and champion of sustainable business.

Sultan is a member of the Board of Directors of DSV A/S, a global top-three freight forwarding company, following DSV’s acquisition of Agility’s global logistics business in 2021. Sultan has also previously served as advisor to the Singapore Economic Development Board, sat on Wharton’s International Advisory Council, and served as a member of the Board of Directors of Gulf Bank and Burgan Bank.

Sultan is an active supporter of the World Economic Forum (WEF), and is a member of the WEF’s International Business Council, which brings together 120 business leaders to represent global business from all industries. He is also a Steward of the WEF’s Stewardship Board of the Platform on
Shaping the Future of Mobility and a Governor of the World Economic Forum’s Supply Chain & Transport Industry Community.

Before taking on his leadership role at Agility, Sultan was the managing director of New York Associates, a regional investment banking services provider and an associate with Southport Partners, a U.S.-based corporate finance advisory firm specializing in the technology sector. Sultan holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Economics from Williams College.

Khwezi Tiya, the Chief Executive of the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering (University of Natal, South Africa), an MBA (Nyenrode Business University, the Netherlands) and a master’s degree in Financial Management (SOAS, University of London, UK).

He also completed the Advanced Management Programme (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA) As part of his senior executive development.

Khwezi’s attendance at the Harvard Business School’s 2014 Global Energy Seminar helped shape his thinking and understanding of energy transitions. His certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP) in 2005 is testimony to his understanding of overall requirements for complex project development and project management.

Khwezi Tiya began his professional career as an engineer in 1992, working on multidisciplinary projects. He then went on to work for Standard Bank Corporate & Investment Banking in 2010 as Head of the Oil & Gas and Public Sectors (South Africa) in the Client Coverage Division. Having progressed from engineering to management, he now he seeks to master the art of leadership.

Khwezi’s study and work experience have provided him with valuable international exposure. He is passionate about economic development, with a focus on infrastructure, energy and industrialisation, as well as mentoring and inspiring young people.

Since obtaining his master’s degrees in law from the University of Antwerp and in general management from the University of Ghent, Luc Arnouts has continually been active in the port and logistics sector. His career and gaining of operational experience in stevedoring, warehousing and ocean freight forwarding began at the logistics company Group Katoennatie. From there, he moved to SGS-Group Belgium, where he was General Manager of SGS-Van Bree, a member of the Central Management Committee and the Strategic Committee, and in charge of SGS’s logistics and port handling business in Belgium. In 2000, Arnouts joined the leading European airport handling company Aviapartner as VP of Cargo Handling Europe and a member of its Central Board.

In 2007, Luc Arnouts moved to the Antwerp Port Authority as its Chief Commercial Officer. Since 2017, he has been its Director of International Relations and Networks. And as Vice President, he is a member of the Management Board. Alongside these roles, Arnouts is also a member of the board of directors of Port of Antwerp International (a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp focussed on international consultancy, port management and participations in overseas port projects), a member of the board of directors of APEC (the Port of Antwerp’s training subsidiary), and president of the board of directors of RTC, an inland rail terminal.

Jan’s career has always been fully rooted in the world of ports, having worked on both operator and supplier sides, in his native Belgium as well as other countries.

For the last seven years, he’s been based in Dubai as Vice President of Global Engineering in the Ports and Terminals vertical within DPWorld. In this position, Jan’s responsibilities include terminal design, equipment specifications related to maintenance and reliability, engineering management systems and optimisation, plus looking after the engineering side of DPWorld’s decarbonisation efforts.

Tarek Sultan is the Vice Chairman of Agility. Sultan assumed leadership of the company in 1997, and spearheaded company’s growth into a business with a market cap of $7 billion. Agility is a pioneer in emerging markets, a leader and investor in supply chain services and innovation, and champion of sustainable business.

Sultan is a member of the Board of Directors of DSV A/S, a global top-three freight forwarding company, following DSV’s acquisition of Agility’s global logistics business in 2021. Sultan has also previously served as advisor to the Singapore Economic Development Board, sat on Wharton’s International Advisory Council, and served as a member of the Board of Directors of Gulf Bank and Burgan Bank.

Sultan is an active supporter of the World Economic Forum (WEF), and is a member of the WEF’s International Business Council, which brings together 120 business leaders to represent global business from all industries. He is also a Steward of the WEF’s Stewardship Board of the Platform on
Shaping the Future of Mobility and a Governor of the World Economic Forum’s Supply Chain & Transport Industry Community.

Before taking on his leadership role at Agility, Sultan was the managing director of New York Associates, a regional investment banking services provider and an associate with Southport Partners, a U.S.-based corporate finance advisory firm specializing in the technology sector. Sultan holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Economics from Williams College.

Khwezi Tiya, the Chief Executive of the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering (University of Natal, South Africa), an MBA (Nyenrode Business University, the Netherlands) and a master’s degree in Financial Management (SOAS, University of London, UK).

He also completed the Advanced Management Programme (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA) As part of his senior executive development.

Khwezi’s attendance at the Harvard Business School’s 2014 Global Energy Seminar helped shape his thinking and understanding of energy transitions. His certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP) in 2005 is testimony to his understanding of overall requirements for complex project development and project management.

Khwezi Tiya began his professional career as an engineer in 1992, working on multidisciplinary projects. He then went on to work for Standard Bank Corporate & Investment Banking in 2010 as Head of the Oil & Gas and Public Sectors (South Africa) in the Client Coverage Division. Having progressed from engineering to management, he now he seeks to master the art of leadership.

Khwezi’s study and work experience have provided him with valuable international exposure. He is passionate about economic development, with a focus on infrastructure, energy and industrialisation, as well as mentoring and inspiring young people.

Since obtaining his master’s degrees in law from the University of Antwerp and in general management from the University of Ghent, Luc Arnouts has continually been active in the port and logistics sector. His career and gaining of operational experience in stevedoring, warehousing and ocean freight forwarding began at the logistics company Group Katoennatie. From there, he moved to SGS-Group Belgium, where he was General Manager of SGS-Van Bree, a member of the Central Management Committee and the Strategic Committee, and in charge of SGS’s logistics and port handling business in Belgium. In 2000, Arnouts joined the leading European airport handling company Aviapartner as VP of Cargo Handling Europe and a member of its Central Board.

In 2007, Luc Arnouts moved to the Antwerp Port Authority as its Chief Commercial Officer. Since 2017, he has been its Director of International Relations and Networks. And as Vice President, he is a member of the Management Board. Alongside these roles, Arnouts is also a member of the board of directors of Port of Antwerp International (a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp focussed on international consultancy, port management and participations in overseas port projects), a member of the board of directors of APEC (the Port of Antwerp’s training subsidiary), and president of the board of directors of RTC, an inland rail terminal.

Jan’s career has always been fully rooted in the world of ports, having worked on both operator and supplier sides, in his native Belgium as well as other countries.

For the last seven years, he’s been based in Dubai as Vice President of Global Engineering in the Ports and Terminals vertical within DPWorld. In this position, Jan’s responsibilities include terminal design, equipment specifications related to maintenance and reliability, engineering management systems and optimisation, plus looking after the engineering side of DPWorld’s decarbonisation efforts.

Simos Malamis is a graduate of Imperial College, London (MEng), the University of Oxford (MSc) and the National Technical University of Athens (PhD, MSc). He is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens.

Malamis has also been a Marie Curie research fellow at the University of Verona, a visiting lecturer at Brunel University (UK) and the Cyprus University of Technology. His research activities focus on the development and application of novel processes/systems for wastewater purification and reclamation, resource recovery and carbon footprint minimisation.

He has authored 70 publications in international peer-reviewed scientific journals, more than 100 presentations in international conferences, 6 chapters in books, more than 3,000 citations in Google Scholar and one patent.

Malamis is the coordinator of the Horizon2020 project Hydrousa which focuses on decentralised valorisation of non-conventional water resources. He is also the principal investigator in several other Horizon2020 projects (SMART-PLANT, INTCATCH, AccelWater, iWAYS, C-FOOT-CTRL). He is a member of the management committee of the IWA specialist group on small water and wastewater systems.

Martin Wesian is the founder of HELIOZ, a founding board member of the Austrian Social Entrepreneurship Network (SENA) and Member of the Board of the Austrian UN Global Compact.

He is an entrepreneurial, solution-oriented executive who creates value for social investors, with a focus on topics such as sustainable growth, frugal innovation and social entrepreneurship.

Martin has a master’s degree in International Business Engineering from UAS Technikum Vienna and has been involved in various start-ups, established branches in Sweden and Germany and operated a small culture management business for more than 10 years.

Guillermo Zaragoza is a senior researcher at CIEMAT (Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology Research) and is currently head of the Solar Thermal Applications R&D unit of Plataforma Solar de Almería, Spain. His main research is focussed on the application of solar energy to desalination, both for small-scale decentralised applications (in particular working with solar-powered membrane distillation at pilot scale) and the coupling of desalination with concentrated solar power production.

Guillermo has a PhD in physics (University of Granada, 1996) and has held academic positions at the University of Oxford (1997-1998), the Spanish Research Council (1999-2000) and the greenhouse research facility of Cajamar Foundation (2001-2008).

He has a lengthy academic record (> 85 papers, 3 books and 8 book chapters) and extensive experience in international R&D projects (>40), teaches in a Solar Energy master’s course at the University of Almería and in international Solar Desalination courses organised by the European Desalination Society, of which he has been board director.

Guillermo Zaragoza is an ambassador for the Water Europe platform and leader of the Working Group on Renewable Energy Desalination.

Alexander Euler is the Managing Director of Hydraloop Middle East and CEO of Gulf Resources Investments. A driven, visionary senior manager with a multi-cultural profile, he provides 20 years of team leadership experience and entrepreneurship to strategic initiatives.

Alexander has led these companies’ global expansion though the establishment of new business branches in Italy, Spain and Chile, together with emerging entrepreneurial activities in Europe and the United Arab Emirates. He has also guided other large private companies through growth, mergers and reorganisation phases within Europe.

Martin Wesian is the founder of HELIOZ, a founding board member of the Austrian Social Entrepreneurship Network (SENA) and Member of the Board of the Austrian UN Global Compact.

He is an entrepreneurial, solution-oriented executive who creates value for social investors, with a focus on topics such as sustainable growth, frugal innovation and social entrepreneurship.

Martin has a master’s degree in International Business Engineering from UAS Technikum Vienna and has been involved in various start-ups, established branches in Sweden and Germany and operated a small culture management business for more than 10 years.

Simos Malamis is a graduate of Imperial College, London (MEng), the University of Oxford (MSc) and the National Technical University of Athens (PhD, MSc). He is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens.

Malamis has also been a Marie Curie research fellow at the University of Verona, a visiting lecturer at Brunel University (UK) and the Cyprus University of Technology. His research activities focus on the development and application of novel processes/systems for wastewater purification and reclamation, resource recovery and carbon footprint minimisation.

He has authored 70 publications in international peer-reviewed scientific journals, more than 100 presentations in international conferences, 6 chapters in books, more than 3,000 citations in Google Scholar and one patent.

Malamis is the coordinator of the Horizon2020 project Hydrousa which focuses on decentralised valorisation of non-conventional water resources. He is also the principal investigator in several other Horizon2020 projects (SMART-PLANT, INTCATCH, AccelWater, iWAYS, C-FOOT-CTRL). He is a member of the management committee of the IWA specialist group on small water and wastewater systems.

Guillermo Zaragoza is a senior researcher at CIEMAT (Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology Research) and is currently head of the Solar Thermal Applications R&D unit of Plataforma Solar de Almería, Spain. His main research is focussed on the application of solar energy to desalination, both for small-scale decentralised applications (in particular working with solar-powered membrane distillation at pilot scale) and the coupling of desalination with concentrated solar power production.

Guillermo has a PhD in physics (University of Granada, 1996) and has held academic positions at the University of Oxford (1997-1998), the Spanish Research Council (1999-2000) and the greenhouse research facility of Cajamar Foundation (2001-2008).

He has a lengthy academic record (> 85 papers, 3 books and 8 book chapters) and extensive experience in international R&D projects (>40), teaches in a Solar Energy master’s course at the University of Almería and in international Solar Desalination courses organised by the European Desalination Society, of which he has been board director.

Guillermo Zaragoza is an ambassador for the Water Europe platform and leader of the Working Group on Renewable Energy Desalination.

Alexander Euler is the Managing Director of Hydraloop Middle East and CEO of Gulf Resources Investments. A driven, visionary senior manager with a multi-cultural profile, he provides 20 years of team leadership experience and entrepreneurship to strategic initiatives.

Alexander has led these companies’ global expansion though the establishment of new business branches in Italy, Spain and Chile, together with emerging entrepreneurial activities in Europe and the United Arab Emirates. He has also guided other large private companies through growth, mergers and reorganisation phases within Europe.

Lazarus Chakwera is a Malawian theologian and politician who has been President of Malawi since June 2020. In addition to the Presidency, he is also self-appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Defence. Mr Chakwera has been leader of the Malawi Congress Party since 2013, and was previously Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly following highly controversial elections held on 21 May 2019, which were overturned by the Constitutional Court. He was appointed chairman of SADC on 17 August at the SADC 41st Annual Summit held on 9 August to 19 august in Lilongwe, Malawi. He was President of the Malawi Assemblies of God from 1989 to 14 May 2013.

As coordinator of the Fiocruz Strategy for the 2030 Agenda, Gadelha is in charge of promoting strategic engagement between Fiocruz and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His background includes studies of the application of technology in public health, healthcare models, and enhancing Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) for the SDGs.

Gadelha served as president of Fiocruz from 2009 to 2016, leading scientific achievements in biomedical sciences, generation of scientific and technological knowledge, and health and social development promotion. Between 2016 and 2021, Dr. Gadelha was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as a member of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (UN-TFM) ‘10-Member Group’ to provide expertise and support to the UN Inter-agency Task Team (IATT) on STI for the SDGs.

Previously, he founded and directed the “Casa de Oswaldo Cruz,” a Fiocruz institute dedicated to the sociology and history of science and health. Dr. Gadelha also served as a member of the National Health Council’s Science and Technology Intersectoral Commission. As President of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health, he chaired the 11th World Congress on Public Health. In 2017, with UN/DESA, he chaired the efforts of Fiocruz in organizing the 1st Consultation on Health and STI in the 2030 Agenda’s implementation.

Vibha Dhawan has been associated with The Energy and Resources and Institute (TERI) since 1985, including serving as Vice-Chancellor of TERI School of Advanced Studies from 2005-2007. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India.

Dhawan is actively involved in both research and policy development, at both national and international level. She is a task force member on a number of committees, including the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and the Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL).

Vibha Dhawan is currently serving as Adjunct Professor to the Consul General South Asia Partnership at Michigan State University. She has successfully completed a number of international assignments, including coordinating the Asia Pacific Consortium on Agriculture Biotechnology (APCoAB), advising the Director General of The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and the Deputy Director of research partnerships & co-ordination with the Borlaug Institute for South Asia. She has served on the boards of prestigious organisations in India and other countries, including Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ambedkar University, Ayurvet Foundation and Centre for Bioscience and Agriculture International (CABI).

Eckart Bierdümpel joined Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in 2001. For four years he acted as representative of Fraunhofer in the European Association of Research and Technological Organizations (EARTO), 13 years he served as chairman of the Executive Committee of the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) and 16 years as deputy director in the Global Research Alliance (GRA).

Today, Bierdümpel is heading the group of the department International Research Programs and Networks, which is located in St. Augustin near Bonn. This group is responsible for the relations to Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and Africa, the theme “Fraunhofer Research for Development” (F4D) and two major projects from the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF).

In addition, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is a member of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations (WAITRO), which was established in 1970 under the auspices of the UN system and has more than 100 members in more than 50 countries worldwide. There, Bierdümpel was Fraunhofer’s representative in different roles since 2004. The General Assembly of WAITRO elected him as Secretary General and in this position he leads the WAITRO Secretariat with its offices at Fraunhofer in Germany and JITRI in China since 2019.

Additionally, he was and is a member of several selection committees and evaluation boards, which deal with sustainable development aspects in projects or business networks, the latest is the jury for Agyle (African-German Young Leaders in Business).

Rose Mwebaza is the Director of the CTCN and brings 20 years’ experience providing policy advice on a wide range of climate change, environment and sustainable development issues. She has previously served as Chief Natural Resources Officer at the African Development Bank and held leadership positions within the UN Development Programme. Mwebaza was a Lecturer at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, for 10 years, serving as the Head of Department for Commercial Law and Deputy Dean of the Law School.

Mwebaza holds a PhD in environment and natural resource governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, a master’s degree in international comparative law (with a Certificate of Academic Excellence) from the University of Florida, U.S.A and a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B, Hons.) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

As coordinator of the Fiocruz Strategy for the 2030 Agenda, Gadelha is in charge of promoting strategic engagement between Fiocruz and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His background includes studies of the application of technology in public health, healthcare models, and enhancing Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) for the SDGs.

Gadelha served as president of Fiocruz from 2009 to 2016, leading scientific achievements in biomedical sciences, generation of scientific and technological knowledge, and health and social development promotion. Between 2016 and 2021, Dr. Gadelha was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as a member of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (UN-TFM) ‘10-Member Group’ to provide expertise and support to the UN Inter-agency Task Team (IATT) on STI for the SDGs.

Previously, he founded and directed the “Casa de Oswaldo Cruz,” a Fiocruz institute dedicated to the sociology and history of science and health. Dr. Gadelha also served as a member of the National Health Council’s Science and Technology Intersectoral Commission. As President of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health, he chaired the 11th World Congress on Public Health. In 2017, with UN/DESA, he chaired the efforts of Fiocruz in organizing the 1st Consultation on Health and STI in the 2030 Agenda’s implementation.

Vibha Dhawan has been associated with The Energy and Resources and Institute (TERI) since 1985, including serving as Vice-Chancellor of TERI School of Advanced Studies from 2005-2007. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India.

Dhawan is actively involved in both research and policy development, at both national and international level. She is a task force member on a number of committees, including the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and the Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL).

Vibha Dhawan is currently serving as Adjunct Professor to the Consul General South Asia Partnership at Michigan State University. She has successfully completed a number of international assignments, including coordinating the Asia Pacific Consortium on Agriculture Biotechnology (APCoAB), advising the Director General of The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and the Deputy Director of research partnerships & co-ordination with the Borlaug Institute for South Asia. She has served on the boards of prestigious organisations in India and other countries, including Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ambedkar University, Ayurvet Foundation and Centre for Bioscience and Agriculture International (CABI).

Since obtaining his master’s degrees in law from the University of Antwerp and in general management from the University of Ghent, Luc Arnouts has continually been active in the port and logistics sector. His career and gaining of operational experience in stevedoring, warehousing and ocean freight forwarding began at the logistics company Group Katoennatie. From there, he moved to SGS-Group Belgium, where he was General Manager of SGS-Van Bree, a member of the Central Management Committee and the Strategic Committee, and in charge of SGS’s logistics and port handling business in Belgium. In 2000, Arnouts joined the leading European airport handling company Aviapartner as VP of Cargo Handling Europe and a member of its Central Board.

In 2007, Luc Arnouts moved to the Antwerp Port Authority as its Chief Commercial Officer. Since 2017, he has been its Director of International Relations and Networks. And as Vice President, he is a member of the Management Board. Alongside these roles, Arnouts is also a member of the board of directors of Port of Antwerp International (a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp focussed on international consultancy, port management and participations in overseas port projects), a member of the board of directors of APEC (the Port of Antwerp’s training subsidiary), and president of the board of directors of RTC, an inland rail terminal.

Simon De Corte has a PhD in environmental engineering from Ghent University, where he is currently its technology transfer advisor. He has been involved in the organisation of several regional, national and European innovation initiatives and communities related to circular economy. Bringing together research, industry and policy has always been at the core of his activities.

Alongside his job at Ghent University, Simon is currently a programme manager at North-CCU-Hub, a joint initiative of industry, governmental actors and knowledge institutes in the North Sea Port area (ranging from Ghent in Belgium to Terneuzen and Vlissingen in The Netherlands) that’s developing a roadmap for carbon capture & utilisation (CCU) in the region. Both commercial and innovative technologies are being deployed in project initiatives.

North-C-Methanol is a first demonstration project that aims to produce 45,000 tonnes of green methanol per year, based on green hydrogen. Production of fuels, proteins and construction materials based on CCU are also currently being investigated. Simon is involved at both strategic and operational level.

Mark Tandy is a business development manager in the Carbon Capture and Storage team at TotalEnergies. Having worked in the energy sector since obtaining his MBA from the Saïd Business School at Oxford University, he has held a number of senior commercial management and director level positions, and worked on projects all over the world. This experience has given him a deep understanding of the practical application of business models and joint venture management.

In addition to applying his transactional expertise, Mark has worked closely with regulators, policy makers and government, most recently as an active participant in the UK government’s consultation on CCS and low-carbon hydrogen business models. In his current role at TotalEnergies, to which he applies over 15 years of experience in CCS, Mark is responsible for new business and partnerships in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

TotalEnergies itself has been active since the late 1990s in the development of carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCUS) to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, 10% of the company’s R&D budget is allocated to relevant technologies. It also supports the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which manages an investment fund of over $1 billion for clean technologies, including CCUS. Alongside its flagship project in Norway, Northern Lights, the company is maturing a number of other CCS projects in Europe and other parts of the world.

Jan Mertens is ENGIE’s Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), responsible for co-building ENGIE’s long-term vision on technologies, identifying key international research players in selected emerging technologies and initiating partnerships.

His research activities cover topics related to life cycle assessment, emissions monitoring, carbon capture, carbon use and water footprinting, and he is the author of over 50 international peer-reviewed publications.

Since 2019, Jan has also been Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, working in the domain of sustainable electricity generation.

Kathy Van Damme is a board member of the Port of Ostend. With a strong background in the energy sector’s environmental and regulatory aspects, she has worked in this field for more than 15 years. Her broad scope of experience, all focused on ports and industry, includes technological developments for energy storage, energy transition, macro-economic consequences of climate change and investments in energy. Kathy Van Damme has also been a policy advisor on energy and environment at Fedustria and the European Panel Federation, and a manager at several energy companies in Flanders.

Since obtaining his master’s degrees in law from the University of Antwerp and in general management from the University of Ghent, Luc Arnouts has continually been active in the port and logistics sector. His career and gaining of operational experience in stevedoring, warehousing and ocean freight forwarding began at the logistics company Group Katoennatie. From there, he moved to SGS-Group Belgium, where he was General Manager of SGS-Van Bree, a member of the Central Management Committee and the Strategic Committee, and in charge of SGS’s logistics and port handling business in Belgium. In 2000, Arnouts joined the leading European airport handling company Aviapartner as VP of Cargo Handling Europe and a member of its Central Board.

In 2007, Luc Arnouts moved to the Antwerp Port Authority as its Chief Commercial Officer. Since 2017, he has been its Director of International Relations and Networks. And as Vice President, he is a member of the Management Board. Alongside these roles, Arnouts is also a member of the board of directors of Port of Antwerp International (a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp focussed on international consultancy, port management and participations in overseas port projects), a member of the board of directors of APEC (the Port of Antwerp’s training subsidiary), and president of the board of directors of RTC, an inland rail terminal.

Simon De Corte has a PhD in environmental engineering from Ghent University, where he is currently its technology transfer advisor. He has been involved in the organisation of several regional, national and European innovation initiatives and communities related to circular economy. Bringing together research, industry and policy has always been at the core of his activities.

Alongside his job at Ghent University, Simon is currently a programme manager at North-CCU-Hub, a joint initiative of industry, governmental actors and knowledge institutes in the North Sea Port area (ranging from Ghent in Belgium to Terneuzen and Vlissingen in The Netherlands) that’s developing a roadmap for carbon capture & utilisation (CCU) in the region. Both commercial and innovative technologies are being deployed in project initiatives.

North-C-Methanol is a first demonstration project that aims to produce 45,000 tonnes of green methanol per year, based on green hydrogen. Production of fuels, proteins and construction materials based on CCU are also currently being investigated. Simon is involved at both strategic and operational level.

Mark Tandy is a business development manager in the Carbon Capture and Storage team at TotalEnergies. Having worked in the energy sector since obtaining his MBA from the Saïd Business School at Oxford University, he has held a number of senior commercial management and director level positions, and worked on projects all over the world. This experience has given him a deep understanding of the practical application of business models and joint venture management.

In addition to applying his transactional expertise, Mark has worked closely with regulators, policy makers and government, most recently as an active participant in the UK government’s consultation on CCS and low-carbon hydrogen business models. In his current role at TotalEnergies, to which he applies over 15 years of experience in CCS, Mark is responsible for new business and partnerships in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

TotalEnergies itself has been active since the late 1990s in the development of carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCUS) to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, 10% of the company’s R&D budget is allocated to relevant technologies. It also supports the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which manages an investment fund of over $1 billion for clean technologies, including CCUS. Alongside its flagship project in Norway, Northern Lights, the company is maturing a number of other CCS projects in Europe and other parts of the world.

Jan Mertens is ENGIE’s Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), responsible for co-building ENGIE’s long-term vision on technologies, identifying key international research players in selected emerging technologies and initiating partnerships.

His research activities cover topics related to life cycle assessment, emissions monitoring, carbon capture, carbon use and water footprinting, and he is the author of over 50 international peer-reviewed publications.

Since 2019, Jan has also been Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, working in the domain of sustainable electricity generation.

Kathy Van Damme is a board member of the Port of Ostend. With a strong background in the energy sector’s environmental and regulatory aspects, she has worked in this field for more than 15 years. Her broad scope of experience, all focused on ports and industry, includes technological developments for energy storage, energy transition, macro-economic consequences of climate change and investments in energy. Kathy Van Damme has also been a policy advisor on energy and environment at Fedustria and the European Panel Federation, and a manager at several energy companies in Flanders.

Walter Eevers is Director of Research & Development at VITO, Belgium. After obtaining his PhD in electrically conductive polymers from Antwerp University, he joined Nitto Europe where he was responsible for R&D and business development until becoming General Manager of Techno-Marketing. Walter became involved in global technology sourcing and marketing by setting up multiple collaborations with universities and research institutes.

In 2012, Eevers helped found Nitto Denko Europe Technical Centre in Lausanne as a company dedicated to research activities for medical devices. Eevers is also an external Expert and Vice Chair for the EU Commission, Conacyt (Mexico) and the Qatar Foundation for innovation programmes and projects. He is Vice-President of CO2 Value Europe, an industry association promoting and stimulating CCU.

Eevers is also Chairman of the Board of EnergyVille, the collaboration between KU Leuven, University of Hasselt, IMEC and VITO for sustainable energy research. In his current position, he has stimulated several spinoffs from VITO and held board positions in them. As a visiting professor at University of Antwerp for polymer chemistry, he is guiding research activities in the field of biobased polymer developments.

Christian Breyer is Professor for Solar Economy at LUT University, Finland. His main expertise is the integrated research of technological and economic characteristics of renewable energy systems, specialising in energy system modelling for 100% renewable energy on both local and global scale. Breyer’s team has published more studies on 100% renewable energy systems for countries or major regions than any other in the world. These cover integrated sector analyses with power, heat, transport, desalination, industry and negative CO2 emission options. Power-to-X investigations is one of his team’s core research fields. Christian has had more than 300 scientific papers published, of which more than 100 have been in scientific journals.

Jan Mertens is ENGIE’s Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), responsible for co-building ENGIE’s long-term vision on technologies, identifying key international research players in selected emerging technologies and initiating partnerships.

His research activities cover topics related to life cycle assessment, emissions monitoring, carbon capture, carbon use and water footprinting, and he is the author of over 50 international peer-reviewed publications.

Since 2019, Jan has also been Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, working in the domain of sustainable electricity generation.

Volker Sick is the DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He leads the Global CO₂ Initiative at the University of Michigan that seeks to get CO₂ capture and use recognised and implemented as a mainstream climate solution.

Annemie Bogaerts is a full professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Antwerp and head of the research group PLASMANT (Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – ANTwerp).

Having obtained her master’s degree and PhD in chemistry from the University of Antwerp, in 1993 and 1996 respectively, her research focusses on the study of non-equilibrium plasmas by modelling and experimenting with plasma chemistry, plasma reactor design and plasma-surface interactions. Their eventual use is intended for sustainable chemistry and energy/environmental applications, such as CO₂ conversion into value-added chemicals, N2 fixation and CH4 conversion, as well as plasma medicine (cancer treatment). Annemie Bogaerts has an ERC Synergy Grant for plasma catalysis for small molecule conversion (electrification of chemical reactions).

Pak Kin Wong received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, in 1997. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Electromechanical Engineering and Associate Dean (Academic Affairs), Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau. He is also the Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and Chartered Fellow of Chartered Association of Building Engineers, U.K. His research interests include automotive engineering, artificial intelligence for medical diagnosis, fluid transmission and control and mechanical vibration. He has published over 266 scientific papers. 170 out of 266 are refereed journal papers.

Emma is the Deputy Head of the Energy Policy Team at the British Embassy in Beijing, where she supports engagement and dialogue with China to increase UK-China clean energy cooperation. She works closely with a network of contacts within government, academic institutions, business and other Embassies to support China’s clean energy transition.

Before joining the British Embassy, Emma worked in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London as the Policy Officer for Ireland, Romania and Bulgaria. Prior to the FCDO, Emma worked at the British Chamber of Commerce in Chengdu and for the Asia Business Centre at the University of Nottingham.

Since 2005, Suk Won Cha has been an assistant, associate and full professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University. He served as the Associate Dean at the College of Engineering from 2013 to 2015 and the Associate Dean of Office of International Affairs at Seoul National University from 2019 to 2021.

Cha obtained his bachelor’s degree in engineering at Seoul National University, before going on to get his master’s and PhD at Stanford University. For the past decade, Professor Cha has been investigating electric/hybrid/fuel cell automotive and advanced fuel cells from materials to system level. He has pioneered optimal energy management strategy for such systems and an innovative vacuum fabrication process for electrolyte/electrode materials, publishing more than a hundred papers – including covers and frontispiece – in renowned journals such as Advanced Energy Materials, Journal of Materials Chemistry, NGP Asia Materials, CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology and so on. Cha is also well-recognised as a co-author of “Fuel Cell Fundamentals (Wiley and Sons)” – the world-wide bestseller in fuel cells research, cited more than 3,500 times.

Professor Cha has served as an organiser and committee member for numerous conferences, such Asian Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, American Chemical Society Meetings, World Chemistry Congress (IUPAC), International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition. In addition, he is the long-time organising chair and committee member of the International Conference on Precision Engineering and Sustainable Manufacturing.

Cha is the recipient of several achievement awards, including the Academic Excellence Award from the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers and the Springer Award from International Journal of Automotive Technology, as its most cited author. Professor Cha serves as an editor of International Journal of Automotive Technology (listed in SCIE) and is also a founding editor and senior editor of International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing – Green Technology – top 6% journal in mechanical engineering.

Huiyun Li obtained her PhD from Cambridge University, UK, in 2006. She is now the director of the Automotive Electronics Research Center, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technologies, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SIAT-CAS).

Li’s research interests include intelligent vehicles and transportation, V2V security and application. She has had 2 books published, along with over 100 papers in international journals and conferences, is the Principal Investigator (PI) of multiple projects and is the peer reviewer of multiple international academic journals and conference proceedings. Professor Li has been awarded several Prizes of Science and Technology Progress Awards ̶ Provincial and ministerial level (2020, 2019, 2016, 2013).

Jyoti has been working with UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP) since 1997 on a variety of issues on energy and environment. This includes energy economics and energy policy, energy efficiency, renewables, technology assessment, environmental economics and policy, and climate change issues. He has worked with several developing countries in Asia and Africa on these issues. Jyoti was Head of the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency at UNEP DTU from its inception in September 2013 till September 2016. Between 2011 and 2013, on leave from UNEP DTU, he was Chief Economic Advisor at Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, New Delhi, where he was responsible for providing inputs and advice to the Commission on various issues from an economic perspective. Prior to joining UNEP DTU, Jyoti was a faculty member at Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) at Mumbai. He also has a rich industry experience; he has worked with power plant equipment suppliers during the initial years of his career. One of Jyoti’s renewable energy financing projects in India won the Energy Globe Award in 2007 and the UN-21 Award for efficiency and effectiveness in 2008.

Jyoti has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, and a Doctorate in Management with specialization in the Energy Sector from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore.

Rose Mwebaza is the Director of the CTCN and brings 20 years’ experience providing policy advice on a wide range of climate change, environment and sustainable development issues. She has previously served as Chief Natural Resources Officer at the African Development Bank and held leadership positions within the UN Development Programme. Mwebaza was a Lecturer at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, for 10 years, serving as the Head of Department for Commercial Law and Deputy Dean of the Law School.

Mwebaza holds a PhD in environment and natural resource governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, a master’s degree in international comparative law (with a Certificate of Academic Excellence) from the University of Florida, U.S.A and a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B, Hons.) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Sergio La Motta is a member of the Advisory Board of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN). He is also the Italian representative in the steering committee of Low Carbon Societies Research Network (LCS-RNet) and a member of the Italian National Competent Authority for the implementation of the Emission Trading System (ETS).

Sergio has a degree in physics from the University of Pisa. He began his professional career in the photovoltaic laboratory at ENEA and has been a member of the Italian negotiation team for climate issues since 1997.

Since 2013, Leida Mercado has held the position of Professor at the Tropical Agricultural and Higher Education Center (CATIE), as well as senior researcher for the Environment for Development Initiative (EfD). Leida has more than 20 years of experience providing policy advice on issues related to sustainable development, climate change, and the use of economics to improve environmental performance.

Prior to working at CATIE, Mercado worked for 12 years as an environmental economics adviser at the United Nations Development Program and as environmental officer in the Venezuelan Ministry of the Environment. She has provided consultancy work for FAO, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Mercado has published various articles in high impact scientific journals, as well as technical reports and policy briefs aimed at conveying scientific data to support policymaking. Since 2018, she has been working on issues related to the circular economy.

Mercado holds a PhD in Environment and Economics and a Master’s degree in International Agriculture from Cornell University, NY, U.S.A; as well as an engineering degree in Agriculture from the Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.

Subash is a Senior Economist at UNEP DTU Partnership and a Senior Fellow at the Global Centre for Environment and Energy, Ahmedabad University. He is a Lead Author for the Transport Chapter in the ongoing sixth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and was a contributing author for the fifth assessment of the IPCC. His research interests include sustainable urban transport, low carbon development in developing countries, technology transfer and climate change and he has published a number of peer-reviewed papers on these topics.

He has extensive experience in implementing projects and proposal development. He was the project manager for the BMU funded Promoting Low Carbon Transport project in India and has been the Regional Coordinator for Asia within the Technology Needs Assessment project. He has experience of working with most countries within Asia Pacific region. He has been involved in promoting electric mobility in Asian cities as a means for reducing air pollution, improving access and reducing CO2 emissions.

He has authored a number of guidebooks/toolkits for capacity building in the area of technology transfer and low carbon transport including the UN Environment toolkit for Low Carbon Mobility Planning for cities. He has also helped the Government of India in revising their ‘Comprehensive Mobility Plan – A toolkit’ for the Indian cities. Subash holds a doctoral degree from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

He is Technical Officer, Department of Climate Change, MONRE. He is responsible for assisting in the field of climate change adaptation and climate vulnerability assessment. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is the National Designated Entity for Laos.

Diala has worked on various topics related to policy assessment, such as the study on renewable energy auctions “Analysing 2016 and Renewable Energy Auctions: A Guide to Design”, as well as socio-economic impacts of renewable energy via projects such as “Renewable Energy Benefits: Leveraging Local Capacity of solar PV and onshore wind”. Diala is one of the authors of IRENA’s regional market analysis on Southeast Asia. She obtained her master’s degree in engineering systems and management, focusing on sustainability and renewable energy, from the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi. Prior to that, she was a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, providing advisory services to government entities in fields such as energy and waste management.

Originally from Latvia, Maija is now based in Denmark and has been part of the UNEP-DHI Centre team for more than 6 years. She has a degree in international development and environmental planning. Her work over recent years has focused on supporting global monitoring and reporting of SDG 6, climate change adaptation, green infrastructure and strategic science, and indicator use for improved water management. Maija is part of the core team at the UNEP-DHI Centre, as well as the SDG indicator 6.5.1 team in UNEP, supporting countries in their reporting on integrated water resources management implementation.

Matthew has 20 years of experience in the fields of sustainable energy, development, climate change mitigation & adaptation, climate finance, mobility, innovation management and natural resource management. He’s currently leading Arup’s climate, carbon services and sustainability workstreams across Europe. This includes delivering carbon, environment and climate initiatives within infrastructure, buildings and cities, and shaping Arup’s decarbonisation roadmap aligned to a science-based target approach.

Kennedy has engaged with the private sector on sustainable energy, transport and climate mitigation. He has also applied knowledge of climate financing architecture and mainstreaming climate resilience to multiple development sectors, and delivered technology needs assessments and market transformation measures in LDCs across Africa, South East Asia and the Middle East. He has collaborative experience of international finance organisations, development agencies, scientific and technical bodies, private sector entities, developing country counterparts, and civil society organisations.

Frans Snijkers, Director of Cleantech Flanders and Programme Director of G-STIC, holds a bachelor’s degree in sciences from Hasselt University and a master’s degree in sciences (chemistry), from the Catholic University of Leuven.

Frans Snijkers previously worked at Philips (now Philips Electronics nv.) for 14 years. He began his career as a scientific collaborator in research on thermionic cathodes, cathode ray tubes and innovative display technologies at the Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. This was followed by a 9-year period as a project manager in product and process development at Philips Display Components in Eindhoven.

After 14 years in industrial R&D, Snijkers became a researcher/project leader and later team leader of the Ceramic Materials and Powder Metallurgy team at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO).

In addition to project acquisition, he has played an active part in several international (mainly European) projects and projects for Flemish companies. He has organised and co-organised conferences, supervised jointly doctoral projects and is the author or co-author of about 100 scientific papers published in international journals and about a dozen patents.

Frans Snijkers represents VITO on the Board of Directors of VLOOT, the Flemish umbrella organisation for technology providers.

Robert Armstrong is EaStChem Fellow in Energy Materials at the University of St. Andrews, UK, and has been involved in battery research since 1994. He has published several landmark papers in Li-ion and Na-ion battery research, including the first report of layered LiMnO₂ and several papers on layered sodium manganese oxides.

His research is concerned with the synthesis and characterisation of novel electrode materials for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries, with emphasis in correlating structure and properties using powder diffraction combined with electrochemical studies.

Robert Armstrong is a member of the Alistore European Research Institute on advanced batteries, where he is the St Andrews representative on the scientific council. He is project leader for the Faraday Institution project, NEXGENNA, to develop the next generation of sodium-ion batteries.

Yi-Bing Cheng is a Professor at Wuhan University of Technology and Director of Photovoltaic Hydrogen Production Laboratory, Guangdong Foshan Xianhu Lab, China, as well as Emeritus Professor of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University, Australia.

Yi-Bing Cheng is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. He specialises in inorganic materials and processing and characterisation of thin film solar cells. His current research is on perovskite solar cells and green hydrogen production. He has research publications in Science, Nature, Nature Materials, Nature Energy, Nature Photonics, Advanced Materials and more.

Yi-Bing Cheng was named a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Zijian Zheng is currently full professor at the Institute of Textile and Clothing (ITC) and Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests are surface and polymer science, nanofabrication, flexible and wearable electronics, energy conversion and storage.

Zheng obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Tsinghua University in 2003 and a PhD in chemistry from Cambridge University in 2007 (supervisor: Prof. Wilhelm T. S. Huck). In 2008, he worked as postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Chad A. Mirkin at Northwestern University in the USA. He joined ITC as Assistant Professor in 2009, and was promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 2013 and Professor in 2017.

Zijian Zheng has had approximately 120 papers published in high-impact international scientific journals, including Science, Nat. Mater., Nat. Comm., Adv. Mate., JACS, Angew. Chem., and has filed more than 25 patents. He serves as Guest Editor of Advanced Materials and Small, and Editor-in-Chief of EcoMat, a flagship open-access journal about green energy and environment, published by Wiley. Dr. Zheng is the recipient of more than 15 academic awards, such as Founding Member of The Young Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong (2019), Chang Jiang Scholar (2020) and RGC Senior Research Fellow (2021).

Pinit Kidkhunthod is currently Beamline Manager at SUT-NANOTEC-SLRI XAS beamline (BL5.2), Synchrotron Light Research Institute (Public Organisation), Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. His research interest is in the fields of structural studies of advanced functional materials such as catalysts, carbon-based metal composite materials and novel amorphous materials for energy storage applications using an X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) technique. Dr Kidkhunthod has a bachelor’s degree with first class honours 3.99 in physics from KhonKaen University, Thailand (2008) and a PhD in physics from Bristol University, U.K. (2012).

Kidkhunthod was selected as the Thai students’ representative for the DESY summer programme, Germany, in 2007. He has received research grants for young scientists from the Thailand Research Fund (TRF2013), Ministry of Science and Technology (2014) and CoE-Suranaree University of Technology on AFM (2014-present). He has also been appointed Adjunct Professor at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Science (SIAT-CASduring 2018-present) and Visiting Scientist at CAS (PIFI programme) in 2021. He is the author and co-author of over 180 papers in ISI and scopus-based journals for structural studies of advanced functional materials using XAS technique.

Dalong Zhong is a Chief Scientist at the National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy (NICE) in Beijing, China. His main research activity over the last two years has been leading a national key R&D project “Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Energy Technology”. He has over 20 years of working experience in the area of advanced manufacturing and materials technologies. Before joining NICE in January 2018, he was as a senior scientist, lab manager and then principal engineer at the GE Global Research Center.

Dalong Zhong has 47 filed patents and published 33 peer-reviewed papers. He has been invited to many international conferences and forums, such as the Energy Sub-Forum of the Euro-Asia Economic Forum and the International Forum of Sustainable Urban Development.

Isabelle Durant, from Belgium, became UNCTAD’s Acting Secretary-General in February 2021, having served as Deputy Secretary-General since July 2017. Ever since joining UNCTAD, Durant has relentlessly contributed to making international trade greener and more inclusive, as well as being an advocate for gender equality.

Durant has been heavily involved in the UN’s socio-economic response to the coronavirus crisis and has led UNCTAD’s work in this area, covering a broad range of interrelated issues including finance, technology, investment and sustainable development.

A former Deputy Prime Minister and Member of the Belgian Senate, as well as Vice President of the European parliament, Durant possesses solid experience in public affairs, intergovernmental processes and providing concrete assistance to countries. She is well known for her acute skills in empowering people, addressing vulnerabilities at local and national levels and supporting governments towards achieving good governance and sustainable policies.

Durant also served as Minister for Transport and Energy in Belgium between 1999 and 2003, when she oversaw mobility, infrastructure, energy and sustainable development policies. This position meant she was part of the government-of-the-time which chaired the presidency of the European Union (EU) and, in particular, the presidency of the EU Council of Transport Ministers.

As Vice President of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014, Durant chaired various permanent delegations such as that of EU-African, Caribbean and Pacific countries following the Cotonou Agreement, as well as other economic partnership agreements.

Durant also possesses a wealth of knowledge about relations with civil society representatives and the private sector, notably as the Vice President responsible for relations between the European Parliament and the civil society.

As a Belgian Senator from 2003 to 2009, Durant served on the committees for foreign affairs and social affairs and participated in many election observation missions, including to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt and Tunisia.

She also served as a senior expert on local governance in Algeria in 2015 and 2016. In addition, she participated in or headed EU parliamentarian delegations to Iran, Myanmar and Haiti.

Immediately prior to becoming Deputy Head of UNCTAD, Durant was a member of the Brussels capital region’s parliament and of the Economic Affairs Committee. Within the framework of a large reform of regional economic tools, she was especially involved in innovation, sharing and the circular economy.

Isabelle Durant holds a master’s degree in economic and social policy from Belgium’s Universite Catholique de Louvain.

Shamika N. Sirimanne is the Director of UNCTAD’s Technology and Logistics Division. She leads UNCTAD’s trade logistics programme, which includes its work on trade facilitation, sustainable and resilient freight transport, port management, e-commerce and the digital economy. She also supervises UNCTAD’s largest technical cooperation programme, ASYCUDA, the Automated System for Customs Data.

Shamika N. Sirimanne also serves as the Head of the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development, which is the UN’s focal point for STI policy dialogue.

Sirimanne has extensive experience in development policy, research and technical cooperation, which she has gained from international organisations, national governments, think tanks and universities. She served as Director of the ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), where she spearheaded major regional cooperation programmes. Among these are the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway initiative for seamless broadband connectivity, the Regional Drought Mechanism for monitoring and early warning of drought through space applications, and the United Nations Network of Experts for Paperless Trade, UNNExT.

During her tenure with ESCAP, Sirimanne also headed the trade facilitation programme and led both the macroeconomic policy work and ESCAP’s flagship publication, Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific. Prior to that, Ms. Sirimanne was with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), where she led the economic policy team and the Economic Report on Africa, ECA’s flagship publication. She has also worked for the Canadian Department of Finance and the World Bank.

Sirimanne has a PhD in economics.

Susan E. Cozzens is a Professor Emerita at the School of Public Policy. Cozzens’s research interest is innovation and inequality, with a focus on how science, technology and innovation policies affect the intersections between them. She’s currently involved in two projects. One on the potential for artificial intelligence to increase or decrease inequalities. The other on women in leadership in science-intensive U.S. federal agencies.

Cozzens is Vice President of GLOBELICS, the global network for the economics of learning, innovation and competence building systems. She is also Associate Editor of the journal Innovation and Development.

From 2012 to 2017, Cozzens served as Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Faculty Development at Georgia Tech. Previously, she was Associate Dean for Research in the Ivan Allen College and Chair of the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy. From 1995 to 1997, Cozzens was Director of the Office of Policy Support at the National Science Foundation. Before joining Georgia Tech, Cozzens spent 11 years on the faculty of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Cozzens has served as a consultant to the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy of the National Research Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Science Foundation, Institute of Medicine, Office of Technology Assessment, General Accounting Office, National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health.

She has served on advisory committees for the Institute of Medicine (Committee to Evaluate Centers of Excellence at the National Institutes of Health, Framework Committee on NIOSH Evaluation), National Academy of Sciences (Committee to Prevent Destructive Uses of Biotechnology), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Liberal Education and the Sciences, EPSCOR Evaluation), the National Academy of Sciences (NSF Decision-making for Major Awards), and the Office of Technology Assessment (Human Genome Project).

Her PhD is in sociology from Columbia University (1985) and her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University (1972, summa cum laude). She is a recipient of Rensselaer’s Early Career Award, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2015 she was recognised as a “Section Star” at the 25th anniversary event of the Science, Knowledge and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association.

George Owusu Essegbey is the Director of the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) of the Council of Science and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana. He is also a member of the country’s National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

He has a PhD in development studies (University of Cape Coast) and a master’s degree in international affairs (University of Ghana). He did PhD internship at the United Nations University (Institute for New Technologies) in Maastricht, The Netherlands, and a Commonwealth Fellowship at the Policy Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (PREST) at the University of Manchester.

George has several years of experience in Science and Technology (S&T) policy research, innovation studies, research on new technologies and other relevant fields.

Essegbey has served various national and international organisations with his expertise including FAO, UNESCO, UNCTAD, UNEP and the World Bank.

He is currently involved in the project on Diffusion of Innovation in Low Income Countries (DILIC) based at Oxford University. He has co-authored scholarly materials in STI policy.

José Ramón López-Portillo Romano is an academic, entrepreneur, diplomat, consultant and public servant of Mexico. Originally an economist, he has a PhD in political science from Oxford University, where he cofounded and coordinated the Center for Mexican Studies.

He has been Undersecretary of State in Mexico, Permanent Representative and independent Chairman of Council of the FAO. His multifaceted professional experience enables him to address the socioeconomic problems arising from accelerating scientific-technological change from different angles.

José Ramón López-Portillo Romano has written articles and a book and advises the Mexican Government about science and innovation diplomacy. He has cofounded and chairs several think and action-tanks, such as Q Element. He was nominated by the Secretary General member of the 10-Member Group for the TFM.

Alfred Watkins is founder and chair of the Global Solutions Summit (GSS), which promotes the large-scale deployment of financially sustainable, disruptive technological solutions for implementing the SDGs in emerging markets. Summits have previously convened at the US Department of State (2014), the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas (2016) and UN Headquarters in New York City (2018 and 2019). In 2021, the Nobel Foundation invited the GSS to host a panel entitled “From Results in the Lab to Results on the Ground” in connection with the 2021 Nobel Prize Summit, “Our Planet Our Future”.

In March 2017, UN Secretary General António Guterres appointed him to a three-year term on the Governing Council of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). In January 2020, the Secretary General reappointed him to a second three-year term. The main objective of the Technology Bank, which the UN General Assembly formally established in December 2016, is to help the Least Developed Countries identify and deploy technology to foster inclusive, sustainable growth and achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Watkins has also served as a consultant to WIPO, where he organised a 2020 programme on Technology Scouting and Deployment for the Asia Pacific Bureau, to UNCTAD, where he prepared Background Discussion Papers on Technology Deployment for the SDGs and Frontier Technologies for the SDGs for UNCTADs Technology Innovation Report 2021, to the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and various private clients and NGOs.

Prior to founding the Global Solutions Summit, he spent over 23 years working at the World Bank and served more than six years as its Science and Technology Programme Coordinator and head of its Science, Technology and Innovation Global Expert Team. Watkins has extensive on-the-ground experience leading science, technology and innovation capacity building programmes and projects in Rwanda, Ghana, Vietnam, Malaysia and various countries in the Former Soviet Union, including Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Latvia.

Before joining the World Bank, he also served as a legislative assistant/staff economist in the US Congress and was an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Neth Daño is a researcher who has extensive experience in development and policy work on issues in agriculture, agricultural biodiversity, biosafety, climate change and environmental governance in Southeast Asia. She earned her bachelors’ degree in development studies (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines, dabbled briefly with studying law, but ended up completing her master’s degree in community development.

Holger Berg is Co-Head of the Digital Transformation Research Unit and Vice Director of Circular Economy at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. His research interests focus on what digital transformation means to sustainable development, in terms of opportunities and influences, with particular regard to industrial transformation. Berg looks at these topics from the perspective of ecological-business benefits, technological implementation and political design.

Holger Berg is the author of several studies on the connection between digitalisation and sustainability, with a focus on circular economy. In his expert capacity, he supports various national and international organisations and advises governments and the EU on issues related to digital transformation and the circular economy.

Juan is an expert in industrial pollution and environment at the European Environment Agency (EEA). He leads assessments and policy support activities around the interface between industry and environment, as well as coordinating the monitoring and reporting of industrial emission data, notably the integrated reporting to the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) and the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) reporting requirements.

As part of his role, Juan manages projects to do with the role of consumer electronics in the circular economy and on unlocking Industry 4.0’s potential to reduce the environmental impact of production. Prior to working at the Agency, Juan was a principal consultant and project manager in a consultancy firm, where his work focused on assessing European and UK environmental policy, especially related to industrial emissions, chemicals, and air quality.

Almut Nagel is currently Seconded National Expert to the European Commission, Directorate General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology, in the unit CNECT.F.1 “Digital Transformation – Coordination of Digital Strategy and Green ICT”. She is policy officer in the field of Green Digital Transformation and works among other things on the European Digital Product Passport and with businesses of the European Green Digital Coalition towards methodologies to measure the net environmental impact of ICT solutions.

Matthias Kuom is currently Seconded National Expert to the European Commission, Directorate General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology, in the new unit CNECT.A.4 “Digital Transformation of Industrial Ecosystems”. Here he works on topics such as digital platforms for industry and implementation of Digital Innovation Hubs within the Digital Europe Programme. He drives forward the topics of Industry 4.0, Data Spaces as well as business models and innovation strategies in the data economy.

Susanne is Chief Innovation & Solution Officer at Spherity – a decentralised identity company. Her background is in security technology and she has 20 years hands-on, technical experience in cryptography. After leading technical teams of large German mobile network operators, she moved to more business-related roles, where she drove sales, business development, partnerships and roadmap activities for IT-security services and products.

Today, Susanne consults with companies on how to define IT-Security products & services and bring them to market. She is a strong believer that technology can help the climate goals to be reached and is currently engaged in defining the technical concepts for a digital, decentralised battery product passport to facilitate better recycling and reuse of batteries.

Khalil is a forward-thinking and results-driven professional with eight years of experience in manufacturing environments. He joined CELSA Group’s innovation team in 2017 as Innovation and Service Designer, where current focus areas are Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation.

Paolo Pagano obtained his PhD in high energy physics at Trieste University, having worked for the COMPASS collaboration at the European Laboratory of High Energy Physics – CERN (Geneva, CH). In 2004, he was affiliated to the Institute of Particle Physics – HISKP – at Bonn University (Germany). In 2006, he obtained a master’s in information technology from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa (Italy).

Pagano joined the National Inter-University Consortium for Telecommunications in 2009. In October 2015, he became director of a joint (CNIT / Livorno Port Authority) laboratory for advanced sensing and networking in sea ports. Paolo’s research activities specifically focus on IoT and Vehicular Networks, and he is responsible for public and private research grants related to Intelligent Transport Systems and Smart Plants. He is a participant (representing CNIT) in the ETSI standardisation committees for Intelligent Transportation and Maritime Digitalisation.

Since September 2018, Paolo Pagano has been a member of the “Smart Roads” working group, within the World Road Association’s Technical Committee on Autonomous Driving. Since June 2021, he has been vice-chairman of ETSI ISG CDM (European Common Information Sharing Environment Service and Data Model). He has co-authored about 100 peer-reviewed papers, published in international journals and presented at conferences.

Phoebe Koundouri is a world-renowned environmental economics professor and global leader in sustainable development. She is widely recognised as a pioneer in innovative, human-centric, interdisciplinary systems for the sustainable interaction between nature, society and the economy. Professor Koundouri is listed among the most-cited women economists in the world, with 15 published books and more than 465 published peer-reviewed scientific articles, book chapters and reports.

Koundouri is University Professor (the university’s highest academic rank) at the School of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business, and an elected fellow of the World Academy of Art & Science. She is also President-elect of the European Association of Environmental and Natural Resource Economists for the period 2019-2025, a body with more than 1,200 scientific member institutions from more than 75 different countries.

Alexandros Charalambides is an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Cyprus University of Technology and has served on the board of directors of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES). Having always been in favour of promoting entrepreneurship and bringing research and innovation to industry, since 2016 he has been coordinator of the EIT Climate-KIC Cyprus Hub, focusing on promoting climate innovation and entrepreneurship in Cyprus.

As the innovation ‘enablement’ manager for the Port Authority, Piet Opstaele is one of the people driving the Port of Antwerp’s digital and innovation transition. Based on a strategy with a pragmatic approach in executing concrete innovation projects, he brings tangibility to the concept of the ‘Port of the Future’ and leads the development of Port of Antwerp as an open innovation platform. On this platform, startups, companies, knowledge institutions and other authorities can create new value for the Antwerp port ecosystem.

Piet Opstaele spent the 1990’s at Tele Atlas, a producer of digital geographic data and one of the most successful start-ups in the Benelux, which was eventually acquired by TomTom in 2008. Between 2011 and 2014, he managed a consultancy firm where he was closely involved in start-ups in the energy sector. Piet holds master’s degrees in history and spatial and urban planning, post-graduates in energy and environmental management, and an international management MBA.

Francescalberto De Bari is Head of Economic Planning, Innovation and EU Programs at the Port of Livorno. The actions carried out with his team, on both digital and ecological transitions, are directed at making the north-Tyrrhenian port system safer, greener, and more efficient and interconnected. He also is a university professor in Maritime Law and has experience in the development of port areas and logistics infrastructures.