World-renowned keynote speakers
G-STIC Conference October 2021
Special Envoy for the Ocean
24/10/2021
Presenting Keynote presentation during the High-level plenary opening session: setting the scene session.
24/10/2021
Presenting Closing during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
In 2017, United Nations Secretary-General Guterres appointed Ambassador Peter Thomson of Fiji as his Special Envoy for the Ocean, with the aim of galvanising concerted efforts to follow up on the outcomes of the 2017 United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference. This includes maintaining the momentum for action to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
Thomson leads the UN’s advocacy and public outreach efforts inside and outside of the UN system, ensuring that the many positive outcomes of the 2017 Ocean Conference, including the over 1,500 voluntary commitments, are analysed and implemented. He also works with civil society, the scientific community, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders, to coalesce and encourage their activities in support of the implementation of SDG 14.
Thomson has distinguished experience in diplomatic services and is familiar with the work of the United Nations, including from his role as Permanent Representative of Fiji to the UN and President of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, during which time he provided visionary leadership in guiding the preparation of The 2017 Ocean Conference.
Elected President of the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority’s 2011-2012 session and President of the Council of the Authority’s 2015-2016 session, Thomson chaired the Group of 77 and China (2013) and served as President of the Executive Board of UN Development Programme/UN Population Fund/UN Office for Programme Support (UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS) from 2014 to 2015. As a civil servant in the Government of Fiji, he has devoted many years of his life to working in the fields of rural development and foreign affairs.
Minister-President
24/10/2021
Presenting during the High-level governmental session: shaping a post-pandemic world session.
24/10/2021
Presenting Closing remarks during the Valuing water: Flanders’ approach to prioritising water session.
24/10/2021
Presenting Opening during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
Since September 2018, Jan Jambon has been the Minister-President of the Government of Flanders and Flemish Minister for Foreign Policy, Culture, IT and Facilities. Before that, he was a Member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Security and the Interior of Belgium.
Jan Jambon began his professional career as a Systems Engineer and Account Manager at IBM, where he worked from 1984 to 1992. He holds a master’s degree in computer science and an MBA from the University of Antwerp.
Special Envoy for the Ocean
Minister-President
TOP EXPERTS
G-STIC Conference October 2021
Director International Relations & Networks
26/10/2021
Joining panel discussion Debate during the Flemish ports as a breeding ground for low CO2 emission technologies session.
26/10/2021
Joining panel discussion Q&A during the Sustainable Ports session.
26/10/2021
Presenting during the Sustainable Ports session.
26/10/2021
Presenting during the Flemish ports as a breeding ground for low CO2 emission technologies session.
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.
Program Director Agenda 2030 and Network Manager
26/10/2021, 16:00 - 17:30 GST (Dubai)
Chairing the Sustainable and smart shipping: all hands on deck (hosted by SDSN) session.
Laura Cavalli has a PhD in Economics and Finance of Public Administration and a Professional Master (LLM) in Environmental Law and Management. After more than ten years in academic research, employing both quantitative and qualitative methods to working on social issues, in September 2017 she joined Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) as senior researcher and Project Manager. Since 2017, Laura has been United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network Manager for Italy and Adjunct Professor in Managerial Economics at Catholic University of Milan. Since January 2021, she has been Programme Director of the Research Programme Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development (ASD) at FEEM.
Head of Department of Chemical Engineering
26/10/2021
Presenting Maritime ClimAccelerator during the Sustainable and smart shipping: all hands on deck (hosted by SDSN) session.
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.
Vice President for Global Engineering
26/10/2021
Joining panel discussion Q&A during the Sustainable Ports session.
26/10/2021
Presenting Box-Bay will change the way we design, build and operate future Container Terminals during the Sustainable Ports session.
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.
24/10/2021
Joining panel discussion Debate during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
24/10/2021
Presenting Complexity and opportunity: mixing functionalities on artificial islands during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
18/01/2022
Presenting Presentation during the Energy islands session.
18/01/2022
Presenting Panel discussion during the Educating tertiary students to become sustainable innovators session.
Alexander D’Hooghe is Associate Professor at MIT and Chief Strategic Officer and Founding Partner of the design agency and think tank, ORG Permanent Modernity based in Brussels and New York, which is active internationally in systems, urbanism and architecture. He has published internationally, notably with ‘the Liberal Monument’ (Princeton, Fall 2010) and with recent papers in relevant journals in Germany, Israel, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, the USA, etc. His urban designs and analyses have included sites in New York City, Shenzhen, Belgium, The Netherlands, Iceland, South-Korea, Malawi, Ghana, parts of Russia, etc.
His expertise is regularly engaged in large multi-functional infrastructure projects and masterplans such as the current resiliency plan developments with coastal design and multifunctional offshore infrastructures in the North Sea as well as new architectural typologies in the canal district of Brussels that mixes education and the arts, with manufacturing, commercial, residential and public spaces. He serves as the director of the advisory committee in Amsterdam to develop meaningful infrastructure to connect the banks of the IJ river. Additionally, he is commissioned to support long-term development plans for Malawi’s urban and rural agricultural and industrial development, focusing on land use efficiency, infrastructural connectivity, environmental sensitivity and diverse economic productivity.
Alexander was formerly the director of MIT Centre For Advanced Urbanism (CAU), which focuses on the large-scale, complex urban issues of our time. D’Hooghe obtained a PhD from the Berlage Institute in 2007with T.U. Delft, published as the book ‘The Liberal Monument’ (Princeton Press, 2010). He previously obtained a Master’s degree in Urban Design from Harvard in 2001, and a Master’s degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Leuven in 1996. He worked with among others Rem Koolhaas and Marcel Smets.
Head of Economic Planning, Innovation and EU Programs
26/10/2021
Presenting Technological solutions and regulation challenges on the path to making the Mediterranean a low emission area during the Sustainable and smart shipping: all hands on deck (hosted by SDSN) session.
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.
Professor of Oceanics & Cryosphere
24/10/2021
Joining panel discussion Debate during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
24/10/2021
Presenting Governance challenges for Blue Economy activities during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
Marcus Haward is a political scientist specialising in oceans, Antarctic governance and marine resources management at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania. He is the author of over 140 research publications and several books, including Oceans Governance in the Twenty-first Century: Managing the Blue Planet (with Joanna Vince), Global Commodity Governance: State Responses to Sustainable Forest and Fisheries Certification (with Fred Gale), and Australia and the Antarctic Treaty System, (co-editor with Tom Griffiths).
He is currently working on oceans and Antarctic governance, knowledge systems in coastal management, marine biodiversity conservation in a changing climate and Australia’s regional fisheries interests.
Haward is currently editor of the Australian Journal of Maritime and Oceans Affairs published by Taylor & Francis.
Professor and Director at ReSEES Research Laboratory
26/10/2021
Presenting Technological economic and social transition pathways for implementing Agenda 2030 in our seas and oceans during the Sustainable and smart shipping: all hands on deck (hosted by SDSN) session.
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.
CEO
Marc Nuytemans is currently CEO of Blue Cluster. From January 2009 until November 2019, he was Managing Director of Exmar Shipmanagement and a member of the executive committee of Exmar, a Belgian-listed maritime company. He also lectures at the University of Antwerp on shipping and shipping management since 2000.
After an extensive career at sea, he became fleet personnel manager at CMB in 1997. In 2000, he took up the position of Managing Director of the Royal Belgian Shipowners’ Association, leading the revival of the Belgian register.
Marc Nuytemans is a member of the board of several companies and organisations, including BRABO (a company providing port services such as pilotage, mooring and unmooring), Caritas International (an NGO helping victims of war, natural disasters, migration and poverty in more than 200 countries and regions) and the Royal Belgian Shipowners’ Association, where he also serves as a member of the remuneration committee.
Innovation Enablement Manager
26/10/2021
Presenting Building the future of shipping in the Port of Antwerp during the Sustainable and smart shipping: all hands on deck (hosted by SDSN) session.
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.
Director
26/10/2021
Presenting Use of 5G in improving port operations at the port of Livorno, Italy during the Sustainable and smart shipping: all hands on deck (hosted by SDSN) session.
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.
CEO
26/10/2021, 11:30 - 13:00 GST (Dubai)
Chairing the Sustainable Ports session.
25/10/2021
Presenting during the Nature-based solutions session.
26/10/2021
Presenting Opening remarks during the Sustainable Ports session.
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.
Manager Offshore Test Site
24/10/2021
Joining panel discussion Debate during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
24/10/2021
Presenting Can offshore seaweed cultivation and artificial islands reinforce each other? during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
Zinzi Reimert coordinates the North Sea Farmers’ offshore test site and is one of the project leaders of North Sea Farm #1, which will be the world’s first large-scale seaweed farm in an offshore windfarm. NSF#1 will be installed in 2022, with a first harvest in 2023.
Offshore cultivation and use of seaweed contribute broadly to priority sustainable development issues such as energy transition, sustainable food and circular economy. With these, they serve SDG3 (good health and wellbeing), SDG7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG12 (responsible consumption and production), SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 14 (life below water).
Reimert has worked as a system engineer on energy transition innovations and is widely seen as an expert in all aspects of the windfarm multi-use concept, including nature-inclusive innovations. These include the Eco-Anchor, which enables the protection of biodiversity – a requirement for scaling up sustainable offshore seaweed cultivation. Zinzi is spearheading the cross-sector team developing the Eco-Anchor. Having already developed the design based on state-of-the-art research and built a prototype, they are currently testing it in an offshore environment. An important part of Zinzi’s work is to engage the general public in the process to create awareness and goodwill.
Professor of Global Energy and Resources
24/10/2021
Joining panel discussion Debate during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
24/10/2021
Presenting “Blue-Green” Artificial islands – power hubs of clean energy transitions during the Artificial islands and sustainable blue growth session.
Catalina Spataru is a professor of Global Energy and Resources at UCL, the founder and Head of UCL Islands Laboratory, and Deputy Director of the UCL Energy Institute. Her expertise is in the field of global energy and resources, from theoretical investigations to implementation of research and practice to support policy makers and sustainability agendas.
The Islands Laboratory at UCL is a unique initiative that aims to support island nations, helping planners and businesses develop sustainable solutions in a climate change context. It takes a nexus-informed mixed methodological approach to energy and resource use scenarios analysis.
Spataru established the “Blue-Green” artificial islands, which involved exploring future scenarios for modular floating structures/systems and symbiosis with other sectors at sea.
She currently directs the work of the Re-Energize Governance of Disasters for Sustainable Development consortium, which is the funded part of the Collaborative Research Action on Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience through the Belmont Forum. In this, her work takes a nexus-informed approach to actionable insights for climate change disasters risk reduction and resilience governance, in collaboration with partners from Qatar, Japan, USA, Mauritius, Ghana and Italy.
Catalina Spataru also directed the work on the energy markets and regulations part of the Open Piazza consortium led by Unit9. This involved several businesses from the UK and Canada coming together to develop a digital platform for helping the built environment attain sustainable energy, by assessing the benefits introduced by energy storage and generation, and the business cases needed to justify the required investments.
She has delivered several talks at events such as the Cheltenham Science Festival, the European Business Summit in Brussels, the UN Environmental Management Group Nexus Dialogues series, Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development and other international conferences.
CEO
26/10/2021
Joining panel discussion Q&A during the Sustainable Ports session.
26/10/2021
Presenting during the Sustainable Ports session.
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.
CEO
25/10/2021
Joining panel discussion during the The role of technology and innovation in localising the SDGs session.
26/10/2021
Joining panel discussion Q&A during the Sustainable Ports session.
26/10/2021
Presenting during the Sustainable Ports session.
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.
Program Manager Sustainable Chemistry
17/01/2022, 14:30 - 16:00 GST (Dubai)
Facilitating the Global value chains for decarbonisation of the energy system session.
26/10/2021
Presenting Getting to carbon-neutral: electrifying nature’s carbon cycle during the Research and policy perspectives on CO2 as a resource session.
18/01/2022
Presenting Panel discussion during the Unlocking the full potential of the blue economy for a sustainable future session.
Director International Relations & Networks
Head of Department of Chemical Engineering
Vice President for Global Engineering
Head of Economic Planning, Innovation and EU Programs
Professor of Oceanics & Cryosphere
Professor and Director at ReSEES Research Laboratory
CEO
Innovation Enablement Manager
Director
CEO
Manager Offshore Test Site
Professor of Global Energy and Resources
CEO
CEO
Program Manager Sustainable Chemistry