1. Who We Are
  2. News
Events
Dialogue for Climate Action
Dialogue for Climate Action
May 24-25, 2016Hofburg Conference Venue, Vienna, Austria
Participate in a global dialogue that brings together CEOs, industries, policy makers and civil society around an inclusive agenda to promote climate competitive industries.

WATCH LIVE

CEOs from industries ranging from textiles to technology companies have pledged to scale-up efforts on climate action, by decreasing their carbon footprint, ensuring cleaner energy inputs and investing in new technologies. Global financial institutions have pledged hundreds of billions of investments over the next 15 years in clean energy and energy efficiency. How can these investments be catalyzed in emerging economies?

The role of dialogue between businesses, governments and civil society will be critical to encourage policies that are “investment grade” and that promote such climate-friendly actions. The challenge is how to engage industries and other actors in society to spur growth in climate efficient industries and improving sector competitiveness.

This global conference will discuss opportunities for climate action by the private sector and address the dialogue gap within the framework of COP21 to lead to greater alignment and cooperation with national goals for climate action.

The event will be held at Hofburg Conference Venue, Vienna, Austria and broadcast globally online.

Event Highlights:

  • Hear from CEOs of leading companies and top policymakers about the main investment and financing opportunities resulting from the Paris agreement.
  • Identify “investment grade” policy areas that will help generate growth and competitiveness in emerging economies.
  • Define the principles of dialogue in cities, global supply chains, carbon markets and technologies that can help unlock these opportunities.
  • The official launch of the World Bank Group’s latest flagship publication: A Greener Path to Competitiveness

REGISTER HERE

 

May 24, Tuesday

8:00 – 09:00  Registration and Networking

09:00 – 09:05  Welcome Address - Anton MAIR || Deputy Director General of Development, Austrian Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs

09:05 – 09:15 Opening Remarks - Anabel GONZALEZ || Senior Director, Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice, World Bank Group

09:15 – 09:30  Keynote: Charting a Greener Path to Competitiveness - Dimitris TSITSIRAGOS || Vice President, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group

09: 30– 11:00 From Paris to Vienna: Policy, Industry and Dialogue

COP21 having successfully been concluded and countries embarking on implementing actions needed to reach their INDCs the dialogue for climate action between industries, governments and civil society needs to intensify to preserve growth and competitiveness of industries. This discussion will involve the main policy makers, academics and companies that participated in the climate talks. The discussion will revolve around the key opportunities that have emerged from COP21 and their implications for growth, competitiveness and climate action. This session will present expert views on how this can be implemented within the timeframe
for 2°C. 

Moderator: Monika WEBER-FAHR || Chief Operating Officer, Sustainable Energy for All

Ferdaus Ara BEGUM || CEO, Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD)

James CAMERON || Chairman, Overseas Development Institute

Janos PASZTOR || Senior Advisor to the Secretary-General on Climate Change, United Nations

Michel RENTENAAR || Climate Envoy, Kingdom of the Netherlands

John ROOME || Senior Director, Climate Change, World Bank Group

11:00– 11:15 Coffee & tea break

11:15 – 12:45 The CEOs Agenda and Climate Action

Bringing together the private sector, governments and other stakeholders results in increased clarity on the priorities of all actors and in establishing a common goal for climate action. This will in turn benefit firms that are looking to mitigate climate risks and create new technologies. In this session, CEOs will discuss what actions they will take on climate change and how dialogue with the public sector can promote an “investment grade” enabling environment for industries.

Moderator: Jon WILLIAMS || Partner, Debt and Capital Advisory, PwC [TBC]

Hakan BULGURLU ||CEO, Arcelik A.S.

Tom DELAY || CEO, Carbon Trust

Nigel TOPPING || CEO, We Mean Business

Jan RABE || Sustainability Director, Siemens

12:45– 14:00  Lunch

14:00 – 15:30 Financing for a World Below 2°C

Over $1 trillion in annual investment is needed until 2030 to stay within a 2°C trajectory, according to the United Nations. However, there is a remaining question: how can we find innovative ways to mobilize the needed investment to reduce the negative effects of climate change and create the healthy, thriving zero-carbon economy of the future? We will hear from leading financial institutions on how they are gearing up to finance climate action and how greater coordination between stakeholders can help facilitate these financing opportunities. Panelists will also explore the benefits of establishing and enhancing public-private dialogues in the climate change space.

Moderator: Stephanie MILLER || Director, Western Europe, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group

Leo Hyoungkun PARK || Financial Institutions Specialist, Green Climate Fund

Michael WANCATA || Member of the Executive Board, Development Bank of Austria

Namita Vikas || Group President and Country Head- Responsible Banking & Chief Sustainability Officer

Jo Ann Bueno Eala || , Head of the Sustainable Energy Finance and Specialized Lending Teams, Bank of the Philippine Islands

Christopher Flensborg || Head of Climate & Sustainable Financial Solutions, SEB Group

15:30 – 15:50 Coffee & tea break

15:50 – 17:30  Climate Change and Transformational Business

Addressing climate change provides the opportunity for a fundamental shift in the way businesses innovate and create solutions to advance adaptation and mitigation measures. This session presents some of the organizations whose ground-breaking use of capital, technology and ideas has singled them out as short-listed nominees for the 2016 Financial Times/IFC Transformational Business Awards. In this very special session, these organizations will discuss their initiatives to finance and develop low-carbon solutions that will help achieve long-term, substantive impact in developing economies, and the role of innovation and disruption in significantly accelerating progress.

Moderator: Pilita CLARK || Environment Correspondent, Financial Times

Speakers: 

Davidi Vortman || CEO, Co-Founder, Lumos Networks

Stefan Zelazny || CIO, Mobisol 

Lance Deng || Microvast, Vice President of Business Development

17:15 – 17:30 Closing Remarks

May 25, Wednesday

09:00 - 09:15 - Opening Keynote - James CLOSE || Director, Climate Change, World Bank Group

09:15 – 10:45  Standards & Technologies for competitiveness

Energy efficiency standards are widely used as an effective policy tool to reduce energy consumption and operating costs of appliances, equipment and operations. However, their impact on industry and industrial competitiveness is not well understood or documented. Product efficiency standards can catalyze innovation around, new technologies, and facilitate trade and export-led growth, but they can also harm domestic manufacturers who are not prepared to produce more efficient products. This session will bring together policymakers and representatives from manufacturers and civil society to discuss effective approaches for collaboration on the development and implementation of energy efficiency standards.

Moderator: Eric GIBBS ||Senior Director, Country Programs, CLASP

Ahmed DAOUD || CEO, M. Ahmed Daoud & Co.

Andrew deLASKI || Executive Director, Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP)

Ravinder Kumar MEHTA|| Secretary, Refrigeration and Air conditioning Manufacturers' Association (RAMA)

Viktor SUNDBERG || Vice President of Environmental and EU Affairs, Electrolux Major Appliances

10:45 - 11:15 - Coffee & tea break

11:15 – 12:45 Securing and enhancing climate-friendly Supply Chains

Global multinational companies like Marks & Spencer and H&M are looking to source sustainably. This requires a dialogue among not just country level players, but international buyers, NGOs and in-country actors. Global players and local manufacturers will discuss how they’ve successfully helped ensure such climate-friendly supply chains and how regulations and voluntary actions can make the industries more competitive. 

Moderator: Aleyn SMITH-GILLESPIE || Associate Director, Business Advice, Carbon Trust

Karol GOBCZYŃSKI || Energy & Climate Manager Poland, IKEA Group

Olaf SCHMIDT || Principal Investment Officer, World Bank Group

MD Zahid ULLAH || Head of Sustainability, Flamingo Fashions Limited, DBL Group

Géraldine VALLEJO || Sustainability Program Director, Kering Group

Matt WILSON || Head of Environmental Sustainability Centre of Excellence, GSK

12:45 – 14:00  Lunch

14:30 – 15:30  Mobilizing Inclusive Dialogue for Climate Change

Addressing climate change successfully requires broad-based support. The scope of the problem is enormous and cannot be solved solely by private businesses and government agencies. All affected parties need to be part of the dialogue. To maximize impact, we need to engage societies as a whole. From the industry standpoint, this means including those who are intrinsic to production (e.g., workers, suppliers) as well as those indirectly affected who can offer contributions of their own (e.g., local communities, CSOs). Recognizing that diverse groups verifiably generate superior solutions to complex problems, this session brings together academics, activists, artists and civic leaders to discuss innovative ways to help tackle climate change.


Moderator: Simeon DJANKOV ||Visiting Professor, London School of Economics & Former Minister of Finance, Bulgaria

Prashant MEHRA || Chief Architect – Social Inclusion, I Got Garbage

Anna SWAITHES || Director of Sustainable Development, SABMiller

Tehut Tesfaye SIDELIL || CEO, Ethiopia Climate Innovation Center

Tiago CARNEIRO PEIXOTO || Senior Governance Specialist, World Bank Group

15:30 – 16:00  Coffee Break

16:00 – 17:30  Dynamics between industries and Cities

Municipalities, national governments, industries, transport companies and other stakeholder need to come together in order to formulate actions that benefit cities. This session will explore how dialogue has been used in cities to help industries improve energy and resource efficiency. The workshop will include opportunities for top actors in the cities space to clarify the principles for climate dialogue within cities.

Moderator: Oren AHOOBIM || Associate Partner, Dalberg Global Development Advisors

Patrick AVATO || Program Leader, Clean Energy & Cities, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group

Sidahmed BOUH || General Director, Nouadhibou Free Zone

Andrea FERNANDEZ || Director, Global Partnerships & Governance, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group [TBC]

Hung-Suck PARK || Professor, University of Ulsan

Bernhard PUTTINGER || CEO, Green Tech Cluster

Smail Alhilali || Officer-in-Charge, United Nations Industrial Development Organization

17:30 – 18:15 Translating Principles for Dialogue into Action

Together, the World Bank Group and its partners, have developed the Principles for Dialogue on Climate Action which will serve as the basis and the beginning of a concerted effort to foster well-conceived dialogues among public and private sector. The Principles will help create a common standard/framework to serve as a foundation for dialogues and improve the ability of companies (and other stakeholders) to play an active role in the design of policies and initiatives that tackle climate change. Using the principles and its contributing members as a starting point, this important session will kick start a community of practice on dialogue for climate action that will carry on the agenda and build on the momentum.

Moderator: Sumit MANCHANDA || Program Manager, Public Private Dialogue, World Bank Group

Paul BEGLEY || Program Director, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership

Cecile FRUMAN || Director, Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice, World Bank Group

Imane CHAFIQ || Technical Advisor, GIZ Morocco

Monika WEBER-FAHR || Chief Operating Officer, Sustainable Energy for All

Abdelouahed Fikrat || General Secretary, Moroccan Ministry of Environment

 

 
  • Image

    Abdelouahed FIKRAT

    General Secretary of the Moroccan Ministry in charge of Environment
    Mr Fikrat is the General Secretary of the Moroccan Ministry in charge of Environment since April 16th, 2015. Prior to this appointment, he served for more than six years as the Director of Planning in the Ministry of Urban and Territorial Planning. Before that, and between 2004 and 2008, he was head of the Urban Agency of Marrakech city then Tetouan city (North of Morocco). Mr Fikrat contributed to the creation of “Majal”, Morocco's Federation of Urban Agencies, and he was its first President. Mr Fikrat started his career in the public sector in Casablanca in October 1997 by his designation as head of the “ERAC” Center, a public institution operating in the development and construction. Just after graduating from the “Ecole Centrale de Paris” in 1989, he began his professional career in the private sector as an Administrative Director of a Private College in Marrakech for more than 7 years, then joining Casablanca as a Consultant- Deputy General Manager position of a Private Institute specialized in professional training and Business Advisory (1996-1997). Mr Fikrat was awarded in 2007 by a Royal Accolade « Wissam ». He is married and father of 3 children.
  • Image

    Ahmed DAOUD

    CEO, M. Ahmed Daoud & Co.
    Mohamed Ahmed Daoud was born in 1950 and began working for Ahmed Daoud & Co. in June 1971. In 1992, he led the establishment of the first MADICO Electric Motor Factory, a significant turning point in the history of the company. After the acquisition of the Egyptian Arab Pump Company (EAP) in 2010, he now serves as CEO of EAP as well.
  • Image

    Aleyn SMITH-GILLESPIE

    Associate Director, Carbon Trust Advisory
    Aleyn’s work focuses on helping clients develop low-carbon, environmentally sustainable business models and strategies to drive operational efficiency, innovation, growth, and impact. His sector experience spans FMCG, ICT, telco, financial services, retail, energy, and public sector. Prior to Carbon Trust, Aleyn worked for strategy consultants Booz Allen Hamilton as well as for consultancies in China and the UK. He holds a BA from Cambridge University, and a double Master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Aleyn speaks fluent Spanish, French, and Mandarin
  • Image

    Anabel GONZALEZ

    Senior Director, Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice, World Bank Group
    Anabel González is Senior Director of the World Bank Group Global Practice on Trade and Competitiveness (from July 2014). In this capacity, she leads a team of 500 people to design and implement the World Bank Group's global and country agenda in the areas of trade, investment climate, competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship.
  • Image

    Andrew deLASKI

    Executive Director, Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP)
    Andrew deLaski has been the Executive Director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project since 1999. ASAP is a coalition non-governmental organization led by representatives from energy-efficiency, consumer, and environmental NGOs, state government and utility companies which is dedicated to advancing cost-effective minimum energy performance standards (MEPS). As ASAP’s Executive Director, he has been involved in each major US standards rulemaking stretching over three administrations and his work contributed to the efficiency standards titles of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and other standards legislation since then. He has contributed to state standards legislation enacted in about a dozen states. Andrew has co-authored a series of national and state studies on MEPS savings potential and other related work. He is lead author on a forthcoming research report, “Next Generation Standards,” which describes the potential for new standards under the next US administration. He is co-chair of the US Department of Energy’s Federal Advisory Committee for the national standards program. Previously, he worked at the Consortium for Energy Efficiency. He holds a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Michigan (1995) and a B.A. in economics from the University of Virginia (1988).
  • Image

    Andrea FERNANDEZ

    Director of Governance and Global Partnerships, C40
    Andrea Fernández serves as C40’s Director of Governance and Global Partnerships. Andrea is responsible for managing the C40’s relationship with its governing bodies, funders and partners, overseeing city diplomacy efforts, and driving new strategic priorities established by the C40 Chair. Before joining C40, Andrea worked as a consultant at Arup for 11 years. In this role, she led high profile engagements related to sustainability and climate change in the urban environment, with a focus on policy, funding, governance and delivery strategies. Previously, Andrea worked in the World Bank’s Private Sector Development Department for about five years, where she delivered investment appraisals and technical assistance for public enterprise reform and infrastructure projects in emerging economies. Andrea has a Bachelor’s degree in International Business and Economics from Concordia University and an MBA with a finance specialisation from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
  • Image

    Anna SWAITHES

    Director of Sustainable Development, SABMiller
    Anna is Sustainable Development Director for SABMiller plc, responsible for leading SABMiller’s Prosper sustainable development strategy. Anna joined SABMiller in 2012 as Head of Water and Food Security Policy, and took on additional responsibility for enterprise and livelihoods in 2014, before becoming Sustainable Development Director in 2015. Anna works closely with colleagues in local business units, procurement, technical and sales functions to develop and implement sustainable development strategies, and leads engagement with key external stakeholders. Prior to joining SABMiller, Anna was Head of Development, Cocoa Partnership at Kraft Foods. She led the multi-stakeholder Cadbury Cocoa Partnership from its establishment in 2008 until 2012, developing the Partnership in Ghana with the Ghanaian government, UNDP, and NGOs including CARE International, VSO and World Vision.
  • Image

    Anton MAIR

    Deputy Director General, Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs
    Mr. Mair has been the Deputy Director General of Austrian Development Cooperation since 2004. He is also Director of Policy, Strategy and Evaluation in the Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs (the Austrian Foreign Ministry). Mr. Mair’s professional career has included a range of posts in the Austrian Federal Chancellery and in the Foreign Ministry in Vienna together with postings abroad managing Austrian development programs, including spells in Papua New Guinea and Uganda. Since 2000, Mr. Mair has been a lecturer on International Development Studies at Vienna University. He holds an MA in philology from Salzburg University.
  • Image

    Bernhard PUTTINGER

    CEO, Green Tech Cluster
    Bernhard Puttinger, born in 1974, has more than 17 years of experience in the field of eco-innovation in various senior manager positions in research and business. He is a trained engineer in the field of energy and building technologies, certified ISO 14.000 / EMAS manager and holds an EMBA degree of Vienna university of economics and business administration. Since 2007 he is the CEO of Green Tech Cluster Styria (formerly known as Eco World Styria). He develops this triple-helix cleantech cluster, that facilitates new industrial innovation projects in the fields of green energy, green building and green resources. The cluster companies in this Green Tech Valley around Graz, Austria performed with an average annual growth rate of 14 % nearly twice as good as the world markets and have become international technology leader. The Green Tech Cluster is now globally regarded the Nr. 1 cleantech cluster in all rankings so far (Global Cleantech Directory 2012, US-Cleantech Group 2010) and holds the highest European “Cluster Management Excellence - Gold” label.
  • Image

    Cecile FRUMAN

    Director, Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice, The World Bank Group
    Cecile Fruman is Director in the Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice of the World Bank Group. She was appointed in July 2014 and oversees the delivery of solutions to Bank Group clients in four regions (Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, South Asia and East Asia and Pacific). She also oversees two global teams leading work on Investment Climate and Competitive Sectors. During her tenure at the World Bank Group, Cecile has worked across regions and topics, as well as a few corporate initiatives such as the internal change process of 2013-14. Prior to her current assignment, Cecile was the Manager of the Private Participation in Infrastructure and Social Sectors Service Line of the World Bank Group Investment Climate Global Practice. As such, she oversaw advisory programs that promote a better investment climate in specific sectors, namely health, education, and infrastructure (with a focus on renewable energy) and incubation of investment climate activities in new areas such as green growth and competition. A French national, Cecile started her career in microfinance and SME development, spending four years in Mali managing a rural microfinance institution and several years working on a World Bank global research program (Sustainable Banking with the Poor).
  • Image

    Christopher FLENSBORG

    Head of Climate & Sustainable Financial Solutions, SEB
    Mr. Christopher Flensborg joined SEB in 2003 and is Head of Climate & Sustainable Financial Solutions. As a pioneer in Green Bonds, he has developed concepts and mechanisms enabling mainstream investors to address climate investments in their portfolios. As a thought leader, SEB work to enable mainstream investors core portfolios in green investments. SEB´s goal is to be a prime quality provider of mainstream financial climate solutions across various financial mandates. In his capacity Mr. Flensborg has been and is involved in climate investments strategies worldwide, from development to execution – from borrowers to investors. Mr. Flensborg has spent over 28 years working in leading international financial institutions. He received his management training from international banks through schooling in/at Oxford, INSEAD, and Harvard. In 2011 Mr. Flensborg was named “Personality of The Year” by Environmental Finance magazine for his work with Green Bonds. In 2015 Mr. Flensborg was named "Overall Most Impressive SRI or Green Bond Banker" and "Editor´s Award for Driving SRI Market Development - Banker" by Global Capital. Mr. Flensborg is a frequent speaker and has addressed institutions like the UN general assembly and OECD – and been invited as guest speakers at various leading educational institutions globally.
  • Image

    Davidi VORTMAN

    CEO, Co-founder, Lumos
    Davidi Vortman founded Lumos in 2012 with the vision of bringing clean and affordable electricity to 600 million people in Africa and 700 million in South East Asia. Today, Lumos already transforms thousands of families and small businesses every month in Nigeria by moving them from fossil fuels to Accessible Electricity™. Before founding Lumos, his focus was on fast turnaround of early stage companies, with proven track record of hyper growth business results managing and leading acquisitions within public companies. Mr. Vortman is an experienced general manager, with a strong track record in growing businesses globally. Davidi held executive positions at Comverse Technologies, working closely with mobile operators in developed as well as emerging markets. In his last role Davidi lead the hyper growth of Orsus, a startup within the security group at NICE Systems. Davidi holds an MBA from Kellogg Recanati and a BSc in computer science from the Hebrew University
  • Image

    Dimitris TSITSIRAGOS

    Vice President, IFC Global Client Services, World Bank Group
    Dimitris Tsitsiragos leads IFC’s international investment operations and advisory services. He also oversees IFC’s client coverage group, which forges relationships with key private sector partners worldwide. Mr. Tsitsiragos was previously Vice President for IFC’s Europe, Central Asia, Middle East, and North Africa region, where he led IFC’s investments and advisory services—delivering an investment program of almost $7 billion in fiscal year 2014 alone, and managing a portfolio of over $13 billion. A Greek national, Mr. Tsitsiragos became Vice President in July 2011. Prior to this, he was Director of the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe department at IFC, where he developed a new strategy to support the region’s private sector in the wake of the Arab Spring. This included the creation of the E4E Initiative for Arab Youth, which brings together public and private providers of education and private companies to improve the quality of education in the region.
  • Image

    Eric GIBBS

    Senior Director, Country Programs, CLASP
    Mr. Gibbs oversees all of CLASP’s programs and projects in countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. He has over 15 years of experience in the design, implementation, management and financing of energy efficiency and rural energy projects and programs working on behalf of international financial institutions, host governments, and private companies in over 25 countries around the world. Mr. Gibbs received his master’s degree in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and is fluent in multiple languages
  • Image

    Ferdaus Ara BEGUM

    CEO, Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD)
    Mrs. Ferdaus Ara Begum is presently working as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD)-the national Public Private Dialogue(PPD) platform in the country. BUILD has partnership with three leading Chambers and also has a number of government and private MOU partners. In her present involvement she is maintaining a close relation with several government Ministries and regularly reports to the Prime Minister’s Office to provide research and secretarial services for the Private Sector Development Policy Coordination Committee(PSDPCC)-a high powered committee chaired by the Principal Secretary working since 2011. Mrs. Begum has vast experience of working with the private sector since 1987. A Master's degree holder in Economics with honours from Dhaka University, she completed her post-graduate Diploma in International Economics and Institutions and received training from AIT,Thailand on Project Implementation and Management. She attended Training on Services and International Trade Law and development in Esami, Arusha and Tanzania. She has served as the Secretary of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry(DCCI)- a leading and reputed Chamber in the country as well as acted as the head of the DCCI Research Cell for several years . She also worked as Executive Director of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry and gathered experiences of working with SAARC countries. She has managed numerous projects and coordinated a number of national and international programmes, contributing her extensive expertise in the areas of policy research and advocacy, SME development and promotion, Multilateral Training System (MTS), project management, women entrepreneurship development, chamber management etc. She has also worked for CIPE, ITC, JETRO, GIZ, UNDP, IFC-WBG in different capacities. Presently maintaining contact with several donor organizations for running projects on sustainability and green growth and for providing professional services to the private sector.
  • Image

    Géraldine VALLEJO

    Sustainability Program Director, Kering Group
    Géraldine Vallejo joined Kering as Sustainability Programme Director in October 2013. Previously, Géraldine worked 11 years at VINCI (a global player in concessions and construction) where she went from an operational role on major infrastructure projects to sustainable development at the corporate level. In this last function, she was the Environmental and Scientific Manager at VINCI SA, then lastly Head of Sustainability at VINCI Concessions. Géraldine and her programme team at Kering dedicate their expertise to service Kering’s 22 Luxury and Sport & Lifestyle brands to better integrate environmental and social elements throughout their processes. With the brands, the programme team develops breakthrough innovation projects that allow them to achieve Kering’s ambitious 2016 Sustainability Targets. Géraldine is a graduate from Ecole Polytechnique, France and has a Masters of Science in Environmental & Civil engineering from Stanford University, California.
  • Image

    Hakan BULGURLU

    CEO, Arcelik A.S.
    Hakan Bulgurlu is the Chief Executive Officer of Arçelik, Europe’s third largest home appliances company, and the flagship entity of Koç Holding. Bulgurlu began his career at Koç Holding (a Fortune 500 company and Turkey’s largest industrial conglomerate) in 1995. He was assigned to key senior management positions in Asia and led Koç Holding’s Asia-Pacific trading and outsourcing operations, including expansion into Mainland China. After 13 years in Asia, he returned to Turkey in 2007 as Chief Executive Officer of Arçelik-LG, a joint-venture manufacturer of air conditioners, boasting the largest facility in Europe and the Middle East. Following his three-year tenure at Arçelik LG, he was appointed as Chief Commercial Officer for International Sales at Arçelik in 2010. He played a pivotal role in doubling international sales in less then five years. Under his leadership, Arçelik brands secured over 40 percent market share growth across 26 European countries. Driven with his unfailing passion for innovation, excellence and sustainability, Bulgurlu quests to strengthen technological capabilities of the company to create superior customer value. As a firm believer that talent and human capital are the essence of success, he constantly aspires to foster communication and collaboration throughout the company. He is adamant to steer Arçelik as a soaring global business, and also nurture a responsible corporate identity pioneering social, educational and environmental projects, in additon to creating economic value through employment and GDP growth. Bulgurlu is a member of the Board of TURKTRADE (Foreign Trade Association of Turkey) and juggles multiple roles within DEİK (Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey). He is also a Steering Committee Member of CECED (European Committee of Domestic Equipment Manufacturers). Bulgurlu graduated from the University of Texas, Austin with a double major in Economics and Mechanical Engineering. He earned his MBA from the joint program of Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Born in 1972, Bulgurlu is married with two children
  • Image

    Hung-Suck PARK

    Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Ulsan
    Hung-Suck Park is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of Centers for Clean Technology and Resource Recycling, and Center for Green Construction Material at University of Ulsan, Ulsan, South Korea Since 2004, he had also been working Director of Ulsan EIP center for 10 years and expanded his managing capacity until 2014 as the Director general of East South region EIP initiative including Ulsan EIP Center at Korea Industrial Complex Corporation (KICOX), South Korea. His research interest is focused on the development of R&BD modules for industries situated at Ulsan Eco-Industrial Parks through qualitative/quantitative recycling and management of resource and energy, and sustainable business opportunities for investors and stakeholders. He had been invited to present talks on Eco-industrial development and green growth in countries including China, Japan, Thailand, India and Taiwan and organizations such as UNIDO (Sanghai, May 2010, Tokyo 2011, Gwangzhou 2013), OECD (Paris, October 2010). He was a conference chair of the 7th biennial ISIE conference, which was first in Asia, held in Ulsan, Korea. He also has experience in consulting the UNESCAP(2009) and World Bank IFC project(Bangladesh 2012, Vietnam 2016). He holds M.E. and Ph.D. in environmental engineering in KAIST, South Korea.
  • Image

    Imane CHAFIQ

    Senior technical advisor, GIZ
    Ms Imane Chafiq is a senior technical advisor at the German International Cooperation (GIZ). She is part of the « 4C project », aiming to create a Climate Change Competences Centre in Morocco. She in charge of the implementation of mitigation activities within the project, and at present, coordinating the establishment of a public-private platform for dialogue on CC, within the 4C. Previously, she worked as a project manager for the Moroccan Cleaner Production Centre, a member of the UNIDO/UNEP global network on Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production “RECPnet”, and was managing multi-stakeholders projects to integrate sustainable consumption and production solutions into the industrial sectors in Morocco. She has many years of experience in consultancy on areas related to environmental impacts assessments, industrial pollution prevention and control solutions and low emission development strategies, etc. She holds a Master Degree in Sustainable Development from Casablanca University.
  • Image

    James CAMERON

    Chairman, Overseas Development Institute
    James Cameron is chairman and board member at a number of leading organisations, including chairman at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), trustee and former chairman of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and a member of GE’s Ecomagination board. He is also an advisor to the Climate Bonds Initiative and Carbon Tracker, as well as a trustee member of the UK Green Building Council. He was formerly non-executive director of Solarcentury. Until recently, James was chairman of Climate Change Capital (CCC). He founded CCC with three others, which has been built up into a thriving investment banking business employing 150 people with $1.5 billion under management. James then managed it post financial crisis into a trade sale. During his time there he was named Leader of the Year 2013 at the BusinessGreen Leaders awards.
  • Image

    James CLOSE

    Director, Climate Change CCSA, World Bank Group
    James Close, a UK national, brings over 25 years of experience in the field of energy policy, climate change, and private infrastructure investment and public-private partnerships. During his career in the professional services industry, he provided strategic and financial advice to a range of public and private sector clients at board and ministerial levels. He has also undertaken a two-year secondment as head of the Corporate and Private Finance team at the UK's Treasury, where he gained experience with the challenges facing governments in trying to establish a suitable enabling environment for private sector investment. Mr. Close has advised the UK government on the comparative advantage for the UK for green growth and also on many energy policy areas, including the 2006 Energy Review, incentives for investments in renewables, and smart metering and the Green Deal, the UK’s initiative to increase investment in energy efficiency. He advised the Greater London Authority on its climate change and environment policy and prepared the prospectus for London as a Low-Carbon Capital for the mayor of London. At Ernst and Young, he led the Climate Change and Sustainability Services cross-service line practice creating a plan to develop a market-leading business. He has also advised many utilities throughout the world, including Ireland, Greece, Slovakia, the United States, and India, on restructuring, regulation, competition, and corporate and market strategy. Mr. Close, a chartered accountant, joined the World Bank Group in 2013 as the program manager for PPIAF, a multi-donor trust fund which enables infrastructure investment.
  • Image

    Jan RABE

    Corporate Director Sustainability, Siemens AG
    Jan Rabe started his career at Siemens in 2001 with Siemens Management Consulting and was assigned on various business challenges working for different Siemens businesses in the US, Asia and Europe. Before being appointed Director of Sustainability in January 2015 he was part of the team that built up Siemens’ wind business, acting as Strategy VP for the Division Wind Power & Renewable Energy. Jan Rabe holds a diploma degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universität Karlsruhe (TH) / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Mr. Rabe is married to his wife Tatjana. They have two kids (twin boys).
  • Image

    Janos PASZTOR

    Senior Advisor to the Secretary General on Climate Change, United Nations
    Janos Pasztor (Budapest, 4.4.1955, Citizenships: Hungary and Switzerland) is Senior Advisor to the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) on Climate Change, and is on leave of absence from WWF International. He has over 35 years of work experience in the area of energy, environment, climate change and sustainable development. In 2015 he worked as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Change in New York, in the office of the UNSG. He was Acting Executive Director for Conservation and Policy and Science Director at WWF International (2012-2014). During 2008-2012 he directed the UNSG’s Climate Change Support Team and later was Executive Secretary of the UNSG’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability. In 2007 he directed the Geneva-based UN Environment Management Group (EMG). During 1993-2006 he worked, and held many responsibilities at the Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC), initially in Geneva and later in Bonn. His other assignments included: in the Secretariat of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit ’92); Stockholm Environment Institute; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Secretariat of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission); the Beijer Institute; and the World Council of Churches. He has BSc and MSc degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
  • Image

    John ROOME

    Senior Director for Climate Change Group for Cross Cutting Solutions for the World Bank Group
    John Roome is the Senior Director for Climate Change Group for Cross Cutting Solutions for the World Bank Group. In this role he leads the World Bank Group's engagement on climate change. Prior to this assignment he was Operations and Strategy Director for Global Practices and Cross Cutting Solutions at the Bank Group. He previously served as Director for Sustainable Development in the Bank’s East Asia Region, responsible for working with 22 client countries in the region in the water, urban, transport, energy, rural, agriculture, environment, and social sectors, as well as in disaster risk management and climate change. John has also worked as Operations and Strategy Director in the Bank’s South Asia region and as Operational Quality Director in the Bank’s Africa region for about five years. He joined the Bank Group in 1989, working initially in Africa. There he focused mainly on infrastructure issues including roads programs, the aviation and water sectors and doing deals for the Bank Group’s private sector arm, IFC, in the banking, mining and agro-industry sectors. Before joining the Bank Group, John worked in Europe for Monitor Company, a leading corporate strategy consulting firm, and at Old Mutual, a South African Life Assurance Company. He was educated at Oxford University, where he obtained Masters Degrees in Econometrics and in Management Studies, and the University of Cape Town where he obtained a Bachelors degree in Economics, Statistics and Actuarial Science.
  • Image

    John WILLIAMS

    Partner Sustainability & Climate Change
    Jon co-leads the corporate team within PwC’s Sustainability & Climate Change practice, offering market-leading strategy and implementation, risk management and reporting solutions to companies. He has a particular focus on issues relating to climate change, biodiversity, water and poverty alleviation. His clients include financial institutions in both developed and developing economies, and companies in the retail, consumer goods, healthcare, energy and mining sectors. Prior to joining PwC, Jon worked for HSBC for 21 years, with a variety of banking roles in Europe and Asia, most recently as Head of Group Sustainable Development. Jon developed and implemented HSBC’s sustainability risk strategy and their sustainable business strategy, with a focus on lending and investments related to climate change, forestry and microfinance. Jon, acts as an Expert Adviser to a major European Bank and the UK Green Investment Bank. He also was a co-chair the Climate Markets & Investors Association (CMIA) and Project Adviser to the World Economic Forum Energy Access Partnership. He previously chaired the Equator Principles, the global benchmark for banks to manage social and environmental issues in project finance, and chaired the Climate Principles, a framework for the finance sector to respond to climate change.
  • Image

    Karol GOBCZYŃSKI

    Energy & Climate Manager IKEA Group Poland
    Karol works at IKEA Group Poland as Energy & Climate Manager. Responsible for energy agenda development, project incubation & management. Last 3 years, he worked on integration of energy efficiency & renewable energy into daily business at IKEA suppliers in Central Europe. Karol’s main drive is mitigation of global warming, by increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy share. Holding M.Sc. from The School for Renewable Energy Science; conducted research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Portugal Program; studied in four different countries.
  • Image

    Lance DENG

    Vice President of Business Development
    Previously VP of Corporate Strategy, Lance has been with Microvast since 2009, currently leading the global business development efforts for Microvast as VP of Business Development. Prior to joining the company, Mr.Deng led global market planning for a major Chinese commercial vehicle group. He has previous experience in the public transport management sector worked as a strategic investment-planning officer, leads investment for major public transport projects, including underground, regional high-speed rail, a bonded port and city fleet electrification in a major city in China with a population of more than 30 million.
  • Image

    Leo Hyoungkun PARK

    Financial Institutions Specialist, Private Sector Facility, Green Climate Fund
    As the Fund’s Financial Institutions Specialist, Leo Park serves as a liaison between the Private Sector Facility and financial institutions and private sector entities. Prior to joining the Green Climate Fund, Leo spent a majority of his career in project finance and climate change finance while he was with the Korea Development Bank in Seoul and New York. He also worked at Korea’s Presidential Committee on Green Growth as Carbon Market Specialist and volunteered in Morocco with the Korea International Cooperation Agency. Leo holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer and Business Studies from the University of Warwick, UK, and a Master of Business Administration Degree from New York University, US.
  • Image

    Matt WILSON

    Head of Global Environmental Sustainability Centre of Excellence
    A chartered Chemical Engineer with experience in R&D scale up; Front end Engineering Design, Operations management and Environmental Sustainability. Matt has a broad experience base having worked in pharmaceuticals and FMCG operations leadership roles across different organisations and sites. A secondment in Environmental Sustainability 6 years ago has led Matt to build his career in this space and he now leads the Global Environmental Sustainability Centre of Excellence. In this role Matt and his team (based in the US, UK, EU, and India) manage all of the global EHS data processes, set the environmental standards for the organisation, and help the business deliver GSK’s ambitious “Our Planet” commitments.
  • Image

    MD Zahid ULLAH

    Head of Sustainability, DBL Group - Bangladesh
    Mohammed Zahidullah is the Head of Sustainability in DBL Group; one of the reputed and among the largest apparels and textile industries in Bangladesh. He has been working in DBL for about 14 years. He has hands on working experience in the field of Administration, Compliance, HR, MIS as well as Social and Environmental Sustainability. Some of the major Sustainability programs he proactively looks after include the Future Leaders Development Program (FLDP), Partnership for Cleaner Textiles (PaCT), Women Empowerment, and Community Engagement & Development. His overall experience is 20+ years which includes industries like apparel, textiles, sporting goods, ceramic tableware and electronics. Zahidullah loves reading and is hungry for knowledge. He firmly believes “Reward of doing good, is nothing but good”.
  • Image

    Michel RENTENAAR

    Climate Envoy, Kingdom of the Netherlands
    Michel Rentenaar (Amsterdam, 23-05-1962) is a Netherlands diplomat. He is presently the acting Director for Environment, Climate, Energy and Water at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Netherlands Government Climate Envoy. Until 2012 he was the Civil-Military Interface Advisor at the NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe. Before that he served as Netherlands Ambassador a.i. to the Congo. In 2009 he commanded (together with a one star army general) the Task Force Uruzgan VII in Afghanistan. During the same period he was also the Director of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Uruzgan. Previously he worked in the Middle East Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he served at the Netherlands embassies in Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. He did two tours of duty in Iraq where he served as the political adviser to Dutch battalion commander as well as to Head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in al-Muthanna (southern Iraq). Afterwards he served for two years as the head of the Asia and Middle East Department for Asylum and Migration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs followed by three years as Deputy Ambassador and Head of Development Cooperation in the Netherlands Embassy in Uganda.
  • Image

    Michael WANCATA

    Member of the Executive Board, Development Bank of Austria
    Mr. Wancata Michael is member of the Executive Board of the Development Bank of Austria (OeEB). Previously, Mr. Wancata has served at Austria’s export credit agency Oesterreichische Kontrollbank (OeKB) in various positions, inter alia, at the Export Acceptance Credits Department and the Export Guarantees Underwriting Department. His last position at OeKB was Deputy Head of the Project and Environmental Risk Analyses Department. Since 2007, Mr. Wancata was intensely involved in the design and the establishment of the Development Bank of Austria, which started operations in March 2008. OeEB is active in a number of developing and transition countries worldwide and has realized projects with a particular focus on the renewable energy sector and the areas of microfinance and SME-financing. Mr. Wancata is also involved in the promotion of the topic “private sector development in developing countries” in Austria, with a view to raise awareness of this topic within the Austrian development corporation. Between 1 July 2011 and 1 May 2014, Mr. Wancata was a member of the Board of Directors of the European Development Finance Institutions association (EDFI). He also acts as an Advisory Board member on behalf of OeEB as an investor in private Equity Funds.
  • Image

    Monika WEBER-FAHR

    Chief Operating Officer of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All)
    Dr. Weber-Fahr comes to SE4All from the World Bank Group where most recently she served as Chief Knowledge Officer and Senior Manager for the Independent Evaluation Group, leading efforts on accelerating knowledge sharing and learning associated with evaluations - with the ultimate objective to help deepen development effectiveness. Previously, as Director for Knowledge, Learning and Results for Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Dr. Weber-Fahr oversaw quality and portfolio management for knowledge services, transforming approaches for results tracking and peer-to-peer learning. Dr. Weber-Fahr has worked for seven years with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), setting up and leading its Business Line for Sustainable Business Advisory and, previously, driving the Corporation’s analytical and consultative agenda on extractive industries as the Sr. Economist in the Global Mining Department. She also worked with the World Bank Institute (WBI) where she built and led the Global Development Learning Network, an international partnership of independent Learning Centers. In 2000, Dr. Weber-Fahr led the team that designed and delivered the World Bank’s first global innovation competition, the Development Marketplace. Dr. Weber-Fahr started off her career in the World Bank Group with the Housing and Municipal Development Division for Eastern Europe, pioneering innovative and community driven approaches to energy efficiency and land cadastre. When at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Dr. Weber-Fahr was a member of the energy practice, working with clients in energy appliances, energy generation and distribution, both on-grid and off-grid. Dr. Weber-Fahr holds a PhD in business economics, a Diploma in international relations and an MSc in economics. Dr. Weber-Fahr is a member of the Board of the Committee for Sustainability Assessment (COSA) and a member of the Evaluation and Knowledge Advisory Board of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF).
  • Image

    Namita VIKAS

    Group President and Country Head- Responsible Banking & Chief Sustainability Officer, YES BANK LTD
    Namita Vikas spearheads YES BANK’s Sustainable Development and CSR unit called Responsible Banking. She has instituted the approach of Mainstreaming CSR, sustainability and creating stakeholder value through sustainable development and responsible finance by integrating these principles into core operations of the Bank. Her work involves overall CSR and Sustainability Management, CSR governance and compliance, Research, Triple Bottom-line Accounting, building strategies towards Responsible Finance / Investing and Strategic Philanthropy. In her current role, she serves as a Board Member of “YES FOUNDATION", which was set up in 2012 and guides its overall strategy. She is elected to the Global Steering Committee of United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and is the Chair of UN Natural Capital Declaration (NCD). Recently she was unanimously elected as the UNEP FI Chairperson for APAC. Besides this, she hold positions with Advisory Boards of Asia Venture Philanthropy Network, Responsible Investment Research Association (RIRA), UNEP-FI Banking Commission, World Resource Institute - India GHG Program, Indian Centre for CSR (ICCSR) and Enactus India. Committed to CSR & sustainability, she is involved with national and international sustainable policy influencing as a member of United Nations Global Compact, TERI, Environment, Innovation, Sustainability Committees of Industry bodies, besides being a Jury on several sustainability Awards like the World Bank’s Development Market Place Initiative for India and Tata Group Innovista Awards. With a well-rounded experience of 26 years in Sustainable Development, Corporate Social Responsibility and policy advocacy, she has successfully held leadership positions with Marico, Microsoft Corporation and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
  • Image

    Nigel TOPPING

    CEO, We Mean Business
    Nigel serves as the CEO of We Mean Business - a coalition of organisations working on climate change with thousands of the world’s most influential businesses and investors. He serves on the Energy Transitions Commission and on the board of the Grantham Institute. Previously, Nigel was Executive Director of CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). Nigel has 18 years’ experience in the private sector, consulting for and running manufacturing businesses. He holds a BA in Mathematics from Cambridge University and an MSc in Holistic Science from Schumacher College
  • Image

    Olaf SCHMIDT

    Principal Investment Officer, The World Bank Group
    Olaf provides global coverage of investments with a variety of instruments including equity, mezzanine finance, and senior debt. Over the past 10 years, he has lead investment transactions in the retail sector across all continents. Olaf is currently based in IFC’s Paris office. Prior to joining IFC in 2003, he worked in strategy consulting with A.T. Kearney in France and Germany and spent two years with OTF Group (formerly Monitor Country Competitiveness) in Africa. He studied business administration in Germany (Mannheim University) and France (ESSEC) and holds a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
  • Image

    Oren AHOOBIM

    Associate Partner, Dalberg - Global Development Advisors
    Oren is an Associate Partner in Dalberg’s New York office, where he helps lead Dalberg’s Cities Practice as well as its Environment Practice. He advises city and national governments, corporations, multilateral development agencies, and foundations to develop and implement strategies that strengthen urban systems to make cities more inclusive and their inhabitants more resilient and prosperous. Oren has experience working in over 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. He holds a BA and a PhD in Economics from Stanford University.
  • Image

    Patrick AVATO

    IFC Senior Operations Officer, World Bank Group
    Patrick Avato is Program Leader, Energy & Cities in Europe & Central Asia and is based in Istanbul, Turkey. He oversees strategy and business development for IFC’s regional climate business portfolio of approximately $1billion annually, with a particular focus on clean energy and sustainable urban infrastructure. Mr. Avato leads strategic business development in these sectors and oversees a portfolio of advisory projects aimed at opening new markets for investments and generating project pipeline through policy advice and the support of early mover companies in the energy, utilities, banking, green buildings and urban infrastructure sectors. Mr. Avato has more than 12 years of experience in the energy sector across Europe, USA, Central Asia, Africa and South Asia. Before joining IFC, he held various positions in energy policy and corporate finance with the World Bank and GIZ. Mr. Avato has an MBA from the University of Tuebingen and an MA in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
  • Image

    Paul BEGLEY

    Programme Director at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
    Paul is a Programme Director at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). Since joining in August 2011, he has designed education courses to help large organisations such as Arup, the African Development Bank, Standard Chartered and Tata develop strategies to respond to issues such as climate change, the circular economy and gender quality. More recently, his focused has been facilitating conversations between senior decision-makers to create supply chains that are innovative, productive and making a positive contribution to society. Prior to CISL, Paul worked at the think-tank AccountAbility where he provided research and advisory for clients such as the European Commission, the King Khalid Foundation, Microsoft and State Grid. He has been involved with several analytical studies to examine how businesses and nations are preparing for a sustainable future and he was an instrumental part of the team that launched the inaugural Climate Competitiveness Index (with UNEP) to assess the progress of 95 countries towards the low carbon economy. Paul is a competitive cyclist and has run several marathons and ultramarathons.
  • Image

    Pilita CLARK

    Environment Correspondent, Financial Times
    Pilita Clark has been the Environment Correspondent at the Financial Times since 2011, covering issues ranging from climate change and renewable energy to wildlife and recycling, with a particular focus on the impact of low carbon policies on businesses and investors. She was previously the FT’s Aerospace Correspondent, Deputy News Editor on the main news desk, and Deputy Editor of the FT Magazine. Before joining the FT in 2003, Ms Clark was a Senior Writer for the Sydney Morning Herald, where she was a Political Reporter in Washington DC and Canberra. She was also Managing Editor of The Eye news magazine in Sydney, and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
  • Image

    Prashant MEHRA

    Founder / Social Entrepreneur, I Got Garbage
    Prashant is a Social Intrapreneur at Mindtree building open access digital platforms to enhance Grassroots Livelihood and Skills. He heads the social inclusion vertical at Mindtree. His current focus is to build technology enabled micro-businesses in the areas of waste management, small farmer agriculture, and community inclusion towards problem solving. He is the co-founder of “I Got Garbage”, a platform to enhance rag-picker livelihood while reducing landfills and “I Got Crops”, a platform to increase small farmer income. In his 20 years of industry experience he has extensively worked in the areas of architecture and consulting. His core competence is building large scale software platforms. Before founding I Got Garbage, he headed Mindtree’s Consulting business in UK & Europe

  • Ravinder Kumar MEHTA

  • Image

    Robert WRIGHT

    Founder and Chairman, Sovereign Advisers
    Robert Wright is the founder and chairman of Sovereign Advisers, a financial advisory firm that provides strategic advice and fundraising services, including private equity support, for investors that have an appetite for capital projects in the Caribbean. One of his portfolio companies is New Leaf Power (NLP), a Caribbean clean energy company headquartered in Jamaica. He provides, as its Managing Director, strategic direction to the organization and oversees all critical external relationships. He is also responsible for securing financing for both NLP and its clients. He also leads the philanthropic arm of the company which has a mandate to support the development of appropriate alternative energy solutions in the Caribbean and offers grants for research and development. Robert is a graduate of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Kennedy School of Government in Boston Mass. He is currently the President of the Jamaica Solar Energy Association (JSEA), a director of the Caribbean Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CREE) and serves on the board of INMED Caribbean. He is a former Citibanker and past director of the Kingston Freezone, the Jamaica Forestry Department, the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) Fund and the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI) in New York.
  • Image

    Sidahmed BOUH

    CEO, Sustainable Energy for All
    Mr. Bouh is a Public Finance and Governance professional graduating from the National Administration School of Tunisia. He started his career by joining the Ministry of Finance in the public procurement unit before becoming a national finance inspector at the State General Inspection, the highest financial governance institution of the country. He became the World Bank Group Economist for Mauritania for 3 years, role during which he acted several times as Country Manager and managed the institutional transition of 2008-2009. His last assignment was the Executive Director of BACoMaB-Trust Fund a regional biodiversity foundation. He was appointed as the General Manager in charge of development for the strategic priority project of the free zone in Nouadhibou in 2014, after a short period in the lead role of Procurement Control Commission President.
  • Image

    Simeon DJANKOV

    Visiting Professor LSE / Former Minister of Finance, Bulgaria
    Simeon Djankov, director of the Financial Markets Group at the London School of Economics, was deputy prime minister and minister of finance of Bulgaria from 2009 to 2013. Prior to his cabinet appointment, Djankov was chief economist of the finance and private sector vice presidency of the World Bank. In his 14 years at the Bank, he worked on regional trade agreements in North Africa, enterprise restructuring and privatization in transition economies, corporate governance in East Asia, and regulatory reforms around the world. He is the founder of the World Bank's Doing Business project. He is author of Inside the Euro Crisis: An Eyewitness Account (2014) and principal author of the World Development Report 2002. He is also coeditor of The Great Rebirth: Lessons from the Victory of Capitalism over Communism (2014). Djankov is non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He was associate editor of the Journal of Comparative Economics from 2004 to 2009 and chairman of the Board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 2012–13. He is also a member of the Knowledge and Advisory Council at the World Bank. He has published over 70 articles in professional journals. He obtained his doctorate in economics in 1997 from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
  • Image

    Smail ALHILALI

    UNIDO
    Mr. Smail AL HILALI is currently officer-in-charge of the industrial resource efficiency division of the department of environment of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna, Austria. He is responsible of the implementation of the global resource efficient and cleaner production (RECP) programme in developing countries and transition economies. Moreover, he is managing the eco-industrial parks pilot projects in China, India, South Africa, Egypt, Colombia and Costa Rica.During 2007-2015, he has implemented RECP related projects in different developing countries in Africa, Arab and Asia regions and he has coordinated UNIDO work on sustainable ewaste management with particular focus on Africa region.Former director of Morocco national cleaner production centre (CMPP, 2003-2007).Served in different positions within the National Centre for Energy, Science and Technology in Morocco (CNESTEN, 1994-2003). Founding member of the African roundtable on sustainable consumption and production (ARSCP, 2004).Holds a master degree on mechanical engineering (Morocco, 1993) and on nuclear safety engineering (France, 1994).
  • Image

    Stefan ZELAZNY

    Chief Innovation Officer, Mobisol
    Stefan Zelazny is active as Chief Innovation Officer at Mobisol, supporting the solar off-grid revolution since 2011. His main area of work is the technical and structural support of Mobisol’sgrowth by technology and innovation. Leap-frogging existing infrastructural deficits is the key for reaching out into the rural heart of Africa. The more than thirty person strong engineering enables Mobisol to quickly respond to new insights and changes of the operated markets. A full stack in house development massively reduces dependencies from third party vendors and paves the way to new technological approaches.
  • Image

    Stephanie MILLER

    Director, Western Europe, International Finance Corporation
    Stephanie J. Miller is Director of the Western Europe Department at IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. The Department covers relations with 20 Western European countries, the European Union and Israel. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Miller was World Bank Group Director for Climate Change, focused on supporting IFC's climate-smart investments and private sector engagement. In this role, she helped IFC develop a vision and strategy around climate change rooted in the needs of its clients. This included embedding climate knowledge and capacity in each of IFC’s operational groups to support growing investment in clean and efficient energy, sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation. Under her leadership, IFC’s share of climate-friendly business in developing countries reached a record $2.5 billion in fiscal 2013 and held steady the following year. Ms. Miller joined IFC in 1993 as a project manager based in Belarus and Ukraine. Over the course of her 21-year career she has worked as an investment officer focused on global infrastructure deals and as a senior manager in global manufacturing and services. Prior to joining IFC, Ms. Miller worked at the U.S. Department of Interior on environmental and conservation issues. Ms. Miller, a U.S. national, holds an M.A. in International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in International Relations and Russian from the University of Wisconsin at Madison
  • Image

    Tehut Tesfaye SIDELIL

    CEO, Ethiopia Climate Innovation Center
    Ms Sidelil is the CEO of Ethiopia Climate Innovation Center (ECIC). She first joined the ECIC as the Chief Operating Officer soon after its launch in April 2014. Prior to joining the ECIC she worked as Management Consultant advising start- ups and established businesses, strategizing for their success. She also worked as Project Manager introducing new commodities to be traded at the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange and as Special Assistant to the CEO of the Exchange, assisting the CEO in strategy and policy formulation; planning as well as coordinating the activities of the Exchange. In addition, she has had a number of years of experience as in-house management consultant in the commercial banking sector. Ms. Sidelil has a Post Graduate International Diploma in Project Management from the University of Cambridge, UK, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management and Information Systems: Change & Development from the University of Manchester, UK, as well as Certificate on Entrepreneurship and the Executive Program from UC Davis. She has a Bachelors degree in Management from Addis Ababa University.
  • Image

    Tiago CARNEIRO PEIXOTO

    Senior Governance Specialist, World Bank’s Governance Practice
    Tiago Peixoto (PhD) is a Senior Governance Specialist at the World Bank’s Governance Practice. Featured in TechCrunch as one of the “20 Most Innovative People in Democracy”, Tiago's work focuses on the intersection of technology, citizen engagement and governance. At the World Bank he works with governments to leverage citizen engagement and technology-enabled solutions for better public policies and services. As the lead of the Bank’s Digital Engagement Evaluation Team (DEET), he also coordinates evaluation and research activities that examine the effects of technology on participation, transparency, accountability and government responsiveness. Prior to joining the World Bank, Tiago managed projects and worked as an advisor and consultant for various organizations, such as the European Commission, OECD, United Nations, and the Brazilian and UK governments. Formerly a Research Coordinator the Electronic Democracy Centre at the University of Zurich, Tiago is currently a faculty member of New York University’s Governance Lab. A board member for Our Cities Network and Intelligent Digital Avatars, he also sits in the advisory boards of a number of organizations such as The Participatory Budgeting Project and Our City Thoughts. Tiago holds a PhD and a Masters in Political Sciences from the European University Institute, as well as a Masters in Organized Collective Action from Sciences-Po Paris. He blogs at DemocracySpot.net and tweets at @participatory.
  • Image

    Tom DELAY

    CEO, Carbon Trust
    Tom was appointed as the first Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust in 2001. Since then, he has grown the company to become a world leader in advising businesses, governments and the public sector on carbon emissions reduction and the development of low carbon technologies, markets and businesses. Since 2001 the Carbon Trust has helped thousands of businesses cut over £5.5 billion from their energy bills and carbon emissions by over 60 million tonnes. It invests venture capital, manages collaborative innovation programmes and has spun out successful businesses in carbon footprinting, renewable energy and energy efficiency deployment. Tom has placed the Carbon Trust at the heart of low carbon business, helping identify and capture the commercial opportunities of a sustainable, low carbon World. In recent years, he has taken the company's unique capability to international markets including China, Korea, the US and Brazil, extending its mission to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy. He chairs the private equity backed Partnerships for Renewables and is a member of the UK Energy Research Partnership and the Offshore Wind Cost Reduction Task Force. A chartered engineer, Tom began his career with Shell, working for 16 years in commercial and operations roles including four years as General Manager of Pizo Shell - a subsidiary in Gabon, Africa. He moved into management consultancy with McKinsey and then as a Principal with the Global Energy Practice of A.T. Kearney before joining the Carbon Trust. Tom gained a first class honours degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Southampton in 1981 and completed an MBA, with distinction, at INSEAD, in 1988.
  • Image

    Viktor SUNDBERG

    Vice President of Environmental and EU Affairs, Electrolux Major Appliances
    Viktor Sundberg received a Master of Science in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, 1992. He started working at Electrolux Research & Innovation the same year. He started at the Electrolux European Affairs Office in Brussels, Belgium in 1995, and became responsible for EU Affairs in 2000. Since 2003 he is Vice President of Environmental & European Affairs for Electrolux Major Appliances Europe. Since 2012 he is part of the Electrolux Group Sustainability team.
  • Image

    Etienne KECHICHIAN

    Climate Competitive Industries, World Bank Group
    Etienne Kechichian leads the Climate Competitive Industries work within the World Bank Group, which looks to improve the competitiveness of manufacturing sectors through green and climate friendly policies and investments. These policies may include energy efficient standards and labeling systems, green fiscal incentives, eco-industrial parks and climate-smart technologies. CCI project engagements include Mauritania, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Vietnam, Nigeria and Bangladesh. He has co-authored a handbook on developing low carbon zones, and is currently working on two publications related to the link between manufacturing competitiveness and climate change policies. Prior to this work, Etienne worked globally on special economic zones projects. These projects helped improve the legal and regulatory framework governing SEZs in order to generate private sector investments into their development, management and promotion. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree from the University of Nice in International Relations.

The “Dialogue for Climate Action” global conference will present and introduce universal Principles guiding climate dialogues, identifying key features that need to be present in a well-designed dialogue process. The Principles will ensure consistency in design, seek efficacy and ensure ultimate results of dialogues. The “Dialogue for Climate Action” event will launch the Principles developed collaboratively and endorsed by leading development partners, institutions, and the private sector.

The private sector, with its significant financial resources and dedication to innovation, has a leading role to play in the urgent global effort to slow, and if possible, reverse the negative effects of climate change. Private sector involvement will take many forms, from new technologies to new financial instruments. But essential to this active role is a robust dialogue enabling the private sector to engage with governments, international organizations, civil society, and communities on strategies to address a crisis whose impacts extend from remote villages and islands to the planet as a whole.

The response to climate change cannot be shouldered by governments alone. A clear consensus has emerged that stopping and reversing the catastrophic consequences of climate change requires urgent, comprehensive, ongoing and well-managed public-private dialogue. This dialogue will strengthen the private sector’s voice in identifying opportunities, designing the right policies for industries, and implementing climate change action with the help of new systems and technologies. Dialogue for climate change will be vital to enabling regions, countries, and communities to build the consensus and cooperation needed to implement change and achieve national climate action goals. The dialogue will be much more than talk; it must be structured and managed so that consensus turns into commitment and action.

The historic agreement reached in Paris at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) last December set out a hugely ambitious plan of work to turn the principles of climate change mitigation and adaptation into action. The Paris Agreement encompasses both significant financial commitments and the establishment of structures and mechanisms whereby countries can design and implement viable actions to meet agreed-upon goals. Investment levels on the order of $100 billion a year for the next four decades will be needed for developing countries to strengthen economic resilience to the effects of climate change. Mitigation costs are expected to reach $140–$175 billion annually by 2030.

These sums are beyond the reach of international institutions or country budgets—particularly developing countries. But a key element of the global approach to climate change is to shift the focus from cost to opportunity. The business case for private sector engagement in climate change strategies is clear, both in terms of growth opportunities and risk exposure. Studies show that climate change threatens to inflict catastrophic damage on corporate bottom lines. A Cambridge University study estimates that equity portfolio could tumble by 45 percent, while a CitiGroup study indicates that excessive warming could shave up to $72 trillion from the World’s GDP. Companies are aware that their business strategies need to account for climate challenge economies and operate in a “greener way.” The private sector can lead the way in climate change mitigation by lowering emissions from industrial operations (currently around 30 percent of direct and indirect emissions) and leveraging technologies and innovations that provide sustainable and profitable solutions. Like any disruptive force, climate change is creating opportunities for companies willing to innovate. A recent IFC report found that Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa could support up to $1 trillion in climate-related investments by 2020.

Government reform to remove regulatory and policy barriers and foster private innovation and investment has the potential to unlock billions of dollars’ worth of investment opportunities. The private sector needs to play a role in helping governments design transparent and stable long-term regulatory regimes, including a price on carbon.

The results will be much more fruitful if governments and the private sector work in a mutually beneficial and collaborative ways by engaging in a dialogue that helps identify and recommend solutions to the climate challenge. Dialogues help build trust, close knowledge gaps, catalyze action, and benefit from a consensus understanding of the challenges as well as combined ownership of recommended policies and actions.

Dialogue is much more than occasional informal meetings among interested parties. Dialogues, whether they take place at the international, national, or local level, should follow a set of managing rules, based on well-established best practices, to stay focused on critical issues and produce tangible results. This is especially crucial given the complexity, scope, and vital importance of the climate challenge.

Details
RELATED
Follow the event via hashtag #D4climate
Welcome