This panel will discuss how the pandemic could offer opportunities to accelerate the transition to clean energy, and at the same time ensure that the fight against energy poverty continues and intensifies, while observing the internationally agreed environmental objectives.
Leonardo is the General Legal Counsel of OPEC. He is also a Professor of Law at the Georgetown Law Centre (Washington DC). He received his Master of Laws degree at University of Texas, Austin, Texas, which he pursued with a Fulbright scholarship. Since 2018, Leonardo has been leading the efforts of the OPEC Legal Office to support OPEC Member Countries and other oil-producing countries regarding the energy transition through information sharing, capacity building, and technical assistance in legal and regulatory matters. Leonardo is an attorney with 18 years of experience in global energy and extractive industries. He has provided professional services to governments, corporations, international organizations, investors, and civil society. Before joining OPEC, his practice focused on energy law, infrastructure law, negotiation of complex transactions, government liaison, and design and drafting of regulation.
Hafida Lahiouel provides legal and procedural advice and services on matters relating to the climate change intergovernmental negotiation process. She also provides advice and services for a procedurally and legally sound implementation of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, in particular through support and services to all constituted bodies and market mechanisms. Ms. Lahiouel established and expanded legal capacity-building support to Parties who seek such support, for instance in the elaboration of their domestic policies in the implementation of their treaty obligations. Ms. Lahiouel generally contributes to the further development of the Climate Change regime and supports the legally sound operations of the secretariat. Ms. Lahiouel is also an expert in international administrative law and international criminal and humanitarian law. She holds an advanced Master’s degree in international relations and law as well as a Master’s degree in business law.
Hélène Bertaud joined the Bank in 2004. Before that, she was an operational lawyer for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) (the private sector arm of the WB), for the French bilateral cooperation and for an Investment Bank doing international project finance. As a result, she has developed a strong knowledge of the multilateral, bilateral and commercial project financiers as well as a very good understanding of the perspective of both the public and the private project stakeholders. In her current position, she is a Lead Operation Counsel, based in Singapore, and she specializes in supporting the WB’s operations in complex or novel infrastructure and urban development financing, especially those involving the private sector.
As a senior climate finance lawyer at the World Bank, admitted to the German and New York Bar, with more than 20 years of extensive private and public sector legal work experience in the area of project, development and climate finance and a strong academic background in international law & policy (LL.M.) and climate finance (doctoral degree), Markus Pohlmann is dedicated to helping his clients mitigate and adapt to climate change and transition to a low carbon economy. He is currently co-leading the Thematic Working Group on Climate Change in the World Bank‘s Legal Vice Presidency and commit most of his time to mainstreaming climate change within the institution, providing climate policy advice (Paris Agreement and NDCs) and helping to set up and operationalize a wide range of climate change initiatives in the World Bank, including the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (REDD+), the Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (Climate-Smart Land Use), the Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (Art. 6 Paris Agreement) and the Partnership for Market Readiness/Implementation (Carbon Pricing).
