UNEP FI Regional Roundtable Europe & Global Landscapes Forum

Following the legislative elections of 14 October 2018, Pierre Gramegna was re-appointed Minister of Finance in the coalition government formed by the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) and the Green Party (déi gréng). Pierre Gramegna first joined the government as Minister of Finance in 2013.

As Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna has initiated major reforms to balance the budget and to align Luxembourg’s tax rules with international transparency standards. Thanks to these efforts, Luxembourg’s AAA rating has been consistently confirmed by all major rating agencies and, in 2015, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes upgraded Luxembourg to “largely compliant”. Pierre Gramegna is also a promoter of the diversification of Luxembourg’s financial centre, in particular with regard to FinTech and sustainable finance. He is the initiator and president of the LHoFT Foundation, which runs the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology. He has also further developed bilateral relations with China in the financial sector.

Pierre Gramegna puts particular emphasis on Luxembourg’s role in multilateral development banks. In 2014, Luxembourg became a member of the African Development Bank and, in 2015, Luxembourg was the first non-Asian country to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Currently, he is the chairman of the board of Governors of the AIIB. In May 2016, Pierre Gramegna was elected chair of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a one-year mandate. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank and on that of the European Stability Mechanism. He is also Luxembourg’s governor to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Pierre Gramegna studied law and economics at the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), where he was awarded a master’s degree in civil law in 1981 and a degree in economic sciences in 1982. He completed his post-university education with a DEA (postgraduate diploma of advanced studies) in European Union law.

As a career diplomat, Pierre Gramegna joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983. From 1996 to 2002, Pierre Gramegna was Luxembourg’s ambassador to Japan and South Korea. From 2003 to 2013, Pierre Gramegna held the position of Director General of the Chamber of Commerce.

Carole Dieschbourg was born on 3 October 1977 in Ettelbruck. Following the legislative elections of 20 October 2013, Carole Dieschbourg joined the government as Minister for the Environment on 4 December 2013 in the coalition government formed by the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) and the Green Party (déi gréng). In December 2015, under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Carole Dieschbourg coordinated the position of the European Union at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris. After the legislative elections of 14 October 2018, Carole Dieschbourg was appointed Minister for the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development on 5 December 2018 in the coalition government formed by the DP, the LSAP and déigréng.

Within the programme “Leader+ Müllerthal”, Carole Dieschbourg was the project coordinator for “Moulins – inventaire, excursion et sentier régional” (Mills – inventory, excursion and regional trail) and “Millebuch” (Book on mills) from 2005 to 2006. In 2007, she published the book Die Mühlen des Müllerthals (The mills of the Müllerthal).

Nicolas Mackel is CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, the Agency for the Development of the Financial Centre, since July 2013.

Nicolas is a career diplomat. He has graduated with a law degree from the University of Aix-en-Provence, and holds two post-graduate diplomas in European law from the Sorbonne University, respectively the College of Europe in Bruges where he then also served as a teaching assistant in the Law Department. He worked as a legal clerk at the European Court of Justice before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999. His assignments focused on the successive EU Treaty negotiations (Amsterdam, Nice, Constitution, Lisbon).

Nicolas was consecutively posted at Luxembourg’s Permanent Representation to the EU (2002-07), as Deputy Chief of Mission at Luxembourg’s Embassy in Washington DC (2007-11) and as Consul General in Shanghai (2011-13) where he was in charge of promoting Luxembourg’s economic interests throughout China as the Executive Director of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office.

Eric Usher currently heads the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, UNEP FI, a global partnership bringing together the UN with more than 230 banks, insurers and asset managers working to develop the sustainable finance and responsible investment agendas. Eric oversees governance, strategy and day-to-day management of UNEP FI’s work programme and global network development. Over the years UNEP FI has established some of the most important sustainability oriented frameworks within the finance industry, including the Principles for Responsible Investment (2006), the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (2012) and work now underway on the establishment of Principles for Responsible Banking.

Since joining in 2015, Mr Usher has focused on accelerating the deep integration of sustainability risks into financial practice, including addressing climate change, natural capital loss and human rights abuses, as well as building out the frameworks for positive impact finance needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Eric sits on several industry bodies including as UN representative on the Board of the Principles for Responsible Investment, as a member of the Evaluation Council of the French sovereign green bond, as Director for the impact fund REPP Africa and founder of the Seed Capital Assistance Facility.

Prior to leading UNEP FI, Mr Usher has over twenty years of experience in the low carbon sectors, spanning technology commercialisation in Canada, solar rural electrification in Morocco and financial sector development across emerging markets. During 2011, Mr. Usher worked on the establishment of the Green Climate Fund and led efforts to create its Private Sector Facility. Eric has been an editor of the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report published annually with Bloomberg and was lead author for finance of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources. Before joining the UN, Eric was General Manager of a solar rural electrification company based in Morocco.

Careen Abb leads UNEP FI’s Positive Impact Initiative, which aims to catalyse the finance sector’s ability to finance sustainable development and the transition to a more inclusive and sustainable economy – as per the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015. At the heart of the Initiative lie the Principles for Positive Impact Finance and the belief that impact that impact-based business and financing models will be key to addressing the SDG financing gap.

This focus builds on close to 10 years at UNEP FI, during which Careen helped develop and expand the sustainable finance agenda in emerging markets, by supporting the development of strong in-country sustainable finance networks and the creation of a well-established training programme on environmental & social risk management. A strong believer in the need for simple communication tools for banking practitioners, Careen is also co-author of UNEP FI’s Guide to Banking & Sustainability.

Thomas Allen is a Research economist at the Banque de France.

His research focuses on green finance, working on the development of metrics and modelling tools for climate and environment-related financial risk assessment. Prior to joining the Banque de France, Thomas worked for the OECD, Bioversity International (CGIAR) and the French National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA). Thomas is assigned to the NGFS Secretariat (hosted at the Banque de France), in charge of the second workstream of the NGFS dedicated to Macrofinancial issues.

Liselotte Arni is the Head of Environmental and Social Risk at UBS.

Liselotte joined UBS in 1997 and heads the firm’s Environmental and Social Risk (ESR) function since 2003. She acts as the ESR Underwriter of UBS and as the Secretary of the UBS Global ESR Committee, and is a member of the UBS and Society Operating Committee. She develops and implements principles and independent risk control frameworks for environmental and social (including human rights) risks within UBS Group. She developed UBS’s Climate Change Strategy established in 2006 and oversees its execution.

She represents UBS in relevant organisations such as the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), acts as Sherpa of the WEF Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders and is a member of the advisory boards of the University of Zurich Competence Center for Human Rights (UZHR) and of the Swiss Center of Expertise in Human Rights (SCHR).

Liselotte holds a Master of Science in Business and Economics (lic. rer. pol) and a certificate in Environmental Studies from the University of Berne, Switzerland.

Antoni Ballabriga is Global Head of Responsible Business at BBVA. He reports directly to the Board of Directors. His mission is to ensure that people are systematically placed at the decision-making processes. He assists the CEO in proposing Responsible Banking policy and defines its plans, and is responsible for its implementation & monitoring. He works mainly as second line to challenge and give support to all areas to embed this policy in their operational models. This includes the design of customer solutions to marketing and sales, customer relations & complaints; sustainable finance integrating environmental & social opportunities & risks; reputation monitoring & risk management; integrated report; community investment.

He is CEO of Momentum Social Investment and professor at ESADE Business School. Former President of DIRSE, Spanish Association of CSR Professionals and Former President of SpainSIF, Spanish Forum for Socially Responsible Investment. Antoni holds a Degree in Business Sciences and MBA from ESADE Business School. He has studied at Harvard Business School and is First Mover Fellow at The Aspen Institute.

Since January 2017, Diana Barglazan is policy officer in the Energy Efficiency Unit of DG Energy, at the European Commission.

She is in charge of developing and implementing a financing strategy for energy efficiency.

At EcoAct, Coraline leads consulting missions in carbon strategy and climate risks for companies in the financial sector (banking, asset management, insurance, real estate). She leads many clients’ projects on carbon footprint of portfolios and 2° alignment of portfolios, climate risks and carbon neutrality.

Before EcoAct, Coraline was part of the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) research team of a major French institutional investor. In this context, she also developed a methodology for rating States on ESG criteria, accompanied financial managers in the definitions of their SRI approach, and worked on the preparation of the response to Article 173 of the French Energy Transition Act.

Graduated from Sciences Po Grenoble, with a Master 2 of Sciences Po Bordeaux in Risk Management in Developing countries, Coraline has 9 years of experience in Socially Responsible Investment (SRI).

Christoph Bertram leads the international climate policy analysis within the Energy Systems Group of PIK. He works on the representation of climate policies in coupled macroeconomic and energy system models to evaluate climate change mitigation strategies. His research interests include interrelationship of mid-term climate policies and long-term policy goals, including questions of carbon lock-in, national energy and climate policies and targets, including nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and mid-century strategies (MCS), broader sustainability impacts of mitigation pathways and how to use mitigation scenarios to assess companies’ transition risks.

He studied Physics and Political Science at the Universities of Tübingen and Córdoba, Argentina, and holds a PhD in economics of TU Berlin. After working as WBGU research analyst for Professors Rahmstorf and Schellnhuber for one year, he joined the Energy Systems group of Research Department III: Transformation Pathways in April 2011.

Claudia Bolli is responsible for the development and the implementation of the Responsible Investing strategy with Swiss Re since 2014. As such, she was instrumental in the transition of Swiss Re’s investment portfolio to ESG benchmarks as one of the first re-/insurance companies.

Before Claudia Bolli moved to the insurance business, she held several functions in the international banking business. In June 2018, she was selected by the European Commission to join the Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance. Specifically, she participates in the development of the requirements for the “Climate Transition and Paris-aligned” benchmarks as well as the benchmark ESG disclosure.

Claudia Bolli holds a master degree in corporate finance and banking from the University of Zurich, and is a Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA).

Marie-Aimée Boury is a structured finance professional with 26 years international business experience at Société Générale in New York, London and Paris. She has a demonstrated track record in advising, structuring and executing complex transactions in project finance, structured commodity finance and project bonds where she developed a strong network of relationships amongst sponsors, MDBs and institutional investors. Throughout her various positions, she has developed an in-depth understanding of debt financing and capital markets in energy and infrastructure on a global basis, with a strong focus on emerging markets in particular Africa and Latin America.

She is currently Head of the newly created Impact Based Finance team which acts as an R&D group for the Investment Banking division of Société Générale. Its mission is to identify and implement new financing solutions for the SDGs, using impact-based business models enabled by the digitisation of the economy and combining impact with long term value creation for all stakeholders.

David Carlin leads the TCFD banking pilot program for UNEP-FI. The pilot contains over three-dozen banks from around the world who are working to better understand their climate risk.

Prior to joining UNEP-FI, he worked as a senior manager in Risk and Public Policy for Oliver Wyman Consulting. Before joining Oliver Wyman, he worked in the financial sector at PNC Bank.

His background is in quantitative modeling and decision science. He conducted research in financial decision-making at Carnegie Mellon University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College.

James Cockayne is Director of the Centre for Policy Research and represents United Nations University at the UN in New York and in the UN’s High-Level Committee on Programmes and the Frontier Issues Reference Group. He additionally serves as Project Director for Delta 8.7 – The Alliance 8.7 Knowledge Platform; Head of Secretariat for the Liechtenstein Initiative for a Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. He is also developing new programming on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on international relations.

A recognised global authority on the UN and on organised crime and its role in politics, Dr Cockayne has over 20 years’ experience in the public, private and research sectors. He is a leading commentator on innovation in global governance, the role of evidence in public policy, on multi-stakeholder efforts to protect human rights in fields from modern slavery to private security. Dr Cockayne regularly called upon by senior leaders at the UN to provide thought leadership, for example in advising the High Commissioner for Human Rights on privacy in the digital age (2014); in drafting the Code of Ethics that now binds the President of the General Assembly (2016); and in drafting the Secretary-General’s Strategy on New Technologies (2018).

Sébastien de Brouwer is Chief Policy Officer at the European Banking Federation (EBF). He is a member of the EBF Management Committee. He is supervising all EBF policy areas as well as horizontal functions such as Legal affairs.

As part of his activities, Sébastien is also Board member of the European Payment Council (EPC), Member of the Advisory Committee of fTLD Registry Services, LLC and member of various Expert Groups at EU level. He is also member of the editorial Board of the Revue de Droit Bancaire et Financier.

He is a Belgian national with a Law Degree from the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve and a postgraduate in International law (University of Leiden) and in Business Studies (London School of Economics and Political Science).

Sébastien joined the EBF in 2006. Before joining the EBF, Sébastien was Head of European Affairs and Member of the Executive Committee with Febelfin, the Belgian Federation of the financial industry (including banks) and previously legal adviser. Prior to that Sébastien also worked in an International bank (Custodian) and an Insurance Company (management of important claims).

Jennifer de Nijs is Special Adviser for Sustainable Finance at the Ministry of Finance in Luxembourg. She has been with the Finance Ministry since 2015 and is currently the lead on climate, green and sustainable finance.

Jennifer is the focal point for climate finance initiatives in which the Finance Ministry participates and is the President of the newly created Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative, as well as a member of a number of Boards and Committees, including the Luxembourg EIB Climate Finance Platform Contributors Committee and the Forestry and Climate Change Investment Committee. At international level Jennifer represents Luxembourg at the Green Climate Fund and is the Finance Minister’s Sherpa of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate.

Between 2015 and 2016, Jennifer worked as an Attaché of EU Budget Affairs and Anti Fraud, wherein she represented Luxembourg to the EU. In this capacity, she was the Vice Chair of the EU Budget Committee, the Working Group on Combating fraud and the Own Resources Working Party during Luxembourg`s EU presidency.

Previous to her government position, Jennifer de Nijs worked in civil society organisations such as Caritas Luxembourg and in the private sector at Clearstream and American Express.

Simone Dettling leads the Banking Team of the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), a global partnership between the UN and more than 240 banks, investors and insurers. As such she manages leadership initiatives with banks from over 60 countries around climate-aligned, sustainable finance, such as the Principles for Responsible Banking.

Formerly, Simone managed the German Government’s Emerging Markets Dialogue on Green Finance, under which she and her team worked with financial institutions from G20 Emerging Markets and Europe to integrate environmental costs into financial decision making and product development. As expert on green finance at the German International Cooperation (GIZ), she furthermore advised projects in emerging economies worldwide on renewable energy and energy efficiency financing, incorporation of natural capital considerations in financial decision making, as well as innovative approaches for green economic development.

Simone holds an MA in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. and during her career has lived and worked in various developing countries, such as Bangladesh, Syria, Lebanon and Malawi. Before joining UNEP FI she completed a half-year cycling trip from Germany to Iran.

Dr. Barney Dickson has been working on climate change adaptation for over ten years. He currently holds a dual position as Director of Strategy and Policy at the Global Center on Adaptation in Rotterdam and Co-Director of the Global Commission on Adaptation.

Between 2015 and 2018 he was Head of the Climate Change Adaptation Unit at UN Environment in Nairobi. Before moving to Nairobi, he was at UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK. There he headed the Climate Change and Biodiversity Programme and was subsequently appointed Director of Programmes.

Dimitrios Dimopoulos is the Director, Sustainability Unit at Piraeus Bank Group.

Since 1989, he has been involved in nature conservation and sustainable development working for environmental organisations. He is a member of the Board of ARCHELON an active Greek NGO.  In 2006, he joined Piraeus Bank and today is the Director of the Sustainability Unit. His work involves drafting of sustainability policies and strategies, reduction of the Bank’s operational environmental footprint, management of environmental and climate risk, education and raising awareness on environmental and social aspects, participation in sustainability indices (extra-financial ratings) and organizations. He represents the Bank at UNEP FI. Recently he was involved in creating the Principles for Responsible Banking as member of a UNEP FI working group. He also participates in the EU Business @ Biodiversity Platform, a forum for dialogue and policy interface to discuss the links between business and biodiversity.

Dimitrios Dimopoulos received his bachelor degree in biology and his PhD from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Valdis Dombrovskis is a Latvian politician nominated as Executive Vice President-Designate of the European Commission, assuming office in November 2019 if confirmed by the European Parliament. He currently serves as Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue from 2014 to 2019, and also concurrently as European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union from 2016 to 2019.

Dombrovskis served as Prime Minister of Latvia from 2009 until 2014, when he resigned. He served as Minister of Finance from 2002 to 2004 and was a Member of the European Parliament for the New Era Party. Following the resignation of Jonathan Hill, it was announced that Dombrovskis will take over the portfolio for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union from 16 July 2016.

Rowan Douglas is Head of Capital, Science & Policy (CSP) Practice at Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory and re/insurance broking company and Chair of the Willis Research Network. Previously, he served on the Board of the Group’s reinsurance division, Willis Re, as CEO Global Analytics. The CSP Practice helps governments and corporates manage large scale risks and is a leader in developing sovereign and multi-sovereign catastrophe financing programmes.

In 2014-16 he led the creation of the Insurance Development Forum (IDF) of industry, governments and international institutions to harness the role of re/insurance capabilities to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and wider Post-2015 Agenda and was appointed to lead the Implementation Group of the IDF in May 2016. He was made CBE in the 2016 UK New Year’s Honours List for services to the economy through risk, insurance and sustainable growth.

He was a member of the UK Prime Minister’s Council for Science & Technology 2011-2016; the Royal Society’s Working Group on Resilience to Climate Risk and Extreme Weather, and serves on the Executive Committee of the International Insurance Society (IIS), New York from which he received the Kenneth R Black Award in 2014.

Following degrees in Geography at Durham (BA Hons) and Bristol (M.Phil) Universities, Rowan began his career underwriting reinsurance at Lloyd’s Syndicate 1095 before founding the international risk information company WIRE Limited in 1994 which was purchased by Willis Group in 2000.

Pierre Ducret is Special Advisor for climate change at Caisse des Dépôts Group and Chair of I4CE – Institute for Climate Economics. Until March 2015 he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CDC Climat, a Caisse des Dépôts subsidiary dedicated to supporting the transition to an ecological and low-carbon economy.

Pierre Ducret started his career as executive manager in local development at the Caisse des Dépôts Group. Over 15 years, he contributed to regional planning and developed initiatives for local authorities. He was also Managing Director at the Greater Lyon authority during six years. Upon his return to Caisse des Dépôts, he was executive director of the Pensions Unit, Group Corporate Secretary, and then Director for Banking Services. From 2000 to 2010, he also directed the Caisse des Dépôts Group’s sustainability strategy, before creating CDC Climat.

He is a graduate of Sciences-Po and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, and also holds a Master’s degree in philosophy.

He is also co-author, with Maria Scolan, of the book “Climat, un défi pour la finance” ( “Climate change, a challenge for Finance” ) published by Editions “les Petits Matins” in October 2016.

Stanislas Dupré founded the 2° Investing Initiative and now serves as its CEO. Previously, Stanislas Dupré was executive director of the CSR consultancy Utopies, after initially working as a CSR consultant and R&D manager. He has been working on 2° investing topics since 2007, when he developed the first assessment methodology for the financed emissions of banks and diversified portfolios, for example for Caisse d’Epargne/Natixis, ADEME, WWF and Friends of the Earth. In 2010, he wrote a book about the role of financial institutions in financing the energy transition.

Stanislas is also a non-executive director of a green private equity fund, a lecturer at Paris-Dauphine University and a member of the expert committees of the NYSE-Euronext Low-Carbon Index and Novethic.

Mark joined CDC in 2013 and is a co-director of the ESR team, along with Ritu Kumar. Under Mark and Ritu’s leadership, the ESR team has grown to be a strong and widely respected part of our value proposition. In addition to an important compliance function, the team plays a key role in delivering additional value from E&S improvements across CDC’s portfolio.

Prior to joining CDC, he was Managing Director of the WWF US International Finance program. He worked across the WWF network on the promotion of sustainable lending and investment practices with banks, private equity firms and other parts of the finance sector. He developed international partnerships with Credit Suisse and Rabobank, and worked closely with a range of emerging market financial institutions.

Slavka Eley was appointed Head of the Supervisory Convergence Unit within at the EBA in February 2013. She has been responsible for the EBA’s work on the common EU supervisory policy and convergence, including IT risks, outsourcing to cloud and risks related to financial innovation, efficient supervisory cooperation, recovery planning and the early intervention framework.

Since 1 March 2018, she is the Unit Banking Markets, Innovation and Products, which has a leading role in the EBA Fin Tech work. She chaired different working groups at the EBA as Sub-group on Risk Assessment Systems mandated to develop the common SREP framework. Currently she chairs the Sub-group on Supervisory Effectiveness and Convergence.

Prior to joining the EBA Slavka worked for the National Bank of Slovakia where she held a number of roles in supervision and prudential policy. She holds a MBA in general management from the City University of Seattle and a Master degree in Mathematics, Physics and Education from the Comenius University Bratislava.

Andrea Engel joined IFC in 2006. Currently based in IFC’s Brussels office, she manages IFC’s relations with the European Union as well as being the Country Manager for the Benelux, Cyprus, Greece and Portugal. She is in charge of government relations, stakeholder engagement, and business development with corporates interested in investing in emerging markets. Prior to joining IFC she worked for Eurasia Group in Washington DC and Interel PR and PA in Brussels.

Elodie Feller joined the UNEP Finance Initiative in January 2013 as the Investment Commission Coordinator responsible for the UNEP FI investment work programme. Prior to that Elodie joined Lombard Odier Investment Managers’s graduate programme in 2010 where she worked as a product specialist and ESG analyst for the Fixed Income department. She graduated in International Relations from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland.

John Firth is the CEO and Co-Founder of Acclimatise.

John has over 25 years’ experience in assessing the impacts of climate change.  Prior to Acclimatise he worked in the UK water sector for Severn Trent Water, where he led their strategic business planning team, with responsibilities for water resource, water supply and waste water planning, and environmental consenting.

John co-founded Acclimatise with Dr Richenda Connell in 2004. Acclimatise has now worked on nearly 400 adaptation and resilience projects in over 80 countries, for both the public and private sectors. He has extensive experience of integrating climate change into business decision-making and risk management processes. He has a particular expertise in the impacts of climate change on SMEs, multi-national corporates and their supply-chains and the financial services sectors (risks and opportunities); and is actively engaged on work related to the ‘Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD).

John has worked extensively on country National Adaptation Plans developing the linkages between non-state actors, government and politicians to create shared agendas for policy reform. John is also interested in the legal implications for business, disclosure of information to investors, the mobilisation of private-sector finance, climate funding in developing countries, and the integration of adaptation/resilience into national policy making.

John has worked on projects in Europe, Africa, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, Australia, South and South-East Asia for banks, governments, insurers,  investors, development partners, and the private sector.

Remco Fischer joined UNEP FI in October 2006 and coordinates the Initiative’s activities on climate change (through the UNEP FI Climate Change Working Group). These aim to increase the understanding of both the implications of climate change on financial performance and the roles of the finance sector in addressing climate change; as well as to advance the integration of climate change factors, both risks and opportunities, into financial decision-making. Activities include research, advocacy, awareness raising, capacity building and the development of guidelines and tools for financial institutions.

Prior to joining UNEP FI, he worked as an investment management assistant for the German Development Finance Institution (DEG; KfW Group of Banks), designing structured deals in infrastructure project finance (predominantly renewables).

He holds a British BA Honours in Business Administration and Economics from Napier University in Edinburgh, a Spanish Licenciatura from Alicante University and a German Diploma (MSc equivalent) from Aachen University of Applied Sciences.

Bernhard Friess is the acting Director-General, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission.

Since January 2017, Bernhard Friess has been the Director of the Directorate “Maritime Policy and Blue Economy” of the European Commission’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Directorate-General. He also presently leads the Directorate “Fisheries Policy in the Atlantic, North Sea, Baltic and Outermost Regions”.

Bernhard Friess studied Law at Munich University. His career with the European Commission included assignments in the areas Internal Market Policy, Competition Policy, Maritime Policy and Fisheries, and Education and Training.

Federico Gomez manages the sustainability area of ​​Banco Santander. His job is to promote the creation of long-term value, incorporating social and environmental criteria in the bank’s management since 2013.

Previously, he has performed professional work in macroeconomic analysis, both in the public and private sectors.

José Manuel González-Páramo has been an executive director and global head of economics and institutional relations at BBVA since 2013. He is also president of the Center for Financial Education and Capability’s Advisory Council. Before joining BBVA, he held high level positions at the European Central Bank (ECB) including as an acting member of the ECB’s Executive Committee and Governing Council between 2004 and 2012.

Prior to that he worked at Spain’s central bank. He has also been an academic member of Spain’s Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences since 2015. He has a PhD in Economics from the University of Columbia (New York) and the Complutense University of Madrid.

Uli Grabenwarter is Deputy Director – Equity Investments at European Investment Fund (EIF). In this capacity he oversees EIF’s activities in Impact Investing, Technology Transfer and Venture Capital, with EIF being Europe’s biggest Fund-of-Funds Investment platform in that space.

Previously he was responsible for EIF’s strategic development in the equity space and in this context has led the build-up of the Social Impact Accelerator, the first pan-European social impact investing fund-of-funds. From 2010 to 2012 he conducted a 20 months research project on impact investing in collaboration with IESE University of Navarra in Barcelona and the Family Office Circle Foundation based in Switzerland, analysing best-market-practices for impact investing in the private equity and venture capital space. He is a visiting Professor for Private Equity and Venture Capital at IESE University. He regularly publishes articles and white papers on venture capital and impact investing. Uli is also chair of the European Impact Investing Luxembourg think-tank platform (www.eill.lu) and member of several expert groups on impact investing and impact metrics across Europe.

Uli holds a Master’s degree in Business and Finance of the University of Graz.

Marianne Haahr is Director at the Sustainable Digital Finance Alliance. She operates at the intersection between technology and sustainability, spotting and analysing emerging tech-trends and acting on them to accelerate a future defined by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Marianne has co- founded the Nordic Impact Investment Network and managed the development of the ‘Global Opportunity Explorer’ as Director in Sustainia. A digital platform and community of frontrunner companies from across the globe dedicated to turning the Sustainable Development Goals into business opportunities. A community bringing together the UN Global Compact, the tech start-up eco-system as well as large corporate organisations and financial institutions. In a prior role, Marianne worked hands-on in West and Southern Africa building inclusive value chains.

Sonia Hierzig joined ShareAction in September 2015. She currently leads their investor-focused campaign to align the activities of the banking sector with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

She previously conducted a survey of Swiss pension funds’ performance on responsible investment. Sonia previously worked for a number of charities, including the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

She holds a B.A. in Politics and International Studies from the University of Exeter, an M.Sc. in Development Management from the Open University, and an M.Sc. in Human Rights from the London School of Economics.

Guy Hoffmann is the CEO of Banque Raiffeisen and Chairman of the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL)

Guy Hoffmann began his career at the BGL in 1986. In 2000, he became head of the corporate department and a member of management. Between 2005 and 2007, at what is then called Fortis BGL, he is responsible, as Director of Commercial Banking Luxembourg and Greater Region.

He then joined Banque Raiffeisen as a director and then, in the same year, joined the management committee, in charge of corporate / SME clients and private banking. In July 2011, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, which he successfully managed development in the Grand Duchy and his move to a brand new building in Leudelange. In April 2018, he became president of the Association of Banks and Bankers, Luxembourg (ABBL) and succeeds Yves Maas.

Dr. Werner Hoyer is the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB). He took up the post on 1 January 2012 for an initial term of six years and was re-appointed for a second term in office, with effect from 1 January 2018.

From 1994 to 1998 and then again from 1999 until 31 December 2011, he was Minister of State for Europe and Deputy Foreign Minister of Germany. From 2000 until 2005 he served as President of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR).

During his service at the German Bundestag he held several positions; first as Whip and Security Policy Spokesman of the FDP (Free Democratic Party) Parliamentary Group (1987-1993), then subsequently as Deputy Chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Friendship Group and member of the North Atlantic Assembly (NATO). He was also Secretary General of the FDP (1993-1994), before becoming Minister of State at the Foreign Office. From 1998 he served as Spokesman of the FDP for Budget Affairs, from 2002 until 2009 for Foreign Affairs and Vice President of the FDP Parliamentary Group.

In 1985, he took up the position as Director of the Economics and Information Department of the Carl Duisberg Society, Cologne. Two years later in 1987, he became a Member of the German Bundestag where he remained until 31 December 2011. Dr Hoyer obtained a PhD in Economics from Cologne University, Germany in 1978 and commenced his career as a senior research assistant at the Cologne University. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed as lecturer in international economic relations.

Jacki Johnson is Group Executive, People, Performance & Reputation and reporting to the CEO sits on the Group Leadership Team (GLT), reporting to the Board of Directors. As part of the GLT she is accountable for the collective setting of Group-wide organisational strategy and has accountability for one of the three organisational strategic priorities on organisational Agility. She plays a critical role in the delivery of group-wide priorities and the development of a truly purpose led organisation with a high-performance culture and strong reputation that drives the performance of the organisation. She has ensured the Board and GLT considers the SDGs in strategy setting and led the organisations overall approach to ESG and Sustainability.

In her current role on the UNEP FI Global Steering Committee, she has actively contributed to the global strategy and taken a Committee level accountability for approach to financial management.

She is a member of Chief Executive Women and a member of the Steering Committee for Sydney 100 Resilient Cities. Jacki is Non-Executive Director for Community First Credit Union and a member of the Member of Corporate Governance and Remuneration Committee and an Executive Director of IAG International Holdings and a member of the IAG Ethics Committee.

Martin Jonasson is General Counsel and a member of the Executive Management team at Andra AP-fonden (AP2).

In his role at AP2 Martin is responsible for legal, tax and compliance and is also part of AP2s corporate governance team overlooking governance issues globally. Martin regularly serves as a member, including in the role as chairman, of Nomination Committees in publicly listed Swedish companies. Prior to joining AP2 in 2001, Martin held similar positions in the Volvo Group, including that of General Counsel for Volvo East Asia based in Singapore and Volvo Financial Services. Whilst at Volvo, Martin served as a director on the boards of several group companies.

Martin holds a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Lund.

James Kofi Annan is a well sought-after international speaker in the area of modern slavery. He is currently a member of many international boards, including the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS), based in Washington, and he is currently the Chairman for a London-based international organisation called Family for Every Child.

James Kofi Annan, who previously worked with Barclays Bank of Ghana, founded Challenging Heights 13 years ago. The organisation has rescued hundreds of children from modern slavery and supported several women and youth out of poverty situations. James has won 14 major international awards, including the World Children’s Prize, and the Grinnell Young Innovator for Social Justice Prize.

Bettina Kretschmer works as a socio-economic analyst in the European Commission, Directorate-General for the Environment, in the unit on Sustainable Development Goals, Green Finance & Economic Analysis unit. Her work currently focuses on the implementation of the European Commission’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan.

Prior to working at the Commission, Bettina worked for the Institute for European Environmental Policy in London and Brussels and for the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Germany.

Idar Kreutzer is CEO of Finance Norway. From 2000 to 2012 he was the CEO of Storebrand ASA. Mr. Kreutzer is the Chairman of the Board of Aschehoug Forlag. He is a member of the Board of the University of Oslo, and a member of the Advisory Board of NHH Norwegian School of Economics.

In June 2018 Mr. Kreutzer handed over the financial sector’s Roadmap for Green Competitiveness on behalf of the entire Norwegian financial sector. In December 2017 Mr. Kreutzer was appointed by the Nordic Council of Ministers to evaluate the access to risk capital for companies in the Nordic region. His report was launched in October 2018. In June 2015 Mr. Kreutzer was appointed member of The Norwegian Commission for Green Competitiveness by the Prime Minister of Norway, and from December 2014 he has been a member of The Minister of Climate and Environment’s Climate Policy Council. In 2013 he was appointed member of the Strategy Council for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global. He has been a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and has Co-Chaired their Vision 2050.

Mr. Kreutzer holds a MSc degree in Economics and Business Administration from the NHH Norwegian School of Economics.

Satu Kuoppamäki is a Senior Corporate Responsibility Manager at OP Financial Group. Corporate responsibility is central to OP´s business and strategy. As the biggest bank in Finland and as a co-operative group OP wants be a forerunner in corporate responsibility in financial services.

Satu has several years of experience in corporate responsibility from both financial and in the retail sector. She is active member in several sustainability working groups.

Satu is a Master of Science from Helsinki University of Technology.

Manon Loison is the Head of Marketing at the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology Foundation (The LHoFT). Manon is a communication and marketing professional with experience across public and private sector. She holds a double degree (Master II) in communication from Sciences Po Bordeaux and the Bordeaux-Montaigne University, France.

Hans Loth is the Group Executive at Rabobank International.

While starting out as an international M&A lawyer in a private law firm, Hans has had several General Management and Strategy positions within the Rabobank Group, including expat assignments. Until last June, as Director Strategy & Business Change for Rabobank Indonesia, he was responsible for its strategy reset. Working with Rabobank Foundation, as well as Rabobank’s corporate banking team, Hans developed a thorough understanding of the challenges and opportunities “From Farm to Fork”.

Will Martindale joined the PRI in February 2014. He leads PRI’s global regulatory affairs and public policy programme, PRI’s flagship fiduciary duty project and the implementation of PRI’s sustainable financial system activities in national policy reform.

Previously Will worked for Oxfam advising on financial sector policy. He has a background in banking, joining JPMorgan’s graduate programme in June 2004. In September 2010, Will joined French bank, BNP Paribas, as a business manager for their credit trading desk. Will holds a MSC in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and a BSC in Maths from King’s College London.

Dr. Richard Mattison is Chief Executive Officer of Trucost, part of S&P Global. Trucost assesses and prices risks relating to climate change, natural resource constraints and broader ESG factors, enabling companies and financial institutions to understand exposure to ESG factors, inform resilience and identify the transformative solutions of tomorrow.

Richard is an expert in sustainable finance and over the last 16 years he has advised various UN bodies, governments, financial intuitions, companies and NGOs on how to integrate climate change and natural capital analysis into their decision making. He has led numerous ground-breaking projects including creating the first portfolio carbon risk assessment for Henderson and the UK Environment Agency, launching the first carbon efficient index with S&P Dow Jones Indices, leading the first global assessment of corporate environmental externalities for the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, and developing the world’s first Environmental Profit and Loss account for PUMA.

Richard is a member of the EU Sustainable Finance High Level Expert Group, the Global Advisory Council of the Oxford Smith School Stranded Assets Programme, the LuxFLAG eligibility committee and the Hong Kong Green Finance Association . Previously, Richard was a strategy consultant and began his career as a neuroscientist.

He holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh and is an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Julie Miller is a CSR Policy Officer at BNP Paribas focusing on ESG risks management and CSR sector policies covering the bank’s financing and investing activities. She is more particularly in charge of the CSR ocean project. Julie joined BNP Paribas in 2007 and held several positions in loan structuring and coverage in the Corporate and Institutional Banking division prior to taking up her current role.

Dr Pedro Moura Costa is the CEO of Sustainable Investment Management (SIM), a fund management company focused on sustainability, currently engaged in the development of the Responsible Commodities Facility, a debt fund to promote the production and trading of zero-deforestation soy and corn in Brazil.

He is also the founder of BVRio – Rio de Janeiro’s Environmental Exchange, an organisation aimed at promoting market mechanisms to facilitate compliance with environmental laws. Among other sectors, BVRio runs a Responsible Timber Exchange, a trading platform with inbuilt due diligence capabilities, to facilitate the trading of timber products from legal and/or certified sources, and is currently developing the 3R Initiative, an international alliance to promote the recycling of waste plastics, with the involvement of large consumer goods companies such as Danone, Nestle and Tetrapak.

Justin Mundy is Strategic Adviser to the Capital, Science & Policy Practice at Willis Towers Watson and Distinguished Fellow, World Resources Institute.  From 2007-2018, Justin was the Director of The Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit.

Prior to that, he worked as an Adviser to the UK Government on Russia, Energy and Climate Change and ran the World Bank’s forestry and biodiversity programmes in Russia and Central Asia.  He is Chairman of an agricultural fund management company SLM, was a Managing Director of Climate Change Capital, Senior Adviser to Deutsche Bank’s Global Markets Group, a Director of Aon Carbon and a founder of ForestRe.

Anna Murray has dedicated her career to advancing corporate sustainability at major multinationals around the world. She currently leads the North American sustainability strategy for Bentall Kennedy, one of the world’s largest real estate investment advisers. Murray is the co-chair of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI) Investment Committee Property Working Group, and the founder of the non-profit Young Women in Energy. Murray’s commitment to making positive change has been recognized with the Making a Difference for Women Award, the United Way Culbert Family Award for Philanthropy and Top 100 Women in Canada.

Stephen Nolan is the Managing Director of the UN Environment convened Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) global network. With a membership base covering Europe, the Gulf, Africa, Asia and North America, the objective of the network is to exchange experience and take common action on shared priorities to accelerate the rapid global growth of green and sustainable finance across the world’s financial centres, supported by strengthened international connectivity, and a framework for common approaches.

A senior business professional who has led and delivered initiatives from start-up to scale across both public and private spheres internationally, Stephen is also a member of the international Advisory Panel member of the Climate Bonds Initiative and the Advisory Board of the International Energy Research Centre.

Stephen is a co-founder of Sustainable Nation Ireland, a non-governmental body working together with Ireland’s public and private sectors to advance the sustainable finance agenda within Ireland. Stephen currently sits on the boards of Haven, an Irish based charity focused on Haiti and the Children’s Cancer Fund. He is a former Irish Government ICT Special Advisor and Advisor to UN Secretary General Annan’s Task Force on ICT.

Roel Nozeman leads the biodiversity work of ASN Bank. ASN Bank has developed an impact assessment methodology: the Biodiversity Footprinting Financial Institutions’ (BFFI). The BFFI has been used to calculate the biodiversity footprint of ASN Bank on a portfolio level for several years now (2014-2018).

As the first bank globally ASN Bank has formulated the following goal for biodiversity on a portfolio level: ‘Net positive effect on biodiversity as a result of all of our loans and investments by 2030’. In 2018 he initiated the development of a Common Ground paper on biodiversity footprinting, developed together with CDC Biodiversité, ACTIAM and Finance in Motion, which was presented at the COP14 meeting of the United Nations in Egypt in November 2018. Just as there is for climate, finding common ground is crucial for measuring impact on biodiversity as well.

Derya Ozet Yalgı has 10 years of experience in developing corporate sustainability policies and strategies for both financial and non-financial industry in Turkey.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Istanbul Technical University and a Master’s degree in International Business Administration from Marmara University, Turkey.

Elsa Palanza is the Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainability and Citizenship for Barclays. In this role, Elsa leads the creation, implementation, and disclosure of the bank’s policies and practices regarding sustainability and social impact.

Elsa assumed this role with over 15 years of experience as a strategic advisor for companies, foundations and non-profits. Most recently, she was enlisted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create and launch a platform designed to advance progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to that, she served as Director of Commitments for the Clinton Global Initiative, a role that afforded her broad insight into best practices in sustainability, cross-sector partnership, and next generation philanthropy. She worked for several years in Washington, D.C., delivering geopolitical and industry risk analysis to large international energy companies, and also lived in Istanbul, Turkey, leading strategy and business operations for an education company’s pilot program.

Elsa has a BA from Middlebury College and attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where she concentrated on international security studies and Southwest Asia & Islamic civilisation.

Michael Pinkus has worked in international banking and finance over 19 years including years in structured finance, asset management and private debt. He has held senior roles in structuring, sales and business development.

Since 2016 Michael spear-headed the launch and management of Scope Group’s investor relationship management department, covering over 300 institutional investors. Much of his career he has spent with IKB, a prominent European SME-specialised bank. During his career, he successfully arranged funding for banks, asset managers and funds; he led the loan syndication desk; executed several SME securitisation transactions and worked as a credit portfolio manager. He supported the fundraising and launch of a direct lending platform. He also advised institutional investors with regard to market place and alternative lenders.

Michael holds an LLM in banking and finance from the University of London.

A diplomat from Belgium, Bruno Pozzi brings 20 years of experience in high-level diplomacy and politics, across three different continents and in various political and economic roles. He is a strong advocate of multilateralism and of the need to put environment at the centre of political action.

Prior to joining UN Environment, Bruno was appointed in 2015 as the Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Kenya, one of the largest diplomatic representations of the European Union abroad. Coming from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, he joined the newly-created European External Action Service in 2011 and served as the Head of the Political Section of the European Union Delegation to Ivory Coast until 2015. He started his career at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations of the Free University of Brussels before joining the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in October 1999. He has served in Belgian Embassies to Japan, China and South Africa.

He holds a degree in Political Sciences (Catholic University of Louvain) and a Master’s Degree in European Politics (Free University of Brussels). He is an “Officier de l’Ordre de la Couronne” (Belgium, 2016) and an “Officier de l’Ordre du Mérite” (Côte d’Ivoire, 2015).

Corli Pretorius is responsible for advising and supporting the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre Director in exercising their strategic management responsibilities across programmatic, policy and managerial issues.

Her responsibilities include: development and evaluation of new project areas; development and maintenance of effective liaison with key partners and constituencies, including Governments, and key donor partners; and providing programmatic support, including guidance on engaging with UN system entities, human rights-environment linkages, as well as integrating gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Fiona Reynolds is the CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), a UN supported organisation with more than 3,000 signatories representing over US $90 trillion in AUM.

Appointed in 2013, Fiona has 25 years’ experience in financial services. She joined the PRI from Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, where she spent 7 years as CEO. Fiona serves on the Board of the UN Global Compact, is a member of the International Integrated Reporting Council, the Global Advisory Council on Stranded Assets at Oxford University, the UN Business for Peace Steering Committee, the Global Steering Committee for the investor agenda on climate action and the Steering Committee for Climate Action 100+.

Fiona has been a member of the UK Government Green Finance Taskforce and is on the Advisory Board for the UK Green Finance Centre.

In 2018, Fiona was named one of the 20 most influential people in sustainability by Barron’s magazine.

David Rouch is widely recognised for his technical expertise in financial services law and regulation. He works with the full range of financial market participants on both their advisory and transactional matters – dealing with some of the market’s greatest regulatory challenges. He is regularly consulted on aspects of the UK and international regulatory reform agenda such as individual accountability, product governance and the interface between conduct and competition regulation and has been assisting various clients with their Brexit planning. He has been advising the EU Commission high level expert group on sustainable finance.

He is also known for his work on law and institutional culture, and has helped a number of firms with their culture-change programmes. He has run two joint projects between Freshfields and the London School of Economics exploring this area, and was involved in Bank of England work on the global FX code.

Monica Scatasta was appointed as Head of Environment, Climate and Social Policy and of the EIB’s Environment, Climate and Social Office (ECSO) in March 2016. She joined EIB in 2003 and, before joining ECSO, was the Head of the Water and Waste Management Division. Ms Scatasta is a specialist with over 20 years of experience in policy advisory and project financing, primarily in water resources management, water services, climate change and disaster risk management. In 2007-09 she was seconded from EIB to OECD to coordinate a multi-directorate Water Programme.

Prior to joining the EIB, Ms Scatasta spent 10 years in Washington DC, where she worked at the World Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). During this time she also temporarily moved to in Brazil as part of an expert team supporting the Ministry of Environment and National Water Agency. Mrs Scatasta has presented extensively at international water and climate-related events.

She holds advanced degrees in finance, economics and environmental engineering from the University of Bologna, Department of Economics and Business Administration, the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and the Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering.

Robert Scharfe is the Chairman of the Nomination Committee of the World Federation of Exchanges. He has been the CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange from 2012 until April 2021.

He is a recognised expert in Capital Markets matters and a specialist in Green finance.

Before joining the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, he spent 35 years in the banking industry, mostly in Corporate Finance and Financial Markets. Between 2000 and 2012 he was a Member of the Management Board of BGL BNP Paribas in Luxembourg. During that time, he also assumed senior responsibilities within Fortis Bank in the areas of Institutional Banking and Global Markets.

During his banking career, he acquired extensive knowledge in International Capital Markets and gained solid experience in the fields of Asset Management and Investment Funds.

He holds a Master Degree in Economics from the University of Nancy, France, and he is an alumni of Insead, France and Stanford Graduate School of Business, Palo Alto, USA.

Werner Schmidt has been working on project, policy and sector advisory work for more than 25 years. He joined the European Investment Bank in 1996 in the Bank’s Project Directorate, where he was in charge of the appraisal and monitoring of projects in agribusiness.

From 2005 to 2011, he was team leader in Operations Evaluation of the EIB Group. From 2011 to 2015, Werner was in charge of the Quality Management/Coordination Division within the Projects Directorate.

Since 2015, he is the Director of the Environment and Sustainable Territorial Development Department within the Projects Directorate. The Department is in charge of the techno-economic appraisal of investment projects in the following sectors: a) water b) agribusiness and rural development, c) regional development and d) urban development.

Prior to joining the EIB in 1996, Werner worked inter alia for the World Bank, the European Commission and the German bilateral technical assistance organization in Albania, Pakistan, Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia.

Sandra Schoonhoven has worked in several business roles within banking, insurance and publishing. At the Global Sustainability department, she heads a team of 13 sustainability advisors who initiate, implement and measure the impact of sustainability initiatives and by doing so drive ING’s Global Sustainability Direction.

She holds a MSc in Communication from Tilburg University and a Msc in Marketing Strategy from Henley Business University. As a purpose and opportunity driven person, Sandra is a driver for change and is passionate to create impact for ING’s customers and society at large.

Pamela Schuermans is the coordinator for insurance and pensions policy development at EIOPA, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority.She is responsible for the coordination of the Solvency II project and the IORP II project as well as for the work stream on Personal Pensions.

Before EIOPA, she has worked for CEIOPS, EIOPA’s predecessor. Previously , she has worked as an insurance supervisor for the Belgian banking, finance and insurance supervisors, where she was responsible for supervision of banc assurance groups and international policy cooperation regarding insurance supervision. She is a lawyer (Namur, Leuven, Heidelberg) holding a MSc in Finance and Financial Law (London) and a university degree in actuarial sciences (Louvain-la-Neuve). She speaks Dutch, French, German, English and Italian.

Martin Spolc is the Head of the Sustainable Finance unit in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Financial Services.

Prior to his current role, he was the Head of the Capital Markets Union unit, the Economic analysis unit, Deputy Head of the Banking unit and Assistant to the Director General, directly involved in developing the Banking Union and other key projects in the area of financial services aiming at restoring financial stability since the crisis. Before joining the Commission, he had worked at risk management consultancy and the banking sector.

He is the holder of the CFA and FRM designations and member of the CFA Institute and Global Association of Risk Professionals.

Tom Tayler is Senior Legal Counsel at Aviva Investors. His work focuses on UK authorised collective investment funds, as well as supporting the responsible investment team and working as part of the Aviva public policy team that engages with law-makers on sustainability issues.

Tom has supported Aviva Investors’ involvement in the EU High Level Expert Group and subsequent response to the EU Commission’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan, the UK Green Finance Task Force, and Aviva’s TCFD disclosures. He has a particular interest in investor and fiduciary duties, and is a member of the Reference Group for the UNPRI/UNEPFI Legal Framework for Impact Project.

Massimiano Tellini is an economist by training, investment banker by practice and opportunity maker by vocation.

With more than 15 years of international banking activity, he has been involved in different fields spanning from credit analysis to trade finance in the UK, from project finance to innovation in Asia Pacific. In charge of the Circular Economy Project, he currently reports to the General Manager of the Innovation Center of Intesa Sanpaolo Group.

He is also the author of ‘Re-think’ (2013) – a documentary about the need to reframe present global business models & the discourse about Climate Change. His personal goal: to manage to “reduce the risk of tomorrow” by reconnecting Business & Society.

Dr. Günther Thallinger is a Member-Management Board at Allianz SE. He is on the Board of Directors at Allianz Lebensversicherungs AG, Allianz Investment Management SE, Allianz Private Krankenversicherung AG and Allianz Versicherungs-AG.

He joined Allianz SE Germany in 2009 as Chief Financial Officer. He was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2012, and since January 2017 he as a Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE, being responsible for Investments and the Center of Competence “Global Life & Health”. Dr. Thallinger was previously employed as a Principal by McKinsey & Co (Germany).

Holder of a doctorate in law from the University of Paris II, Françoise Thoma made her debut between 1994 and 1998 as a lawyer at Bonn & Schmitt, before working as a referendum at the European Court of Justice. She joined the Spuerkeess in 1999, in the legal service, she was appointed secretary general in 2004, then became the first woman to join the management committee in 2009. In June 2016, she succeeds Jean-Claude Finck as CEO. As a member of the Council of State between 2000 and 2015, she completed her term as Vice-President of the institution.

Christian Tock is the Director of Sustainable Technologies at the Luxembourg Ministry of Economy.

After leaving the University of Strasbourg with a PhD in Chemistry, Christian spent a year at the Leibniz Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden before joining the BASF as a research laboratory leader in Ludwigshafen, Germany, where he worked on new polymerisation methods. He then returned to his native country Luxembourg, working for Luxinnovation as an R&D consultant before taking over the management of the EcoInnovation Cluster, Luxembourg’s clean technologies cluster. In 2012, Christian worked for the Ministry of the Economy of Luxembourg as an independent consultant before joining the Directorate New Technologies. In 2015 he became Director for Sustainable Technologies and is currently developing the circular economy and intelligent mobility sectors in Luxembourg.

James is a specialist in social and environmental finance having been at Triodos Bank since 1998.

James has advised on bond issues and share offers for leading social enterprises and charities. He has managed equity investments in a range of early stage businesses in the organic food, recycling and environmental technology sectors. In 2005, James started Triodos Bank’s investment activity in the UK and was Managing Director of Investment Management, incorporating corporate finance advisory services and fund management. James was also the Managing Director of Triodos Renewables plc from 2005-2012. He has been a director of many green and sustainable businesses and has served on the board of UKSIF and was treasurer of a local community development association.

James was a member of the Investment & Contract Readiness Fund Advisory Panel and the UK Advisory Board to the G8 Social Investment Taskforce. He now leads the development of strategy across the Triodos Bank group internationally.

Liesel van Ast joined UNEP Finance Initiative as Signatory Relations Manager in July 2016. Liesel is responsible for member relations, including regional coordination for capacity building. She oversees UNEP FI’s training programme and supports the development of UNEP FI’s engagement with financial institutions.

She was previously Programme Manager of the Natural Capital Declaration, a joint initiative of UNEP FI and Global Canopy Programme, where she developed a work programme to help strengthen management of environmental risks and opportunities by financial institutions. She co-ordinated projects to develop innovative tools and methodologies to integrate natural resource and environmental issues into financial products and services. Prior to this Liesel worked for Trucost, the environmental research provider, and the environmental business journal The ENDS Report.

She holds an Investment Management Certificate; MSc in Business Strategy, Politics and the Environment; and Certificate in Environmental Management.

Rob van der Meer is Director EU Public Affairs at HeidelbergCement.

As chemical engineer he started his career in public services as responsible for environmental permitting with focus on emissions to the air, for the Provincie Limburg in the Netherlands.

In 1996 he started in the cement industry as a process engineer in the Maastricht plant of ENCI. Later (2004) he was appointed CO₂ coordinator for HeidelbergCement in Heidelberg (Germany). At the moment he is in charge of EU Public Affairs in the department of Group Communications & Investor Relations of HeidelbergCement in Heidelberg (Germany).

Rob van der Meer graduated in 1991 as a chemical engineer from the Technical University Twente in the Netherlands.

Sachin S. Vankalas is General Manager of Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency (LuxFLAG). He joined the LuxFLAG in March 2011.

Prior to his appointment as a General Manager in June 2019, Sachin has been leading the operations and sustainability processes at LuxFLAG since 2011, acquiring deep knowledge and expertise in the sustainable investment market.

Prior to joining LuxFLAG, Sachin worked as an Investment Officer for a Swiss Asset Management firm in Zurich and before as a Rating Analyst in an International Rating Agency. During this time, his professional assignments included institutional assessments, ratings of financial institutions, due diligence missions, portfolio audits and investment projects of about 75 financial institutions across continents.

Sachin attended Harvard University & NYU Stern competing executive programs in Finance and Sustainability and holds a MS in Banking and Finance from the Luxembourg School of Finance. He is a member of the ALFI and ABBL Technical Committees and Working Groups on Responsible Investing and sits on the Boards of multiple organisations active in Sustainable Finance viz. International Climate Finance Accelerator (ICFA), Inclusive Finance Network (InFiNe), and European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP).

Namita Vikas is the Group President & Global Head, Climate Strategy & Responsible Banking of YES Bank.

With 28 years of diverse global experience in Banking, Technology & FMCG, with particular focus on Design Thinking, Sustainable Finance, Climate Action, ESG Risk Management, Public Policy & Corporate Citizenship, Namita Vikas has been instrumental in outlining YES BANK’s integrated approach towards climate finance, by integrating ESG parameters in financial decisions, developing innovative products and services along with various business verticals addressing environmental and social concerns fostering financial inclusion, facilitating and mobilising investments in positive impact sectors and building institutional capacity and culture of ‘Responsible Banking’.

In line with its vision to be benchmark financial institution for sustainability and inclusivity in India, Namita spearhead development of focused approach towards climate finance, which has led to multiple industry first achievements. These include issuance of India’s maiden green bonds in 2015, facilitation of nation’s first ever social bond in 2017 and launch of India’s first green retail product ‘Green Future Deposit’ in 2018 with a commitment of mobilising the fund deposited by customers to positive impact sectors.

Since March 2014, Dr. André Weidenhaupt is Director General of Luxembourg’s Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable development. At the Ministry, he is in charge of environmental issues related to the human environment (climate change, sustainable development, sustainable finance, green and circular economy, clean air, water protection, waste management, noise, chemicals, and industrial pollution prevention) as well as all European and international environmental issues and the budget.

In 2017, Dr. André Weidenhaupt has been elected Vice-Chair of the Management Board of the European Environment Agency (EEA). Since September 2019, André Weidenhaupt is member of the Bureau of the Environmental Policy Committee (EPOC) of OECD.

From September 2005 to March 2014, Dr. André Weidenhaupt has been Director of Luxembourg’s Water Management Agency (Administration de la gestion de l’eau). In this position, he chaired the International Commissions for the Protection of the Moselle and the Sarre (2010‐2011) and from 2011 to 2013 he has been the Chair of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR).

André Weidenhaupt, studied chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich before acquiring a postgraduate diploma in sanitary engineering and water pollution control as well as a PhD in natural sciences from the ETH and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG).

Sylvia Wisniwski is a Managing Director at Finance in Motion, one of the world’s leading impact asset managers with around EUR 2.2 billion in assets under advisory/management and offices in 17 countries.

At Finance in Motion, Sylvia oversees the company’s initiatives for conservation, sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. Her expertise in blended finance models and layered structures has proven instrumental in the creation of unique impact investment funds. Sylvia has more than 25 years of experience in development finance in over 30 countries. Starting her career in German development cooperation (GIZ), she has worked as consultant for international organisations and held various management positions at consulting companies and asset managers.

Sylvia holds both an M.A. in Political Science and Sociology and an MBA from Tübingen University as well as an M.A. in International Studies from the University of Miami, Florida.

Nasir Zubairi is CEO of The LHoFT – The Luxembourg House of Financial Technology, a public/private sector initiative to drive fintech innovation in Luxembourg.

He sits on the IMF’s High Level Advisory Group on Finance and Technology and the OECD’s Blockchain Expert Policy Advisory Board. He has been a Non-Executive Board director at a “traditional” bank, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) S.A. Nasir has worked in Financial Services for 22 years. He spent 13 years working within Capital Markets at RBS, ICAP, HSBC and EBS.  He has been immersed in the Fintech and startup sector since 2011.

As an entrepreneur, Nasir has built multiple Fintech businesses across verticals. He has advised the boards of leading financial institutions, central banks and governments. Nasir is included in the “Top 40 innovators shaping the future of financial services -2014” by The Wall Street Journal/Financial News.

Nasir has a BSc from the London School of Economics and is a Sloan Fellow from London Business School.