Sir Stephen Gomersall
Group Chairman for Europe
Hitachi

Sir Stephen, Group Chairman for Europe, is the senior representative for the Hitachi Group’s businesses in EMEA, responsible for Group Strategy and Business Development. Before joining Hitachi in 2004, Stephen enjoyed an extensive career with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, serving in several capacities including British Ambassador in Japan and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN. He received his knighthood for services to the government in 2000. Following early retirement, Sir Stephen became Hitachi’s Chief Executive for Europe before his current appointment in April 2011.

Jerry Stokes
President
Suntech Europe

Jerry Stokes heads the European operation of Suntech. With revenue in excess of US$ 1.5 billion the region accounts for over 50% of Suntech’s global business. Jerry first started work in the PV industry over 20 years ago. He joined Suntech in 2007 through the company’s acquisition of MSK Corporation, and previously worked with AEA Technology Battery Systems and Sanyo Energy UK. He holds an Honours Degree in Metallurgy from Brunel University in England.

Lord Browne
Partner & Managing Director
Riverstone Holdings LLC

Lord Browne was born in 1948. He holds degrees from Cambridge and Stanford Universities. He joined BP in 1966 and served as Group Chief Executive of BP from 1998 until 2007. He is currently Partner and Managing Director of Riverstone Holdings LLC and is Chairman of a variety of advisory boards. Lord Browne was knighted in 1998 and made a life peer in 2001. He was appointed the UK Government’s Lead Non-Executive Board member in June 2010. His memoirs, “Beyond Business” were published in February 2010.

Dr Richard Mattison
Chief Executive Officer
Trucost

Richard Mattison is chief executive of Trucost. He oversees the development of Trucost’s research methodology, with the support of an International Advisory Panel of leading academics in the fields of economics and the environment. He is a member of the UK Government’s Sustainable Development panel and is a regular public speaker on environmental issues. Richard has a PhD in Neuroscience and a BSc (Hons) in Physiology from Edinburgh University.

Ben Goldsmith
Founding Partner
WHEB Partners

With nine years’ clean technology investment experience. Ben Goldsmith is recognised as a leading green investor and a pioneer in the green investment sector. In 2002, Ben co-founded WHEB with the intention of building Europe’s leading specialist green investment business. Ben is an active Partner of WHEB Partners (the private equity part of WHEB) but maintains a hands-on involvement with the two other WHEB companies: namely WHEB Asset Management (long only equities) and WHEB Infrastructure Partners (project finance).

Maja Wessels
Executive Vice President, Public Affairs
First Solar

Maja Wessels leads First Solar’s government affairs, sustainable development and community relations activities globally. She joined First Solar in 2008 as VP, Government Affairs for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Previously, she held senior positions at Honeywell and United Technologies International Operations. Ms. Wessels chaired the American Electronics Industry Association Europe and was President of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU. Maja Wessels holds degrees from Dartmouth College and Johns Hopkins University.

Bernard Giraud
SVP, Sustainability & Shared Value Creation
Danone

Bernard GIRAUD held various functions as General Manager in the field of regional economic development, then as International Director of the Marine Division at US group Johnson Worldwide. In 1994, he was appointed General Manager, North America for the Invest in France Agency (DATAR). He joined Danone in 1998 as Director “Danone Initiatives”, and was appointed Director, Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility in November 2002. Since March 2009, Bernard GIRAUD is Vice President Sustainability and Shared Value Creation.

Kersti Strandqvist
Senior Vice President, Sustainability
SCA

Kersti Strandqvist, Senior Vice President Corporate Sustainability, leads SCA’s Corporate Sustainability team and is a member of the SCA Executive board. She is responsible for the Group Sustainability strategy and the integration of targets for environmental, social and public affairs into SCA business plans. Kersti has been employed by SCA since 1997, and she has previously been leading the global Feminine Care business and the Baby Care business as well as heading up the R&D Incontinence Care.

Alois M. Flatz
Managing Partner
Zouk Ventures Limited

Alois is a Managing Partner of Zouk Capital, an independent, London-based private equity fund manager focused on cleantech markets. Currently Zouk manages three cleantech-focused funds with total assets of €370m:two expansion-stage private equity funds investing in clean technology companies; and a renewable infrastructure fund focused on solar project development. Previously, Alois had been Managing Partner with BTS Investment and a Partner of SAM Group Ltd. Alois was the co-founder of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI), the world’s first and most recognized financial sustainability index.

Seiji Kawazoe
Associate General Manager
Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co.

Seiji Kawazoe joined Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. in 1987, and has worked in the asset management and investment section at the bank since 1995, gaining experience as a Fund Manager for global equities for institutional accounts. Kawazoe has been based in New York, London and Luxembourg, where he gained deeper insights in the field of equity investments, corporate disclosure issues and regulatory frameworks. He has recently taken on global business development, including environment, social, and governance services at Sumitomo Trust’s Tokyo office.

John Kornerup Bang
Lead Group Advisor, Environment & Climate Change
A.P. Moeller-Maersk

John Kornerup Bang is responsible for driving A.P. Moeller-Maersk’s ambition of achieving full integration of sustainability into its business operations and to become a real part of the solution to the climate change challenge. John holds long experience working on low-carbon innovation from his past years at WWF, where he managed various international programs on sustainable economic globalization, the role of emerging economies (especially China) in providing solutions to the world as well as partnerships with companies providing solutions.

Peter White
Director, Global Sustainability
Procter&Gamble

A key architect of P&G’s long-term Sustainability Vision and 2020 Goals, Peter White leads P&G’s Global Sustainability Department, the corporate group which supports P&G’s Global Business Units, manages Sustainability issues and reports progress against P&G’s Sustainability Goals. Peter holds several external appointments, including Vice-chairmanship of the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on Consumer Industries. A biologist by training, Peter has worked at P&G for 20 years in the areas of Environmental Management, Lifecycle Assessment and Integrated Solid Waste Management.

Karen Hamilton
VP, Sustainability
Unilever

Karen joined Unilever in consumer marketing in 1988 in their UK Personal Care company. In her current role, VP Sustainability, she has a global remit and has led the development of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. Karen represents Unilever on a number of external sustainability boards including The Sustainability Consortium and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBSCD). She is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, Climate Change Leaders programme.

Vivek Tulpule
Head of Economics & Chief Economist
Rio Tinto

Vivek is responsible for assessing the economic environment and markets in which Rio Tinto operates. This includes the global macro economy, commodity demand, supply and prices and the implications of global shifts such as climate change. Vivek began his career as an economist in the Australian Public Service and has degrees in economics from the Australian National University and an MBA from the Melbourne Business School.

Clay Nesler
VP, Global Energy & Sustainability, Building Efficiency
Johnson Controls

Clay Nesler is the Vice President, Global Energy and Sustainability, for the Building Efficiency business of Johnson Controls. In this role, he is responsible for energy and sustainability strategy, policy, innovation, and NGO relationships, as well as the Johnson Controls Institute for Building Efficiency. He also serves on the company’s global environmental sustainability council. Since joining Johnson Controls in 1983, Clay has held a variety of senior leadership positions in research, product development, marketing, and strategy in both the United States and Europe.

Justin Adams
Head, Emerging Business & Ventures
BP Alternative Energy

Justin Adams has spent the last 14 years championing innovation in clean energy & carbon markets; building bridges between multinationals, the investment community and entrepreneurs. He is currently Head of Emerging Business & Ventures in BP’s Alternative Energy division, where he develops new low-carbon business opportunities for BP. He leads the Group’s CO2 innovation activities including CCS, and heads BP’s corporate venture activities with over $130m invested in over 20 companies. He serves on the Board of several cleantech and carbon companies in the US and Europe.

Julian Walker-Palin
Head, Corporate Sustainability
ASDA

Julian is a retail specialist having worked in this sector for nearly 15 years. Since 2007 he has been Head of Corporate Sustainability at Asda, the UK arm of Walmart. In this role he heads up the corporate sustainability team responsible for strategy and policy formulation as well as external communications and stakeholder engagement. He is also the UK and European sustainability representative for Walmart and runs global projects (e.g. sustainable palm oil strategy) on behalf of the global organisation.

Benjamin Kott
Clean Energy Advocacy Manager EMEA
Google

Benjamin works with key stakeholders to help advance the roll-out of clean energy solutions in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy investments and clean energy R&D. Previously, Benjamin was Google’s Green Business Operations Manager for Europe, covering building efficiency, employee engagement as well as major external initiatives like Google’s Copenhagen Project (www.google.com/cop15). Before Google, Benjamin worked with Booz&Co and EADS Airbus. Benjamin holds a degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from Munich Technical University, and an MBA from Insead in France.

Che Wall
Director, Sustainability
Lend Lease

Ché is internationally recognised as one of the world’s leading green building experts, with a raft of award winning projects to his name. Ché joined Lend Lease in 2010 as a founding Director of its Sustainability Solutions business. Previously Ché was the Managing Director of WSP Lincolne Scott. He was the founding Chairman of the World Green Building Council, a co-founder and founding Director of the Green Building Council of Australia, and he established the Green Star environmental rating system for buildings.

Dr Thomas Tang
Director, Corporate Sustainability
AECOM Asia

Dr. Thomas Tang is Director for Corporate Sustainability, AECOM Asia, a global provider of professional planning, design and engineering services. He is responsible for AECOM’s sustainability and CSR initiatives in the region as well as reducing the company’s internal carbon footprint. He also has policy research experience concerning the built environment, waste management, energy and climate change with particular interests in green technologies and designing low carbon cities of the future.

Katharina Tomoff
Vice President GoGreen Program
Deutsche Post DHL

Katharina Tomoff is Vice President leading Deutsche Post DHL’s environmental department with its environmental protection program GoGreen since January 2010. The focus of GoGreen is to reduce Deutsche Post DHL’s carbon footprint for every letter mailed, every container shipped and every square meter of warehouse space used by 30% until 2020. Prior to this, Katharina was assignment manager for Inhouse Consulting at Deutsche Post DHL where she worked in international projects in the area of performance improvement, sales, strategy and business development.

Giles Hutchins
Global Director, Sustainability Solutions
AtoS

As Global Director of Sustainability Solutions at AtoS, Giles Hutchins balances educational and operational responsibilities. His goal is to bring sustainability into the mainstream of all business behaviour and to develop focused and practicable sustainability initiatives for AtoS and its clients. With over a decade of business and IT transformation experience, Giles is focused on helping organisations evolve to become more sustainable. He is particularly interested in how business models can mimic those found in nature to create resilience under volatile conditions. Giles is the co-founder of BCI – Biomimicry for Creative Innovation, a collaborative ‘think and do’ tank for business transformation based on ecological thinking.

Paul Dickinson
Executive Chairman
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

Paul Dickinson heads the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent non-profit organization providing primary corporate climate change information. CDP serves as a system through which organizations and businesses disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies. CDP subsequently uses this data in order to help shape financial and policy decisions with the mission of motivating investors, corporations, and governments to prevent dangerous climate change. CDP unifies corporate CEOs, investors, and political leaders to take action against climate change.

Janine Benyus
President
The Biomimicry Institute

Janine Benyus is a natural sciences writer, innovation consultant, and author of six books, including her latest − Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. In 1998, Janine co-founded an education and innovation practice called Biomimicry Guild, which has helped clients such as General Electric, HOK Architects, Levi’s, NASA, and Seventh Generation create sustainable products, processes, and policies based on nature’s principles. In addition to her biomimicry work, Janine teaches interpretive writing, lectures at the University of Montana, and works towards restoring and protecting wild lands. She has received several awards including Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics Award and the Lud Browman Award for Science Writing.

John Elkington
Founding Partner & Executive Chairman
Volans

John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. BusinessWeek described him as “dean of the corporate responsibility movement” (2004) and in 2009, a CSR International survey placed John as 4th of top 100 global CSR leaders. In 2008, John co-founded Volans, which aims to find, explore, advise on and build innovative scalable solutions to the great global divides that overshadow the future. 
A prolific writer, John is working on his 18th book ‘The Zeronauts’, due in Spring 2012.

Philip Wolfe
Chairman
Ownergy

Philip Wolfe is a recognised pioneer of the renewables sector since founding BP Solar in the 1970s. In six high-profile years as Director General of the Renewable Energy Association (REA) he became the voice of renewable energy in the UK. Philip led the campaign for the Tariffs and authored the first design blueprint presented to Ministers. He is a member of the Energy Saving Trust’s Microgeneration Advisory Board and the REAL Code Panel, and a non-executive director of the REA and the Aldersgate Group.

Mohammad Rafiq
Senior Vice President, Programs
Rainforest Alliance

Mohammad Rafiq, Senior Vice President of Programs at the Rainforest Alliance, develops, coordinates and oversees the organization’s global work in agriculture, forestry and tourism, climate change and evaluation and research. With a specialization in social forestry with expertise in forest management planning and implementation, he began his career as a professional forester in Pakistan. Prior to the Rainforest Alliance Rafiq was employed as the Head of the Business and Biodiversity Program of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Claude Fussler
Special Advisor for Innovation and Sustainability

Claude is an expert on business innovation and issues management in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. He chairs the Sustainability Council of the EDF Group and is a member of the Sustainability Advisory Boards of Kimberley-Clark and Alcatel-Lucent. Claude received the Cleantech Pioneer Award in 2006 for his work in business processes for eco-efficiency and innovation. He worked for more than 30 years at Dow Chemical where he held a succession of manufacturing, commercial and business positions, including vice-president for Europe.

Bryan Walsh
Staff Writer
Time Magazine

Bryan Walsh currently writes TIME’s “Going Green” column, which focuses on environmental issues. A former Tokyo bureau chief for TIME, Walsh was named writer in 2007 and is now based in New York. Previously, Walsh was a staff writer for TIME Asia in Hong Kong where he focused on public health, science and the environment. Walsh was awarded a Knight Public Health Journalism Fellowship from the Center for Disease Control Foundation.

Olav Kjørven
Assistant Secretary-General
UN
Director, Bureau for Policy Development
UNDP

Before joining the United Nations, Kjørven worked for the Government of Norway, where he served as State Secretary for International Development since 2001. In this capacity, he was responsible for policy making and the overall management of Norwegian international development activities. Between 1997 and 2000, he was political adviser to the Minister on International Development and Human Rights. Kjørven served as Director of International Development at the Centre for Economic Analysis from 2000 to 2001. He also worked for the World Bank as Environmental Specialist from 1992 to 1997.

Dr. Andrew Steer
Special Envoy for Climate Change
The World Bank

Since his appointment in July 2010, Dr. Steer is responsible for guiding the Bank Group’s work on climate change, and for advancing a strong pro-development climate agenda internationally. Prior to this, Dr. Steer served for three years as Director General, Policy and Research at the UK Department of International Development (DFID). Dr. Steer has three decades of experience working on development issues at the country level and globally. He has a PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Björn Stigson
President
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Björn Stigson worked for the Swedish multinationals Kockums and ESAB in several positions from 1969-1982. From 1983-91 he was President and CEO of the Fläkt Group, and following this, he became Executive Vice President and a member of ABB Asea Brown Boveri’s Executive Management Group. In 1995, he was appointed President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Björn serves on the boards of a variety of international companies and organisations, and has been active as an advisor to governments (particularly China, US and Germany).

Mark Kenber
CEO
The Climate Group

An expert on international climate policy, Mark advised former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in the joint policy initiative Breaking the Climate Deadlock (2008-2009) and co-founded the successful Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). Previously, Mark worked in WWF’s International Climate Change Programme where he led the creation of the CDM Gold Standard, a tool for channeling carbon market investments into sustainable clean energy projects . He has also served as Director of Planning at Fundacion Natura, Ecuador’s largest environmental organization, and climate change advisor to the Ecuadorian government.

Angelina Galiteva
President
World Council for Renewable Energy

In addition to her role as Chairperson of WCRE, Angelina Galiteva is a member of the governing board of the California Independent System Operator Corporation and a Principal of New Energy Options, Inc. and ATG Energy. She specializes in formalizing strategic direction for renewable energy and overall sustainable policy programs for public and private entities. With her global industry experience, Angelina has successfully managed to bring key multi-stakeholder partnerships together to effectively implement green energy programs and initiatives in various countries.

Chris Tuppen
Founder & Senior Partner
Advancing Sustainability

Chris Tuppen has been involved in sustainability for over twenty years. He runs Advancing Sustainability LLP, is a partner in Fronesys Ltd and is an Honorary Professor at Keele University. He was previously BT’s Chief Sustainability Officer. Chris is experienced in developing sustainability strategy, reporting, metrics, target setting, climate change, risk assessment, governance, thought leadership, stakeholder dialogue, media support, public affairs interaction and international collaboration. He has a special interest in the application of smart technologies.

David Nussbaum
Chief Executive Officer
WWF-UK

In addition to heading up WWF-UK, David Nussbaum chairs the international WWF Network’s Global Climate and Energy Initiative, and sits on the Global Network Executive Team. Prior to this, David was Chief Executive of Transparency International and held senior positions in Traidcraft plc and Oxfam. David is currently a non-executive director of Low Carbon Accelerator and of the fair trade organisation Shared Interest Society, as well as Vice-Chair of the ACCA Social and Environmental Committee.

Dax Lovegrove
Head of Business & Industry Relations
WWF-UK

Dax manages WWF-UK’s business engagement strategy while identifying opportunities for converging business and environmental interests. He also works with colleagues across WWF’s network in its international endeavours with business and industry. Dax has been heavily involved in providing guidance for corporate sustainability strategies within a number of key business sectors including energy, finance, food and beverages, ICT, retail, travel, and media. Before joining WWF, Dax worked in the private sector for ten years. Dax holds a Masters in Sustainable Development.

Keith Allott leads a team which works on issues including the international climate change negotiations, implementation of the UK Climate Change Act, UK energy policy, emissions trading, climate change adaptation and aviation. Previously, Keith worked as Deputy Editor at ENDS, the leading publisher of information and analysis on UK and EU environmental policy. He also worked for the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and contributed to its 2000 report on Energy & Environment - the source of the Government’s original target to reduce the UK’s CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050.

Jeremy Oppenheim
Director, Head of Sustainability and Resource Productivity Practice
McKinsey & Company

Jeremy leads McKinsey’s global Sustainability and Resource Productivity Practice (SRP), the Firm’s hub on green growth, resource productivity and the wider sustainability agenda. The SRP practice’s aspiration is to help decision makers accommodate their value-creating agenda, the sustainability imperative and the discontinuities altering resource economics, including technology innovation and regulatory intervention. Jeremy has a MA in Law and Economics from Cambridge University and a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government. Prior to joining McKinsey, he worked as a Senior Economist at the World Bank.

Dr Martin R Stuchtey
Director, Sustainability and Resource Productivity Practice
McKinsey & Company

Martin leads McKinsey’s Sustainability & Resource Productivity Practice’s work on water and waste. In addition, he has significant experience in McKinsey’s Transport & Logistics Sector, where he helped numerous infrastructure groups to develop sustainable business models and deal with the challenges of climate change. Martin holds a BSc in economic geology/mineralogy from Rhodes University, a Masters in business economics from the Coblence School of Management, a MBA from Lancaster University and a PhD in regional economics from the Technical University of Dresden.

Marco Albani
Senior Practice Expert, Sustainability & Resource Productivity
McKinsey & Company

Marco serves leading public, private and social sector clients on sustainability topics, with focus on climate change mitigation strategies, bioenergy, forest carbon and land-use. Previously, Marco worked at Harvard University in the field of ecology, specializing in carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems. Marco authored several scientific journal articles and book chapters in the fields of forest ecology, global change biology, and resource economics. He holds a Ph.D. in Forest Sciences from the University of British Columbia.

Alex MacGillivray
Executive Director
Climate Business

Alex MacGillivray is Executive Director of Climate Business, a global network of experts making the low-carbon economy a reality. Alex has many years of experience in sustainability and climate change. He works with businesses, associations, ministries and NGOs. His core skills are in strategy, capacity-building and innovation.