Christiana Figueres is a Costa Rican citizen and an internationally recognized leader on climate change. She was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010 to 2016.

During her tenure at the UNFCCC, Ms. Figueres brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and NGOs to jointly deliver the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, in which 195 sovereign nations agreed on a collaborative path forward to limit future global warming to well below 2°C, and strive for 1.5°C, in order to protect the most vulnerable. For this achievement Ms. Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy and received multiple awards.

Since then Ms. Figueres has continued to accelerate the global response to climate change. Today she is the co-founder of Global Optimism, co-host of the podcast “Outrage & Optimism” and is the co-author of the recently published book, “The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis.

Ms. Figueres sits on multiple executive and advisory boards and is a frequent public speaker and media commentator. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics. She lives in Costa Rica and has two fantastic daughters.

John joined National Grid in 1991 and during his time at the company has held a variety of senior management roles, including UK Director of Engineering in 2003, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for the US Electricity Distribution & Generation business in 2007, Chief Operating Officer for UK Gas Distribution in 2010, and UK Chief Operating Officer from 2012 to 2014.

He joined the Board in 2014, as Executive Director UK, responsible for the UK’s Electricity Transmission, Gas Transmission and Gas Distribution businesses.

In September 2017, John came together with the government and thirteen other CEOs to create an Inclusive Economy Partnership, which has been established to identify and develop solutions to some of today’s most significant societal challenges, including financial inclusion and capability, mental health and transition to work.

In January 2018, John was appointed to the Rentokil Initial plc Board as a Non-Executive Director and became Senior Independent Director in May 2019.

He was appointed a member of the Edison Electric Institute Executive Committee in June 2019, is a member of CBI’s Presidents Committee, and a Fellow of the Energy Institute and of the Institution of Energy and Technology. He holds a BSC in Economics and an MSc in International Economics and Banking, and completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in 2010.

In 2010, Nick founded Lightsource Renewable Energy, then just a six-person start-up, which quickly grew over 5 years to become Europe’s largest solar developer and operator and a recognized global leader. In his role as Group CEO, Nick’s dynamic leadership and vision has driven the company to tremendous success and in December 2017, Lightsource announced a strategic partnership with BP which has committed aggressively to accelerate the low carbon transition. The company has rebranded to Lightsource bp in affirmation of this powerhouse commitment which is set to shape the future of global energy delivery. Nick previously sat at Board and Senior Director level in a number of leading retail financial service companies. Throughout his career, Nick has always been recognized for his entrepreneurial skill and success in pairing retail financial products with low-risk, predictable investments.

OGCI Climate Investments is a $1B+ fund, launched in 2017 by the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, a CEO-led consortium that aims to accelerate the industry response to climate change.

We look for outcomes that reduce methane and carbon dioxide emissions, and that can recycle or store carbon dioxide. Achieving significant impact requires global implementation and commercial frameworks – at OGCI Climate Investments, we collaborate with innovators, investors and governments to fund and implement impactful solutions.

As CEO of OGCI Climate Investments, Dr. Pratima Rangarajan is responsible for the delivery of the OGCI Climate Investments mission – creating positive outcomes in the reduction of climate change. Before joining OGCI Climate Investments, Pratima was the General Manager for GE’s Onshore Wind Product Line and the General Manager for GE’s Energy Storage startup. She had previously held the role of Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Emerging Technology and Research at Vestas Wind Systems. Pratima has a PhD in chemical engineering from Princeton University and a BS in chemical engineering from MIT.

Joana is Executive Board Member of EDP Produção, the conventional generation unit in Portugal of EDP Group, where she holds responsibilities in regulation, finance, digital transformation, sustainability, stakeholder management and risk.

Joana is an energy professional, having led a career as an executive in infrastructures’ operations and finance. She served as Director in REN (the Portuguese Transmission System Operator for electricity and natural gas), CFO of ESPART, a real estate developer, and COO of portway, a ground handling company.  Joana started out in McKinsey as a consultant for seven years, leading projects in London, Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon. She went on to join the Cabinet of the Secretary of State of Treasury and Finance.

She obtained a MSc in Economics from Porto University and her MBA from INSEAD.

In 2019 she co-founded Leading Together (leadingtogether.org), an initiative to promote gender-balanced leaderships with the INSEAD Alumni Association. She is the host of the podcast Net Zero, with the Florence School of Regulation, on the energy transition and climate change.

Born in Switzerland in 1962, Alex Schneiter is a graduate of Geneva University where he obtained a degree in Geology and a masters degree in Geophysics.

From 1987 until 1989 Mr. Schneiter worked in the research and mining domain as a Geophysicist before joining in 1990 a public Canadian Oil company as a Geophysicist, seismic interpreter and seismic acquisition QC.

Since 1993 Mr. Schneiter has worked with public companies associated with the Lundin family. In 1998, he was appointed Vice President Exploration of Lundin Oil. Following the acquisition of Lundin Oil by Talisman Energy in 2001, Lundin Petroleum was formed and he was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and then, in 2015, President and Chief Executive Officer. The Company changed its name to Lundin Energy in 2020.

Andreas Schierenbeck has been Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Uniper since June 2019. Uniper is a leading international energy company and operates in Europe, Russia, and a number of other markets around the world in power generation, gas up- and midstream, global commodities and energy services. The company is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Prior to assuming this position, Andreas Schierenbeck was CEO of ThyssenKrupp Elevator. He started his business career at Siemens in 1992, where he held different senior executive positions in Germany and abroad until 2012, including his last role as Division President Building Technologies North and South America. Since July 2019 he is a member of the Board of Eurogas. Andreas Schierenbeck holds a degree in electrical engineering and completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School. He was born on January 14, 1966 in Hohen-Neuendorf/Berlin, Germany.

Lorenzo Simonelli is Chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR). Baker Hughes is an energy technology company that combines innovation, expertise and scale to provide solutions for energy and industrial customers worldwide.

Simonelli was named Chairman of the Board in October 2017 and has been President and CEO since the Company’s creation in 2017, where he oversaw the successful merger of GE Oil & Gas with Baker Hughes Inc. Since 2013, he served as President and CEO of GE Oil & Gas.

Previously, Simonelli served as President and CEO of GE Transportation, a global transportation leader in the rail, mining, marine and energy storage industries. During his five-year tenure, he expanded and diversified GE Transportation by focusing on advanced technology manufacturing, intelligent control systems, and a diverse approach to new propulsion solutions.

He has also served as CFO Americas for GE Consumer & Industrial, as well as General Manager, Product Management for GE Appliances, Lighting, Electrical Distribution and Motors.

Simonelli joined GE’s Financial Management Program in 1994, where he worked on assignments in GE International, GE Shared Services, GE Oil & Gas, and Consolidated Financial Insurance.

He currently serves on the Board of CNH Industrial.

Originally from Tuscany, Italy, Simonelli is a Business & Economics Graduate from Cardiff University in South Wales.

Marco Alverà, born in New York in 1975, has been the CEO of Snam, one of the world’s leading energy infrastructure companies, since April 2016.

Marco has 20 years of experience in Italy’s most prominent energy companies.

He holds a degree in Economics and Philosophy from the London School of Economics and began his career working at Goldman Sachs in London before moving to Enel and subsequently joining Wind. Afterwards, he moved to Eni, where he worked for more than 10 years holding various positions of increasing responsibility.

He currently serves as President of GasNaturally, a partnership of six associations from across the whole European gas value chain, non-executive director of S&P Global and member of the Executive Board of the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice. He is also a Visiting Fellow of the University of Oxford.

Marco wrote the book ‘Generation H’ (Mondadori) on hydrogen’s potential as a clean energy resource.

Chris Peeters is CEO of Elia Group, active in electricity transmission. With subsidiaries in Belgium (Elia Transmission Belgium) and northeast Germany (50Hertz), the Group operate 18,990 km of high-voltage connections that supply power to 30 million end users. As such, our Group is one of Europe’s top five transmission system operators.

Elia is also part of the Nemo Link joint venture that operates the first subsea electrical interconnector between Belgium and the United Kingdom. In addition to its activities as a transmission system operator in Belgium and Germany, Elia Group provides various consulting services to international customers through its subsidiary Elia Grid International (EGI).

Before joining Elia Group, Chris Peeters ran the Business Consulting activities of Schlumberger in Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. Prior to that, he was 14 years with McKinsey & Company (of which seven years as Partner), specialising in the energy sector.

The first 10 years of his career, he created an engineering firm and subsequently started a manufacturer of building materials, before joining Hoogovens Aluminium as Sales and Technical Manager for part of Europe.

Chris Peeters holds a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Leuven, Belgium.

Paddy Padmanathan is a seasoned engineering and energy expert with over 40 years of experience. He is a key member of ACWA Power’s executive leadership team, having spearheaded its expansion from a startup in 2005 to where it is today; a leading private developer, owner and operator of power generation and desalinated water production plants. Headquartered in Saudi Arabia, the company now has a portfolio of assets of an investment value of USD 48 billion, producing 33.9 GW of power and 5.2 million m3 /day of desalinated water.

Paddy has guided ACWA Power’s cost leadership and business strategy which is focused on reliably and responsibly delivering electricity and desalinated water, at competitive prices. He is also steering ACWA Power’s leadership in renewable energy, enabling it to be at the forefront in reducing the cost of clean energy on a global scale.

Prior to joining ACWA Power, Paddy was Vice President and Corporate officer at Black and Veatch, where he was responsible for developing privately financed power, water and wastewater projects at over a dozen countries.

Paddy holds a degree in Engineering from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and in addition to his executive responsibilities at ACWA Power, also serves on the Board of Directors of several companies involved in power and water development across the globe.

Gwenaelle AVICE-HUET, earning educational background on science from the Ecole Normale Supérieure and in engineering from the Corps des Ponts et Chaussées, has started her career in the scientific research area at the French National Research Institute and the French Atomic Energy Commission on nuclear energy, before joining the World Bank in Washington D.C. as a consultant. She also worked for the Service of the Prime Minister in France within the General Secretary for European affairs with responsibility for energy and competitiveness matters, and as the advisor for various ministers (European Affairs State Secretary, M. Jean-Pierre Jouyet – 2008/2009 ; State Minister responsible for Energy and sustainable development, M. Jean-Louis Borloo – 2009/2010). In the course of 2010, she joined GDF SUEZ (now ENGIE) as Senior Vice-President for European and Regulatory Affairs. On January 1^st, 2016, she became Chief Executive Officer of ENGIE France Renewable Energy (2,200 people working on hydro, on-shore wind, solar, biomethane and offshore wind, 6 000 MW installed achieving 900 M€ of turnover in 2018). Since May 1^st, 2019, she is a member of the Executive Committee of ENGIE responsible for the Renewables Global Business Line and Chief Executive Officer of ENGIE North America (6,500 employees working in the U.S. and in Canada, achieving $4.0 billion in 2018 revenues).

Simon has a long history with Wood Mackenzie. He first joined the company in 1983, as a North-West Europe upstream analyst, later moving to Sydney to become an equity analyst covering the Australian oil, gas and mining sectors.

On returning to the UK in 1992, Simon was a No.1 ranked oil analyst with NatWest Markets after which he took on the role of MD and Head of Pan European Utilities Research with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. There he worked with the boards of many utility companies and was involved in most of the major European privatisations, including Enel, EdF and GdF.

Simon re-joined Wood Mackenzie in 2010, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience across a breadth of commodities and sectors including oil and gas, utilities and mining. His experience makes him uniquely qualified to occupy the role of Chief Analyst and Chairman, which sees him produce high-value content and thematic research. 

Simon’s views on the issues shaping the energy world are regularly sought by industry leaders as well as international media.

Al Cook joined Equinor in 2016 as the SVP in DPI overseeing operations in Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Libya, Nigeria, Russia and Venezuela, moving to his current role of EVP of Global Strategy & Business Development incorporating the UK Country Manager position in 2018. He joined from BP, where he was Chief of Staff to the CEO. Cook joined BP in 1996, taking on a series of project development and commercial roles in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico. He then worked in field operations in the North Sea from 2002 to 2005, becoming Offshore Installation Manager. From 2005, he led the IGB2 Project in Vietnam and acted as President for BP Vietnam. Cook worked from 2009 to 2014 as BP’s Vice President leading the development of the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan and construction of the Southern Gas Corridor.

Mary was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer in August 2020. She joined Mainstream in 2009 and she held the role of Group Chief Financial Officer since 2017. She was appointed to Mainstream’s Board of Directors in 2019 and she sits on the company’s Risk & Investment and Corporate Social Responsibility Committees.

Mary has established a reputation for building world-class teams, implementing new reporting structures and systems across the company, and for aligning the company’s finance strategies to support the business strategy and high growth.

Mary has graduate and post-graduate qualifications from UCD and is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) and Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA). She is an advocate and spokesperson on gender diversity and participated as a mentor for the Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) Women in Wind programme in 2019.

Prior to joining Mainstream, Mary held senior-level positions in finance and corporate tax in PricewaterhouseCoopers and Trinity Biotech Plc.

Fiona Reynolds is the CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The PRI is a U.N. supported organisation, with more than 2,800 signatories who collectively represent over US $103.4 trillion in assets under management.

The PRI is the major global organisation for responsible investment practices and leadership and the integration of environmental, social and governance issues across the investment chain. The PRI’s mission is to create a sustainable global financial system and the organisation aims to bring responsible investors together to work towards creating sustainable financial markets that contribute to a more prosperous world for all.

Appointed in 2013, Fiona has 25 years' experience in the financial services and pension sector. Fiona joined the PRI from Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST), where she spent 7 years as the CEO. Fiona also serves on the Board of the UN Global Compact, is a member of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), 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+ which is the largest ever investor engagement with listed companies. Fiona has been a member of the UK Government Green Finance Taskforce and is currently on the Advisory Board for the UK Green Finance Centre. In 2018 Fiona was named by Barron’s magazine as one of the 20 most influential people in sustainability globally and by the Australian Financial Review of one of Australia’s one hundred women of influence for her work in financial services and responsible investment.

Fiona has formerly been a pension fund director/trustee of AUSfund and been on the boards of Industry Funds Credit Control, Australia for UNHCR, the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors and the National Women in Super Network.

Born in Arezzo on 8 January 1957, Valerio Battista holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Florence University. With more than 30 years of experience, he has extensive knowledge and a deep understanding of the industrial sector, gained first with Pirelli Group and then with Prysmian Group, which he has led since 2005. He held positions of increasing responsibility within Pirelli Group, including for the restructuring and reorganization of Pirelli Cavi, transformed between 2002 and 2004 into one of the most profitable and competitive organizations in its industry. In 2005, he played a key role in the creation of Prysmian Group, leading to its listing on the Stock Exchange in 2007. The Group of which he is currently CEO is world leader in the energy and telecom cables industry, with approximately 29,000 employees and 106 plants worldwide. He has been President of Europacable since June 2014 and a member of the Board of Directors of Brembo S.p.A. since April 2017 serving as Lead Independent Director. He has sat on the Prysmian Board of Directors since December 2005. He was elected for the current term of office by the Shareholders’ Meeting on 12 April 2018 from the slate submitted by the Board of Directors, which obtained the majority of votes.

Paolo Gallo is Chief Executive Officer and General Manager at Italgas since 4 August 2016. He received his degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin. He subsequently earned a MBA from Turin University. From 2014 to 2016 he was the Chief Executive Officer of Grandi Stazioni S.p.A, of which he oversaw the privatization. Previously (from 2011 to 2014) he worked at Acea S.p.A., firstly as Chief Operating Officer and then as Chief Executive Officer. From 2002 to 2011 he was in the Edison Group, initially as Head of Strategy and Innovation, then as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Edipower.

He started his career in Fiat Avio S.p.A. in 1988, holding several roles and responsibilities over 13 years. In 1997 he began working in the energy field, developing new initiatives in Italy, India and Brazil and subsequently he recollected all Fiat Group’s electricity generation activities in Fiat Energia, of which he was Chief Executive Officer until 2002.

Between 1992 and 1993 he was dean of the MBA programme at the School of Business Administration of the University of Turin, where he lectured “Industrial Investmens Economical-Financial evaluations” until 2002. He is also co-author of relevant publications in the sector. Since 2018 he has been Professor of Re-engineering Operational Processes (Master Digital Ecosystem) and Energy Management (Master Energy Industry) courses at the Luiss Business School.

Dr Arunabha Ghosh is a public policy professional, adviser, author, columnist, and institution builder. As the founder-CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, since 2010, he has led CEEW to the top ranks as one of Asia's leading policy research institutions (seven years in a row); and among the world’s 20 best climate think-tanks in 2013 and 2016. He was actively involved in conceptualising and designing the International Solar Alliance. He conceptualised and is a founding board member of the Clean Energy Access Network (CLEAN). Co-author/editor of four books and with experience in 45 countries, he previously worked at Princeton, Oxford, UNDP (New York), and WTO (Geneva). In 2018, the UN Secretary-General nominated him to the UN's Committee for Development Policy. In 2020, the Government of India appointed him Co-Chair of the energy, environment and climate change track for India’s Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP2020). His 2019 TED Talk on air quality (Mission 80-80-80) has crossed 225,000 views. He is co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Clean Air and is a member of the international high-level panel of the Environment of Peace initiative.

Darius Maikštėnas, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Ignitis Group, has been managing international innovative telecommunication solutions company established in Silicon Valley. Prior to this, D. Maikštėnas had more than 20 years of experience in executive level leadership positions across IT, Telecommunications industries. D. Maikštėnas is a graduate of the Harvard Business School GMP (General Management Program), a graduate of the Baltic Management Institute with a Master of Business Administration degree.

Mr. Keppler is a co-founder and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Enviva. Over the past decade, Mr. Keppler has been responsible for setting Enviva’s strategic direction and leading the company’s growth from a startup company to become the world’s largest producer of woody biomass fuels with

operations in Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Florida. The company’s portfolio of facilities now comprises about 4.5 million metric tons of production capacity. As part of the company’s strategic vertical integration, these processing facilities export to customers in the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea through Enviva’s wholly-owned purpose-built wood pellet port facilities Chesapeake, Virginia and Wilmington, North Carolina and also through deep water marine terminals in Panama City, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama.

Mr. Keppler led Enviva Partners, LP (NYSE: EVA) to its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on April 29, 2015, making it the first publicly traded company in the industry.

Mr. Keppler serves on the Board of the Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP), a non-profit standard-setting organization that manages a voluntary certification system designed for woody biomass used in energy production.

Mr. Keppler holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a Master of Business Administration from the

Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

Axel Threlfall is Editor-at-Large, Reuters, based in London. Alongside his editorial duties, he hosts high-profile engagements and thought leadership events for and on behalf of Reuters and Thomson Reuters, such as the Newsmaker series and the World Economic Forum news programming in Davos. He was previously Lead European Anchor for Reuters Digital Video. Prior to joining Reuters, Axel spent five years as an anchor for CNBC in London. Before that, he was an editor with The Wall Street Journal in New York and a news reporter for Bloomberg in London. He has also advised businesses and NGOs on their dealings with the international media. Axel is frequently asked to moderate events for international organizations, including the United Nations, the IMF and the OECD. He has a BA in History from Durham University and a postgraduate degree in journalism from City University, London.

Joost Bergsma founded Glennmont Partners in 2013 completing a spin out of BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners which had been established since 2008.

Glennmont manages over Euro 2.0bn across four unlisted funds and managed accounts for a range of global institutional investors. Glennmont focuses on renewable energy including on shore and off shore wind, solar and biomass. Joost has been active in utility banking and clean energy fund management for more than twenty five years. In this time, he has devised and implemented asset and exit strategies, generating in excess of EUR 10bn of sales proceeds for energy clients. He is actively involved in originating new deals through the fund’s development partners, and regularly speaks at conferences and industry events. As founding partner and CEO of Glennmont Partners, Joost has been involved in negotiations of some of the fund’s key wind and solar transactions. Previously, Joost worked at SG Warburg & Co., ABN AMRO and BNP Paribas. He has read law at Leiden University (the Netherlands) and has an MBA from INSEAD (France).

Founded NextEnergy Capital Group in 2007.

NextEnergy Capital Group (NEC) is a leading international specialist investment and asset manager exclusively focused on the solar sector. It has over 170 employees across six offices, including London, Milan, Hyderabad, New York, Luxembourg and Guernsey. NEC has AUM of $2.3bn, over 1GW of installed solar capacity and has acquired over 200 individual solar projects.

Previous to founding NEC, Michael was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in Energy & Power Investment Banking Group. He also held senior roles in the investment banking departments of Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston.

Michael holds an MBA from INSEAD (December 1994).

Tom is the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Executive Board member of RWE Renewables GmbH and RWE UK Country Chair.

As CCO of RWE Renewables, Tom is responsible for the commercial management and optimisation of RWE’s global renewable portfolio together with having responsibility for all power purchase agreements, M&A transactions, partnerships and the development of new markets. RWE Renewables operates in twenty countries and is the second largest offshore business globally and number four in the worldwide wind business outside China.

Tom has worked at RWE since 2003 and has held a variety of senior commercial, trading and origination positions, most recently being board member for RWE Generation SE and RWE Supply & Trading where he was commercially responsible for RWE’s European conventional generation fleet, a 42GW portfolio of coal, biomass, gas, hydro, nuclear and other conventional power stations which produce around 200TWh per annum.

Prior to RWE, Tom worked at Barclays Capital, Enron and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Martin Towns is bp’s Director of Carbon Capture, Use & Storage (CCUS), with responsibility for bp’s CCUS strategy and portfolio of projects for deploying this key energy transition enabling technology. A reservoir engineer by training, Martin joined BP in 2000 and has held technical and leadership roles in the North Sea, Angola, Colombia and Egypt. Martin holds degrees in geology and petroleum engineering from the University of Cambridge and Heriot Watt University. Based in the UK, Martin leads a team that manages a worldwide portfolio.

Matthew Harwood is Global Vice President of Strategy, Risk and Sustainability for McDermott.

Matthew, who is a chemist by trade, has led many global initiatives within the energy and chemical sectors over the last twenty years. His experience includes unique expertise in operational strategy, engineering, corporate development and environmental matters.

Prior to joining McDermott, he served as: an Associate at E4tech; an Associate at Eden McCallum; Group Strategy Director & Corporate Development Officer at Johnson Matthey; Chairman at Seven Energy International; Group Head of Strategy at Petrofac; Group Strategy Director at ScottishPower; an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton; and a Reservoir Engineer at Roya Dutch Shell.

He earned a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Climatology from the University of Cambridge.

Frederic Godemel is the Executive Vice President for Power Systems and Services, one of the largest business units in Schneider Electric.

Frederic joined Schneider in 1990 and developed his international career around the power domain, spanning across low and medium voltage, energy automation, infrastructure and services.

He has served in global as well as operational leadership roles based out of China, UAE and currently France.

Frederic holds a degree in engineering from Ecole Centrale de Nantes (France) and an MBA from ESSEC (France).

At Schneider Electric, we believe access to energy and digital is a basic human right. We empower all to make the most of their energy and resources, ensuring Life Is On everywhere, for everyone, at every moment. We provide energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability.

Schneider’s green medium voltage technology offers a way to reconcile growth implications with a sustainable approach and enables a smooth transition for businesses and electricity companies.

Joern Hackbarth serves as Executive Vice President, Global Head of Engineering & Construction for Sonnedix. His team is responsible for supporting Business Development during the acquisition phase of both existing and new-build plants, overseeing the design and construction of greenfield assets—including identifying partners and negotiating contracts, and optimising completed plants before handing them over to Asset Management.

Joern has spent his career working around the world, from Europe to the Middle East and Asia and from Africa to North America. Prior to Sonnedix, he was a Vice President at Scatec Solar Solution, leading the engineering and company competence centre regarding PV design. Before that he was the Director, Power Plant Construction at Phoenix Solar, leading a staff of around 50 people, with total oversight of the business unit, including drafting and managing the business unit cost centre, hiring, training and coaching staff, and contract negotiation. Since joining Sonnedix, Joern has been actively involved in helping to grow the company through connecting on-time, on-budget plants, like Oriana, the largest PV plant in the Caribbean, and a number of plants in Japan. He’s also played a key role in expanding the engineering team and is especially proud of becoming a member of Sonnedix’s senior management.

Kingsmill Bond, CFA is the Energy Strategist for Carbon Tracker. He believes that the energy transition is the most important driver of financial markets and geopolitics in the modern era.

Kingsmill has worked as a sell-side City equity analyst and strategist for 25 years, including for Deutsche Bank, Sberbank and Citibank in London, Hong Kong and Moscow. He has written research on emerging market and global themes, including the wider significance of the shale revolution and the impact of US energy independence.

At Carbon Tracker he has written about the impact of the energy transition on financial markets, domestic politics and geopolitics, and authored a series of reports on the myths of the energy transition, looking at the many arguments made by incumbents to deny the reality of change.

He has an MA in history from Cambridge University, qualified as an accountant (CIMA), and is holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification.

Franck Bruel has held commercial and general management roles in several multinational corporations. In 2016, with a wealth of international experience and a firm belief in the importance of energy efficiency in fighting climate change, he joined ENGIE – a leader in the energy transition – as Executive Vice President. He is currently ENGIE EXCOM member in charge of Business Units Latin America and United Kingdom, after a couple of years in charge of B2B energy services in France, as well as setting up the global green hydrogen BU.

Since May 2018, he also sits on the Board of Directors of SUEZ.

Franck worked successively at L’Oréal, Pinault Distribution, Samse and Saint-Gobain, where he eventually was appointed CEO of Dahl Group in Scandinavia, and CEO of Point P Group.

In 2010, he joined the family-owned group Sonepar (world leader of electrical material distribution) where he became the Group Chief Executive Officer.

Franck Bruel is the author of the book "Energy efficient, when less and better means more," (in French and English), published in 2018, Débats Publics editions.

As AES accelerates a cleaner energy future, Leo leads the design and execution of AES’ global strategy, oversees the company’s growth investments, manages AES’ global commercial activities and heads a unit to incubate new businesses with the potential to become transformative, high growth platforms.

Leo previously served as the Chief Financial Officer for AES’ Europe Strategic Business Unit, managing businesses in Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. In his 12 years with AES, he has held numerous leadership positions at both the corporate and business levels. Leo managed mergers, acquisitions, divestments, sell-downs, material contract negotiations and restructurings throughout AES’ global portfolio, leading transactions in the US, Central and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. At AES Brazil, he ran teams in charge of strategy, financial planning, risk management and investment analysis. Leo worked for Ernst & Young prior to joining AES.

Leo has a degree in Business Administration from Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, and has completed executive business and leadership programs at the London Business School, Georgetown University and University of Virginia.

Alex Brierley is co-head of Octopus Renewables and leads on its fundraising strategy. Octopus is one of the UK’s leading investor manager of renewable energy assets and the largest owner of solar PV in Europe, placing it at the forefront of the transition towards renewable power. Alex joined Octopus as an Investment Director in 2015 to help develop Octopus’ energy strategy, originate and structure investments in new areas and further Octopus’ relationships with investors. In doing so Alex and the team have championed the UK energy market throughout the world. Prior to joining Octopus, he was a Director at EY LLP where he led the EY Solar Photovoltaic Corporate Finance team. Alex holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Bristol University and is a Chartered Accountant.

Martyn’s passion is shaping the future of Wood and the markets we operate in to make us the most competitive and influential company of our type. Martyn leads Wood’s energy transition mega-trend and corporate strategy team. Martyn has had the privilege of being involved in several of the transformational changes that have shaped Wood including transformation acquisitions and organisational restructure. Martyn began his career in science, completing degrees in Human Physiology and Type 2 Diabetes at Edinburgh University. In his 7 years at Wood Mackenzie as a Principal Analyst he focused on market intelligence and strategy development within the Pharmaceutical and Biotech industry. Martyn subsequently worked with for a biotechnology innovation fund and regional development agency before joining Wood in 2011.

Torbjørn leads the establishment of a digital centre of excellence and the execution of a company-wide digital roadmap. Torbjørn has worked for Equinor since 2008. His previous positions include Vice president for operational analytics, advisor to Equinor’s president & CEO, and various leadership positions within procurement and supply chain management. Before joining Equinor, Torbjørn worked as a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting.

Education: Torbjørn holds an MSc in Industrial economics and technology management from the Norwegian university of science and technology (NTNU) as well as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from ESADE Business School in Spain and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in the US.

Pekka Tolonen is the Director of Europe for Wärtsilä Energy Business. He is an experienced business leader with extensive international exposure. With sustainable future of energy as the centerpiece of his career, Pekka has a versatile professional background, ranging from R&D and technology, to leadership roles in consulting, business development, strategy and sales, covering wide geographies across Europe, Middle-East and Africa.

In his current role, Pekka leads an international team of professionals providing smart power plant and energy storage solutions, and associated lifecycle services to utilities, independent power producers, and industrial customers in Europe.

Pekka holds an Executive MBA degree as well as an MSc in Energy Technology.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ptolonen/

Darren Cunningham is lead executive, U.K., and General Manager of the Humber Refinery, a position he has held since 2017. A chemical engineer, Cunningham has more than 30 years of experience in various refining and commercial roles.

He began his career with Conoco at the Humber Refinery in 1985, where he held various roles in engineering and planning and economics. In 1993, he transferred to the commercial office in London, as a crude oil trader. This was followed by assignments in Singapore and across America working in Business Development and Corporate Strategy roles.

Cunningham is now leading the Humber Refinery’s decarbonisation agenda.

Cunningham earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham in the U.K. in 1985.

Pierre-Étienne Franc, graduate from HEC Paris, joined the Air Liquide Group in 1995 as strategic analyst for the Group general management. He then held several positions in large Projects Business Development, Operations General Management, Strategy and Diversification activities. Since 2010 he has been supervising the portfolio of advanced businesses and technologies initiatives of the Group, in the fields of energy and environment, space, aeronautics, cryogenics, gathering 20 companies. Since June 2017, he is Vice President, Air Liquide, Hydrogen Energy World Business Line, in charge of developing the full potential of H2 activities for the Group worldwide and supervises Air Liquide Venture Capital arm (ALIAD), which he created in 2012. Between 2011 & June 2016, he was Chairman of Hydrogen Europe and of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), the European Platform financing Hydrogen and Fuel Cell sector. He is the current Hydrogen Council Secretary. He is author of three books ("Le Management du Client", Eyrolles, 1994 ; "Hydrogen, the energy transition in the making", Manifesto/Gallimard, 2015, "Entreprise et bien commun", Palio 2018).

Abhishek built and leads The Council’s practices on energy access, rural livelihoods, and sustainable food systems. He is directing 'Powering Livelihoods', a $3 million initiative to transform India's rural economy with clean energy solutions. He co-conceptualised and leads CEEW’s flagship research effort, Access to Clean Cooking Energy and Electricity – Survey of States (ACCESS), the largest panel survey on multidimensional energy access in India. In over nine years of experience, Abhishek has focused on various issues including decentralised renewable energy, energy access, LPG for cooking, fossil fuel subsidies, power sector, rural livelihoods, and sustainable agriculture.

Olivier Warnan is co-managing the Energy Transition Capital (ETC) investment line at BNP Paribas.

ETC was set in 2016 to implement one of BNP Paribas’ commitments towards the energy transition made at the time of the COP 21: invest €100 million of its own equity in the innovative start-ups supporting the energy transition.

Since mid-2016, this principal investment line has made 10 late-stage venture capital investments in the US and Europe, covering different themes like sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, storage, waste-to-energy, organic PV, solar street lighting and smartgrids.

Olivier joined BNP Paribas in 2000 and spent most of his career in the energy sector either in the Structured Finance or the Principal Investments departments. Previously a managing director of the Upstream Oil & Gas team, Olivier has led numerous large project and acquisition transactions.

He graduated from the European School of Management (ESCP Europe).

Tom Greenberg is a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Firm’s Global Oil and Gas Group, as well as Head of ESG Advisory, within the Investment Banking and Capital Markets division. He is based in Toronto and was formerly head of the bank’s Investment Banking and Capital Markets business in Canada.

Tom joined Credit Suisse in July 1998 and has advised numerous energy companies on landmark transactions, including advising Enbridge Inc. on its USD 47 billion acquisition of Spectra Energy, the largest deal in Canadian history, and Encana’s USD 7.7 billion acquisition of Newfield Exploration.  Tom has also advised on many other important transactions, including Brookfield’s acquisition of a USD 3 billion midstream package and COP’s sale of its interest in Syncrude. 

Mr. Greenberg holds a B.A. (Hons) from McGill University.

Abyd Karmali is a Managing Director, Sustainable Finance at Bank of America based in London. He is part of the team supporting the bank’s capital deployment efforts, in particular its commitment to mobilise $300 billion for low-carbon investment opportunities by 2030. He has worked for twenty-eight years on climate change and sustainable finance and was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for these efforts in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for 2019. Before joining the financial sector in 2007, he was a partner in a management consulting firm in Washington DC where he advised companies on their climate strategy and also spent two years with the United Nations Environment Programme in Paris where he served as Energy and Climate Change Programme Officer. In 2013, Mr. Karmali served as one of two inaugural private sector representatives to the Board of the Green Climate Fund. His advisory roles include the Judging Panel for the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, and co-chair of the Sustainable Finance Working Group for the International Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Board of Directors for The Climate Group and on the National Committee for the Aga Khan Foundation (UK). He holds an MS in Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Colette Cohen is the Chief Executive Officer for the OGTC, an organisation committed to the research and development of technology to enable the Oil and Gas industry to transition to a net zero future. Colette has worked in the industry for more than 25 years, both in the UK & Internationally for BP, ConocoPhillips & Centrica E&P, where she was the regional VP for the UK & Netherlands before joining the OGTC. Colette has a degree in Chemistry from Queens in Belfast, a

masters in Project Management & Economics from CERAM in France, an honorary PhD from Aberdeen University and was awarded an OBE for services to the industry.

She is the Chair of the National Composites Centre and sits on the boards of OPITO, NORECO and the Lloyds Advisory Board. She is also a Commissioner for the Just Transition Commission for Scotland, a Trustee for Springer Rescue for Scotland and an ambassador for Powerful Women. Colette is an active champion for the industrial transition of the oil and gas industry to a net zero future and a committed role model for women in industry.

Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter BORCHARDT hold a law degree from the University of Hamburg (1974-1979) and a PhD from the Free University of Berlin (1985). Since 1987 Mr Borchardt is a Civil servant at the European Commission where he served in different Directorates General (“Employment, Social Affairs and Education”, Legal Service, Agriculture and Rural Development) and as first Deputy and then Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel (Agriculture and Rural Development). Mr Borchardt also worked as a Member of the Cabinet of the German Judge at the European Court of Justice in Luxemburg. Since 1 April 2013 he is working in the Commissions Directorate-General for Energy, first as Director responsible for the Internal Energy Market and since 1 January 2019 as Deputy Director General. Mr Borchardt is Teaching Professor at the Faculty of Law at the Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg since 2001.

Dr. Arnt Baer is Head of Public Affairs at GELSENWASSER AG. He received his doctors degree at the Chair for Public, International and European Law at the University of Cologne. He worked for an energy supplier, a law firm specialized in energy law und the German Association of Local Utilities (VKU). He also worked for consultancy in Switzerland and as an independent attorney at law. Since 2012 he has been with Gelsenwasser, first as Head of General Affairs and currently as Head of Public Affairs.

Deirdre was appointed CEO of OGUK in May 2015. She has an LLB Hons in Scots Law and extensive experience as a senior business leader in the global energy sector; Deirdre is a Non-Executive Director of Scottish Water, a Board member of Opportunity North East, a member of the Scottish Government’s Energy Advisory Board and a member of the Women’s Business Council, a UK Government body focused on increasing women’s contribution to economic growth.

Previously Deirdre was a Board member of the North East of Scotland College (NESCOL) and Chair of the Aberdeen Science Centre.

In 2018, Deirdre was awarded an OBE for her services to the Oil and Gas industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Deirdre was also awarded a Fellowship from NESCOL in 2018 and is a Burgess of Aberdeen.

Tara Schmidt is Wood’s Vice President of Strategic Planning. She is responsible for developing, implementing and leading Wood’s strategic development process for Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia – in conjunction with managing the company’s approach to business intelligence – in responding to the emerging market and evolving needs of our customers.

With more than 20 years of energy industry experience, Tara brings a wealth of expertise in global energy and infrastructure markets, climate-related financial risk, technology and sustainable development. For over a decade, she has assisted corporate development teams in some of the world’s largest energy companies and financial institutions in strategic planning, scenarios development and market analysis.

Prior to joining Wood, Tara was a Partner with the world’s largest independent sustainability consultancy ERM, supporting clients in the implementation of the G20 Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). At the leading energy research firm Wood Mackenzie, Tara managed Global Energy Trends research overseeing a team of global market analysts. She began her career as a petroleum engineer working for BP and Shell, and later moved into management consulting with Accenture.

Professor Peter Strachan has worked at the Robert Gordon University for nearly 30 years. His research interests cover theoretical and public policy aspects of energy transition, and in moving the world to all-purpose 100% renewable energy. In supporting this work, he has received funding from the United Kingdom (UK) Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Innovate UK. Recently published articles focus on UK sub-national government and pathways to sustainable energy, corporate and community ownership models, and the performance of UK offshore windfarms. This work has been published in prestigious peer reviewed journals such as Energy Research and Social Science, Energy Policy, Environment and Planning C, Regional Studies, Sustainable Development, and Utilities Policy. Passionate about research and teaching he has supervised to completion 18 doctoral students and contributes to the Aberdeen Business School BA(Hons) International Business Management, MSc Energy Management, and MBA Oil and Gas Programmes.

Andrew joined Carbon Tracker in 2014 as a Senior Analyst, leading research on oil & gas and coal mining. He has authored a number of Carbon Tracker’s major reports on these sectors, including the Carbon Supply Cost Curves series, scenario analysis of the oil refining industry in Margin Call, and exploring transition risk at the company level in 2 Degrees of Separation. Prior to joining Carbon Tracker, Andrew formerly worked at Barclays Natural Resources Investments, a private equity department of Barclays that committed capital across a range of commodities and related industries. Andrew has previous experience in remuneration and corporate governance at Barclays Capital and New Bridge Street LLP. He is also a Senior Advisor to Critical Resource, a management consultancy specialising in political, stakeholder and sustainability challenges in the energy and mining sectors. Andrew has a degree in Chemistry & Law from Bristol University.