Speakers

Adrián Martinez Blanco

Director, La Ruta del Clima

Adrián is the Director of La Ruta del Clima and has been advocating for the UNFCCC climate summits since 2014. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Eastern Finland, with a Master’s in Environment, Development and Peace with a specialty in climate public policies. Adrián is a researcher in climate impacts, loss and damage, human rights, public participation and international climate law.

David Browning

CEO, Enveritas

David Browning is CEO of Enveritas, a non-profit organization, that provides sustainability assurance for the coffee industry. David previously led TechnoServe’s global coffee practice for 13 years. During this time he led The Coffee Initiative in partnership with the Gates Foundation working with hundreds of thousands of smallholder coffee farmers in East Africa. He has served as a trusted counselor for many of the world’s leading coffee companies on sustainability strategy, and also formerly worked for McKinsey & Company. He holds an M.B.A. from Yale University, as well as a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master’s degree in Advanced Finance from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Yamide Dagnet

Director of Climate Negotiations, World Resources Initiative (WRI)

Yamide Dagnet is Director, Climate Negotiations at WRI. She leads projects and engagement on climate negotiations for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Her work aims to advance the scaling-up of climate action and support, processes for transparent and verifiable climate data, accountability mechanisms for national commitments, and the necessary enabling, institutional and regulatory, and capacity building environments to transition toward a sustainable and fair zero-carbon and climate-resilient economy. While at WRI, Yamide has managed flagship projects such as ACT 2015 (Agreement for Climate Transformation 2015) on the design of the 2015 climate agreement and of the World Resources Institute's PACT (Project for Advancing Climate Transparency) on the design of guidelines and mechanisms for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and she contributed to the Climate Justice Dialogue.

Gilles Dufrasne

Policy Officer for Carbon Pricing, Carbon Market Watch

Gilles is a policy officer at Carbon Market Watch, a civil society watchdog specialized in carbon markets and carbon pricing. He leads advocacy campaigns on international carbon markets and engages in international negotiations, including around article 6 of the Paris Agreement, CORSIA and the voluntary market. Gilles also previously worked on campaigns focused on the EU ETS and other international carbon pricing policies, and holds an MSc. in environmental economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Moises Gonzalez

Head of LAC Regional Programme in Nicaragua, Christian Aid

Moisés David González Moreno works as Head of Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Programme for Christian Aid, with experience in rural development programmes on inclusive markets and climate change resilience with smallscale producers of coffee and cocoa in Central America. His experience includes collaboration with indigenous communities, cooperatives and private sector.

Bruno Hugel

Senior Advisor to the Central African Forest Initiative, UNDP

Bruno is a Senior advisor to the Central African Forest Initiative (https://www.cafi.org) with nearly 20 years of professional experience in developing countries, working on integrated natural resources management, climate change mitigation and sustainable development, from the field to the national, regional and global levels. He has supported partner countries in their REDD+ programming efforts, particularly in Africa and Asia-Pacific where he lived, from strategy formulation and investment planning to designing and implementing large-scale projects and results-based payments schemes. As part of this, Bruno has led the mobilization of nearly 1 billion USD in climate finance from various sources to support the implementation of forest-friendly low-emissions development, combining strategic national reforms with on-the-ground investments in thematic areas such as zero-deforestation agriculture, agroforestry, biomass energy, land-use planning and land tenure. He has also been involved in the development of a “nesting” framework for REDD+, to coordinate and manage climate finance for the land-use sector from various schemes and at different scales while ensuring high environmental integrity.

Saleemul Huq

Director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)

Prof. Saleemul Huq is the Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and Professor at the Independent University Bangladesh (IUB). In addition, he is the Chair of the Expert Advisory Group for the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and also Senior Adviser on locally-led Adaptation with Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA). He is an expert in adaptation to climate change in the most vulnerable developing countries; has been a lead author of the third, fourth and, fifth assessment reports of the IPCC; and advises the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group in the UNFCCC. He has published hundreds of scientific as well as popular articles. He was recognised as one of the top twenty global influencers on climate change policy in 2019 and top scientist from Bangladesh on climate change science.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim

President, Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT)

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an expert in the adaptation and mitigation of indigenous peoples to climate change. She is a member of the Mbororo pastoralist people in Chad and President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT). Oumarou Ibrahim is an advocate for the greater inclusion of indigenous people and their knowledge and traditions in the global movement to fight the effects of climate change. Oumarou Ibrahim received the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and was appointed as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate. She serves as a Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues; Member of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC); Member of the Advisory Committee to the Secretary-General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit; and Conservation International Senior Indigenous Fellow. In 2019, she was listed by Time Magazine as one of 15 women championing action on climate change.

Kayly Ober

Senior Advocate and Program Manager of the Climate Displacement Program, Refugees International

Kayly Ober is the senior advocate and program manager for the Climate Displacement Program at Refugees International. She has over a decade of experience on climate, migration, and displacement issues, including working as a policy specialist for the Asian Development Bank; a consultant at the World Bank, where she authored the flagship report Groundswell: Preparing for Internal Climate Migration; and a research associate with TransRe, a group based at the University of Bonn that explored the application of migration as an adaptation strategy in rural Thailand. She has also previously worked at the Overseas Development Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and World Resources Institute, among others. Kayly holds a Master of Science in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from American University. She is currently completing her PhD in Geography at the University of Bonn, where her dissertation analyzes policymaking and governance structures around the climate change-adaptation-migration nexus.

Olamide Oguntoye

Tech Policy Lead, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

Olamide leads policy work at the Tony Blair Institute on energy and climate tech. He has a background in consulting with a focus on innovation and strategy. Recently, Olamide has been active in discussions about sustainability in Africa as well as the role of connectivity in combating climate change. He is @olaoguntoye on Twitter.

Zack Parisa

Co-Founder and CEO, NCX

Zack Parisa is the co-founder and CEO of NCX. Over the last decade, he has developed and pioneered precision forestry tools that are revolutionizing the way that forests can be measured, valued, and managed. Using satellites, cloud computing, and machine learning, NCX worked with Microsoft to create “Basemap,” the first high-resolution forest inventory of the United States. It is now using this data to build new markets for forest values beyond timber, such as carbon, wildlife habitat, and fire risk. Zack is a forester and biometrician by training. He earned an MFS from Yale University, and a BS in Forestry from Mississippi State University.

Walter Quertehuari

President, Reserva Comunal Amarakaeri (ECA Amarakaeri)

Walther Quertehuari is the leader of the indigenous Wachiperi people - Harakbut - of the Peruvian Amazon. He is currently the president of the Reserva Comunal Amarakaeri (ECA Amarakaeri), a commune in the Amarakaeri reserve recognized on the IUCN Green List for its work in protecting biodiversity and a recipient of the 2019 Equator Prize for tackling climate change and strengthening and implementing the climate ambition proposal REDD + Indigenous Amazon (RIA).

Dr. Kanta Kumari Rigaud

Lead Environment Specialist and Regional Climate Change Coordinator of Africa Region, World Bank Group

Dr. Kanta Kumari Rigaud is a Lead Environmental Specialist and Regional Climate Change Coordinator in the Africa Region of the World Bank Group. She is a leading expert on climate adaptation and resilience and works on climate policy, strategy and knowledge management. She led the development of the World Bank’s Next Generation Africa Climate Business Plan; and is working on programs in Kenya and Uganda and provides advice on multiple other countries on climate action. Her passion and leadership is reflected in the pioneering flagship reports on Groundswell - Preparing for Internal Climate Migration; and the sequel Groundswell – Acting on Internal Climate Migration. Kanta has taken the work further through some deeper dives into the internal climate migration in West Africa and the Lake Victoria Basin countries. Kanta is the co-chair of the Technical Working Group on Environmental Change and Migration in KNOMAD; on the Advisory Board to the EU funded HABITABLE project; member of the IUCN task force and Working group on Nature-Based Solutions at the Nexus of Environmental Change, Conflict, and Migration. She has a doctorate from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom.

Francesco Rocca

President, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

A lawyer by profession from Rome, Italy, Francesco has enjoyed a long and distinguished career with both the Italian Red Cross and the IFRC. He joined the Italian Red Cross as Head of Emergency Operations in 2008. He then served as Extraordinary Commissioner from 2009-2013 before being appointed National President – a role he holds to this day alongside his IFRC presidential duties. He also remains an active volunteer. At the IFRC, Francesco previously served as the Italian Red Cross representative on the IFRC Governing Board from 2009-2013 before becoming Vice-President for Europe from 2013-2017. Prior to joining the Italian Red Cross, he spent the 1990s fighting organized crime in Italy before moving into the health sector in 2003 as General Director of Sant’Andrea Hospital in Rome. He holds a degree in Law from La Sapienza University and a professional qualification in Health Management from Italy’s Public Administration Superior School. He is fluent in English and has a working knowledge of Spanish. Throughout his career, Francesco has been a strong advocate on behalf of vulnerable migrants, calling consistently on political leaders to put the safety and dignity of people at the centre of their migration policies.

Asif Saleh

Executive Director, BRAC Bangladesh

Asif Saleh is the Executive Director of BRAC. He brings a multi-sectoral experience in senior leadership roles in private, public, and non-government arenas, with a proven track record of effectively managing development programming, operational and financial sustainability, and building effective partnerships. Prior to joining BRAC, he was a policy specialist for the Prime Minister’s Office’s Access to Information (A2i) programme. He spent 12 years in Goldman Sachs, ending his term as Executive Director. He has also worked in Glaxo Wellcome, IBM, and Nortel. Asif founded Drishtipat, a global organisation which focuses on human and economic rights of Bangladeshis. He is an active member in a range of international alliances, including Millions Learning International Advisory Group, Brookings Institute, and Innovation Edge. Asif was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2013.

Preeti Sinha

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)

Ms. Sinha is a globally experienced investment and development banker with a 30-year track record associated with raising and managing institutional public and private development capital. She served as CEO & President of FFD Financing for Development LLC, a specialist development finance firm focused on financing the UN SDGs. Ms. Sinha’s role as CEO and President was built upon her experience as a pioneering Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum, on the Financing for Development Initiative, with the UN FFD Office. Ms. Sinha managed the YES Global Institute, a practicing private sector think-tank for socio-economic development in New Delhi, building the impact investment ecosystem in India. She also served in senior resource mobilization roles at the African Development Bank including managing its ADF-13 Replenishment raising US$ 7.3 billion from 27 donor countries. Previously, she was an investment banker at HSBC, Rabobank, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan in London, Hong Kong, Mumbai and New York. Ms. Sinha graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Education program in Public Financial Management. She also holds a Masters in Global Leadership from the World Economic Forum and a Masters in Public and Private Management (MPPM)/MBA from the Yale School of Management (SOM). Ms. Sinha graduated from Dartmouth College with Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Computer Science.

Anmol Vanamali

Director of Sustainable Finance, Winrock

Anmol Vanamali, Winrock’s Director of Sustainable Finance, works across Winrock to design and implement innovative financing solutions through partnerships with financial institutions and the private sector. Previously, he was the Financing Strategies Director with the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC), responsible for designing and implementing impact investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across the U.S. Prior to VEIC, he was the Director of Finance and Policy Analysis at the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) and was a leading voice in areas of global climate finance and sustainable infrastructure. Earlier in his career, Vanamali was part of the Principal Investments team at Macquarie Capital that focused on private equity investments in the renewable energy sector in the Americas, where he was responsible for financial modeling, competitive analyses and credit memo drafting activities. He was also an Assistant Manager at Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd., where he financed and developed large-scale infrastructure in India. He has a Bachelor of Sciences degree from PSG College of technology (Coimbatore), a Masters in Business Administration from Sydenham Institute of Management (Mumbai) and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He has business fluency in English, Spanish and Hindi and is conversational in Chinese (Mandarin), Tamil and Gujarati.

Ezekiel Simperingham

Global Lead of Migration and Displacement, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Ezekiel Simperingham is the Global Lead on Migration and Displacement for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Ezekiel leads the global work of the IFRC on migration and displacement, including strategy, emergencies and operations, community programmes, advocacy and diplomacy, accountability and knowledge sharing across the network of 192 National Societies. Ezekiel is an international lawyer with more than 17 years of experience providing legal and policy advice on human rights, rule of law, migration, forced displacement (refugee and IDP) and housing, land and property (HLP) rights. Ezekiel has extensive experience working in conflict and disaster affected countries across the globe. Ezekiel has provided advice to Governments, International Financial Institutions, UN agencies, International NGOs and civil society.