Innovate4Climate: Finance and Markets Week

Photo Credits: Kaia Rose

Day 2: May 24th, 2017

  10:00 am - 10:15 am:

Wayne Sharpe, Chairman & CEO, Carbon Trade eXchange  

Wayne is a pioneer in the digital age, utilizing the internet’s global reach to link people with products through electronic exchange platforms. Before the creation of eBay, Alibaba, Airbnb or Freelancer.com Wayne designed and built a global business based on the premise that the internet can unlock unrealized economic value and create new markets. He founded the listed company Bartercard Ltd (ASX:PBS) now the world’s largest non-cash marketplace where members exchange goods and services on credit not cash via a unique alternative ‘currency’. Bartercard has operated for over 23 years and in 20 countries and has completed over US$40 billion in transactions. Bartercard’s fully electronic online auction platform predated eBay by 3 years, and its online wholesale/retail shopping mall predated Alibaba by 4 years. After selling Bartercard’s flagship operation in Australia in 2007 ($25.5 million), Wayne attended the UN climate change conference in Bali and shifted his technological and entrepreneurial skills to the global challenge of climate change. For the past 15 years, Wayne has devoted himself to bridging the nexus between financial markets and the environment, creating marketplaces and platforms that make it simple, secure and transparent for finance to achieve environmental outcomes.

Niclas Svenningsen, Manager, Strategy and Relationship Management, UNFCCC    

Niclas Svenningsen is the Manager for the Strategy and Relationship Management unit in the UNFCCC Secretariat. In this capacity, he is responsible for developing and strengthening approaches and strategies for catalyzing climate action under, and in addition to, activities mandated by UNFCCC, in particular through private sector cooperation and market-based instruments. He was previously working in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) where he was in charge of the climate neutral strategy of the UN system, as well as for the implementation of UNEP’s programmes for sustainable buildings, urban development, and sustainable procurement. Niclas has a background in civil engineering and environmental law.

  11:00 pm - 11:15 pm:

Mafalda Duarte, Head, Climate Investment Funds (CIF)    

Mafalda Duarte is the Manager of the $8.3 billion Climate Investment Funds (CIF), whose Secretariat is located in the World Bank Group’s Climate Change Vice Presidency, in Washington, D.C.  She has over 15 years of work experience and in-depth knowledge in development and climate change. She has been responsible for the design and implementation of several funding mechanisms and new thematic programs. She holds degrees in international relations, economic policy management, and climate change.

   11:45 am - 12:00 pm:

Charlotte Streck, Founder and Director, Climate Focus  

Charlotte Streck is a co-founder and director of Climate Focus. She serves as an advisor to numerous governments and non-profit organizations, private companies, and foundations on legal aspects of climate policy, international negotiations, policy development and implementation. She is also a renowned international expert on climate change mitigation and adaptation in the agricultural and forestry sectors. Prior to founding Climate Focus, Charlotte served from 2000 to 2005 as Senior Counsel with the World Bank in Washington, DC. Charlotte serves on several advisory and investment committees, is a board member of Climate Strategies and is an adjunct lecturer at Potsdam University. She is a prolific writer, lecturer, and is an associate editor of the journal Climate Policy. Concerned about communicating the complexity of environmental problems, Charlotte dedicates a part of her time to a project that uses the arts to raise awareness of environmental problems. Charlotte holds degrees from the University of Regensburg (MSc in Biology) and Humboldt University (JD and Ph.D. in law)

  12:15 pm - 12:30 pm:

John Roome, Senior Director for Climate Change, World Bank      

John Roome is Senior Director for Climate Change at the World Bank. As Senior Director, John not only leads a team of specialists but works across the World Bank Group to advance the institution’s climate change agenda. Prior to this assignment, he was Operations and Strategy Director for Global Practices and Cross-Cutting Solutions at the World Bank. He previously served as Director for Sustainable Development in the Bank’s East Asia and the Pacific Region, responsible for working with 22 client countries in the region in the water, urban, transport, energy, rural, agriculture, environment, and social sectors, as well as in disaster risk management and climate change. John also worked as Operations and Strategy Director in the Bank’s South Asia region and as Operational Quality Director in the Bank’s Africa region for five years. He joined the World Bank in 1989, working initially in Africa. There he focused mainly on infrastructure issues including roads programs, the aviation and water sectors and doing deals for the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, IFC, in the banking, mining and agro-industry sectors. Before joining the World Bank, John worked in Europe for Monitor Company, a leading corporate strategy consulting firm, and at Old Mutual, a South African Life Assurance Company. He was educated at Oxford University, where he obtained Masters Degrees in Econometrics and in Management Studies, and the University of Cape Town where he obtained a Bachelors degree in Economics, Statistics and Actuarial Science. 

  1:00 pm - 1:15 pm:

Bertrand Piccard, Initiator, Chairman and Pilot, Solar Impulse    

Born into a dynasty of pioneers and scientists, Bertrand Piccard, a medical doctor, explorer, and lecturer, achieved the first ever non-stop Round-the-World balloon flight. The initiator of Solar Impulse, he brought together the partners to fund this project. Linking science with the adventure to promote clean technologies, he develops the project’s philosophy and outlines its symbolic and political reach.

  1:30 pm - 1:45 pm:

Johannah Christensen, Director, Global Maritime Forum    

The Global Maritime Forum is an international non-profit organization committed to shaping the future of global seaborne trade to increase sustainable long term economic development and human wellbeing. The Global Maritime Forum convenes high-level leaders from across the maritime industry with policymakers, NGOs, experts, and other influential decision-makers and opinion shapers from all geographies: a community of purpose to discuss collective challenges and to work together on developing new solutions and recommendations for action.

Tristan Smith, Lecturer in Energy and Transport, University College of London  

Lecturer in Energy and Transport at the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, Tristan has two principal fields of research interest: (1) Low Carbon Shipping and all aspects of shipping economics, logistics and operation, (2) The development and implementation of technologies and operational practices for the reduction of CO2 emission from shipping. Tristan regularly engages with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) based in London, and also collaborates with the GGI on the topic of science to policy translation – execution and strategy’, focused on the role of academics in informed public debate and how academics can most effectively engage the science policy and practitioner community.

  2:30 pm - 2:45 pm:

Alzbeta Klein, Director and Global Head, Climate Business, International Finance Corporation (IFC)    

As the Director and Global Head of IFC’s Climate Business, Alzbeta’s role is to provide thought leadership, fundraising and facilitating all work related to renewables, climate-smart agriculture, green bonds and other climate business areas. Prior to her current appointment, she was a director and global co-head of Agribusiness, Manufacturing and Services Investments group where she managed over $13 billion of assets in emerging markets, leading a group of 400 bankers in 60 IFC offices worldwide. During the past 20 years, Alzbeta worked in many areas of IFC and rose through the ranks, including serving for two years as the Chief of Staff to IFC’s former CEO Mr. Lars Thunell. Among the highlights of her career in IFC, Alzbeta headed IFC’s business growth in Eastern Europe in the early 2000s, led work in several industry sectors across IFC and originated the so called Food Fund which created the base of blended finance and impact investment for IFC. Alzbeta joined IFC from the Export Development Corporation (EDC Canada) and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). She received Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Ottawa, Canada, where she also studied for her doctorate; engineering degree from Prague University, Czech Republic; and executive education from Harvard Business School and INSEAD. She holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. She has served on several corporate and non-profit boards, including Hans Merensky (South Africa), ShoreCap Investment Fund (US) and as the founding board member of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society in Russia. Alzbeta currently resides in Washington, DC with her family. She speaks five languages and is an accomplished four times marathoner.

  3:00 pm - 3:15 pm:

Dirk Forrister, President and CEO at International Emissions Trading Association    

Dirk Forrister is CEO and president of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA). He previously served as managing director at Natsource LLC, the manager of one of the world’s largest carbon funds, and served as chairman of the White House Climate Change Task Force in the Clinton Administration during the Kyoto Protocol negotiations. Earlier in his career, he was assistant U.S. secretary of energy for congressional, public and intergovernmental affairs and legislative counsel to Congressman Jim Cooper. Forrister also served as energy program manager for the Environmental Defense Fund.

  3:15 pm - 3:30 pm:

Andrew Steer, CEO, World Resources Institute    

Andrew Steer is the President and CEO of the World Resources Institute, a global research organization that works in more than 50 countries, with offices in the Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States. WRI’s more than 500 experts work with leaders to address six urgent global challenges at the intersection of economic development and the natural environment: food, forests, water, climate, energy, and cities. Steer joined WRI from the World Bank, where he served as Special Envoy for Climate Change from 2010 - 2012. From 2007 to 2010, he served as Director General at the UK Department of International Development (DFID) in London. Andrew Steer is a Global Agenda Trustee for the World Economic Forum, and is a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), the Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Energy Transitions Commission, the Champions 12.3 Coalition to reduce food loss and waste, the Sustainable Advisory Groups of both IKEA and the Bank of America, and he serves on the Executive Board of the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy For All Initiative. In earlier years, Andrew held several senior posts at the World Bank, including Director of the Environment Department. He also has directed World Bank operations in Vietnam and Indonesia and served as Chief of the Country Risk Division and Director and Chief Author of the 1992 World Development Report on Environment and Development. Andrew was educated at St Andrews University, Scotland, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cambridge University. He has a Ph.D. in economics.

  3:45 pm - 4:00 pm:

Ellysar Baroudy, Coordinator, BioCarbon Fund, Forest Carbon Partnership Facility  

Ellysar Baroudy heads the Forests and Landscapes team in the Climate Change Group at the World Bank. She is the coordinator for the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the BioCarbon Fund. The FCPF and BioCarbon Fund are two leading land-use carbon funds at the World Bank with over US$1.2 billion under management. Ms. Baroudy has worked on results-based carbon financing programs ranging from afforestation/reforestation to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) as well as agriculture. Most recently, her group has been working on integrated landscape approaches for climate change mitigation. Before joining the Bank in 2003, Ms. Baroudy worked for various international organizations providing environmental technical assistance. She has a background in environmental science and holds a doctorate from the University of Lancaster.

  4:00 pm - 4:15 pm:

Marion Verles, CEO Gold Standard  

Before being appointed as Gold Standard new CEO, Marion co-founded and worked as Executive Director of Nexus Carbon for Development, a successful cooperative that focuses on developing pro-poor low carbon initiatives. 

  4:30 pm - 4:45 pm:

Inka Vogt and Fabian Beveridge, Europe on Four Wheels, Climate Ambassadors Momentum for Change & Climate Neutral Now  

Inka and Fabian are ambassadors for Climate Neutral Now, a project run by the United Nations Climate Change secretariat. They have been cycling across Europe and have interviewed various projects involved in making a difference for the climate. Inka and Fabian have two bikes and everything they need to survive, tickets to Porto, Portugal, and a dream that they hope to achieve.

  5:00 pm - 5:15 pm:

Kari Hämekoski, Manager, Trust Funds and Climate Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO)

The Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) is an International Financial Institution established by the Nordic Governments in 1990. NEFCO provides results-based green financing. NEFCO was created – after the collapse of the Soviet Union – in order to support the Nordic countries’ efforts to increase environmental awareness in Eastern and Central Europe by providing financing to projects that reduced emissions harmful to the environment. The reasoning was that it made more sense – financially speaking – to support new investments in line with the environmental priorities of the Nordic countries in Eastern Europe – adjacent to the Baltic Sea – compared with the rising marginal cost of introducing increasingly stringent requirements at home since pollutants do not recognize national borders. Cost-efficiency remains a hallmark of NEFCO’s activities.

Photo Credits: Leigh Vogel

Day 3: May 25th, 2017

  10:00 am - 10:30 am:

Marcene Broadwater, Global Head of Strategy and Business Development, IFC    

Marcene D. Broadwater is the Global Head of Strategy and Business Development for the IFC/World Bank Group Climate Business Department. In this capacity, Ms. Broadwater is responsible for growing IFC’s investments in sustainable business with an emphasis on renewable power, industrial energy efficiency, green buildings, urban infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, and bio-energy. She is currently heading initiatives to transform green building practices in developing markets, expand clean energy investments beyond the power grid, and aggregate energy efficiency investments for institutional investors. Ms. Broadwater has substantial investment experience within IFC, primarily in energy-related industries, and also served as IFC’s Country Manager for Peru and Bolivia.  Before joining IFC, Ms. Broadwater was a Finance Manager with the Amoco Corporation and was responsible for structured financial transactions for Amoco’s Power, Petrochemical and Oil and Gas divisions. Ms. Broadwater holds a Masters in Business Administration from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Brown University.

  11:00 am - 11:15 am:

Jeff Swartz, Managing Director, International Policy, IETA  

The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) is a nonprofit business organization created in June 1999 to establish a functional international framework for trading in greenhouse gas emission reductions. IETA's membership includes leading international companies from across the carbon trading cycle. IETA members seek to develop an emissions trading regime that results in real and verifiable greenhouse gas emission reductions, while balancing economic efficiency with environmental integrity and social equity.

  11:30 am - 11:45 am:

Assaad Razzouk, CEO, Sindicatum.com   

Assaad is Group Chief Executive of Sindicatum Sustainable Resources. At Sindicatum, Assaad is responsible for overall strategy, stakeholder relationships and the project investments managed by Sindicatum’s business units. Under Mr. Razzouk’s leadership, Sindicatum has developed a global portfolio of projects on a principal basis and established and grown business units in Bangkok, Beijing, Jakarta, Manila, New Delhi, Singapore, Taiyuan (Shanxi Province, China) and Washington, D.C. Through its local business units, Sindicatum has to date committed more than $400m to greenhouse gas reduction and sustainability projects, 90% of which are in Asia and has won multiple awards testifying to its excellence in sustainability and renewable energy. Assaad is a Board member of the Climate Markets & Investment Association, establishing CMIA’s Asia Chapter. Assaad is also a Board member of ASrIA, the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investing in Asia; and a commentator on climate change, natural capital and clean energy.

  12:00 pm - 12:15 pm:

Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation  

Laurence Tubiana is CEO of the European Climate Foundation. She is also the Chair of the Board of Governors at the French Development Agency (AFD) and a Professor at Sciences Po, Paris. Before joining the ECF, Laurence was France’s Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for COP21, and as such a key architect of the landmark Paris Agreement. Following COP21, she was appointed High Level Champion for climate action. Laurence brings decades of expertise and experience in climate change, energy, agriculture and sustainable development, working across government, think tanks, NGOs and academia. She started her career as a Research Director for the French National Institute for Agricultural Research. In the 80’s and early 90’s she founded and then led Solagral, an NGO working on food security and the global environment. From 1997 to 2002, she served as Senior Adviser on the Environment to the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. In 2002, she founded and then directed until 2014 the Paris-based Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). From 2009 to 2010, she created and then led the newly established Directorate for Global Public Goods at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2013, she chaired the French National Debate on the Energy Transition. Laurence has held several academic positions, including as a Professor and Scientific Director for the International Development and Environmental Studies Master degrees at Sciences Po, Paris, and Professor of International Affairs at Columbia University, New York. She has been member of numerous boards and scientific committees, including the Chinese Committee on the Environment and International Development.

  1:00 pm - 1:15 pm:

Michael Liebreich, Founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board Bloomberg New Energy Finance   

Michael Liebreich is Chairman of the Advisory Board and Founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Michael founded the company as New Energy Finance in 2004 and acted as Chairman and Chief Executive until its acquisition by Bloomberg in 2009. He serves on the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All. He is a former member of a number of boards and groups, such as the advisory board of the Clinton Global Initiative’s Energy and Climate Change working group and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for the New Energy Architecture.

  2:00 pm - 2:15 pm:

Vikram Widge, Head, Climate Finance and Policy, International Finance Corporation     

Vikram Widge is Head of Climate and Carbon Finance at the World Bank Group. He leads the external engagement on climate finance and the deployment of innovative market-based solutions to mobilize private capital for low carbon development in emerging markets.  He also manages the WBG’s carbon finance business with several funds under management and development, innovative results-based financing instruments like the Pilot Auction Facility, the Partnership for Market Readiness supporting countries wanting to put a price on carbon, and the initiative on the next generation of Networked Carbon Markets. Vikram worked in the private sector for 10 years before joining IFC in 1994.  He has extensive experience in supporting and financing clean technologies such as renewable power, waste-to-energy, fuel cells and electric vehicles.  He also structured and managed an off-grid solar PV fund for six years.  In the past, he has also led IFC's work on climate policy, climate risk and adaptation, and greenhouse gas accounting. Vikram has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi (1982) and a master’s degree in resource economics from the University of Maryland (1986), where he was a research scholar and graduate fellow.  

  2:30 pm - 2:45 pm:

Dani Tinez, Graphic Designer, Animator, Filmmaker & Video Editor, Film4Climate Put a Price on Carbon Pollution Award (PSA)  

Dani is a graphic and web designer, animator, and filmmaker from Jaén, Spain. His work is inspired by movements such as Art Nouveau and Pop Art, as well as propaganda art. Dani specializes in branding, logo, web and poster design for businesses of all kinds. He is currently based in Bristol, UK, where he's worked with many companies involved in wellbeing and environmentalism, such as Love the Future, Real World Visuals, Happy City and the Bristol Big Green Week Festival. Dani is always looking for new projects and opportunities to learn from. Since studying industrial design in Málaga, Spain, Daniel has lived in many cities (Coimbra, Portugal; Salamanca, Spain; Edinburgh, UK) – seeking out new inspiration and immersing himself in the world of filmmaking.

  3:15 pm - 3:30 pm:

Alex Tapscott, Co-Author of How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World    

Alex Tapscott is a globally recognized thought-leader, speaker and writer focused on the impact of emerging technologies on business, society, and government.  Alex is the co-author (with Don Tapscott) of the critically acclaimed #1 Globe and Mail Non-fiction best-seller, Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money Business and the World.  His writing has been featured in TIME, Fortune, Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail and dozens of other publications. Alex is the founder and CEO of Northwest Passage Ventures, a social innovator.  Alex currently sits on Advisory Board to Elections Canada, the independent, non-partisan agency responsible for conducting federal elections and referendums.  He is also a founding Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Blockchain.  Alex is a graduate of Amherst College (cum laude) and is a CFA Charterholder. He lives in Toronto.

  3:45 pm - 4:00 pm:

Stephan Hoch, Managing Director, Perspectives Climate Group  

Stephan Hoch holds an M.A. in Political Science and English. He has an in-depth understanding of international climate policy, with a particular focus on the Clean Development Mechanism. At Perspectives, Stephan works as a climate policy consultant and analyzes the UNFCCC negotiations and the relevance of related reform processes for developing countries, such as CDM standardization and the evolution of emerging carbon market and climate finance mechanisms. He has methodological and field experience in developing countries, especially in East Africa and experience in advising international non-governmental, public, and corporate clients. Stephan has strong analytical, communication and team-working skills, in particular in intercultural settings. Stephan Hoch is also a research scientist with Perspectives Climate Research gGmbH. In addition to his work at Perspectives, Stephan is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at the Department of Political Science at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg.

  4:00 pm - 4:15 pm:

James Close, Director, Climate Change, World Bank    

James Close, a UK national, brings over 25 years of experience in the field of energy policy, climate change, and private infrastructure investment and public-private partnerships. During his career in the professional services industry, he provided strategic and financial advice to a range of public and private sector clients at board and ministerial levels. He has also undertaken a two-year secondment as head of the Corporate and Private Finance team at the UK's Treasury, where he gained experience with the challenges facing governments in trying to establish a suitable enabling environment for private sector investment. Mr. Close has advised the UK government on the comparative advantage for the UK for green growth and also on many energy policy areas, including the 2006 Energy Review, incentives for investments in renewables, and smart metering and the Green Deal, the UK’s initiative to increase investment in energy efficiency. He advised the Greater London Authority on its climate change and environment policy and prepared the prospectus for London as a Low-Carbon Capital for the mayor of London. At Ernst and Young, he led the Climate Change and Sustainability Services cross-service line practice creating a plan to develop a market-leading business. He has also advised many utilities throughout the world, including Ireland, Greece, Slovakia, the United States, and India, on restructuring, regulation, competition, and corporate and market strategy. Mr. Close, a chartered accountant, joined the World Bank Group in 2013 as the program manager for PPIAF, a multi-donor trust fund which enables infrastructure investment.