Amal-Lee Amin is a passionate advocate for sustainable development. In 2019 she was recognized by Apolitico as one of the top 100 influencers on climate policy. Over 20+ years Amal-Lee has delivered high impact outcomes within Government; multilateral development bank; think-tank and impact investing contexts. Leadership roles involved design and implementation of the: Climate Investment Funds; REEEP, a global partnership on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency; UK’s Green Investment Bank and, more recently, the Adaptation and Resilience Investors Collaborative. Thought-leadership and professional achievements are underpinned by her Doctorate on drivers for change within the power sector and policy recommendations for commercialisation of renewable energy technologies in developing economies.    

As Managing Director at the UK’s DFI British International Investment Amal-Lee leads teams with oversight of the climate, gender & diversity portfolio as well as advisory. From 2020 – 21 Amal-Lee was senior advisor to the UK COP26 Presidency and is currently a member of the independent High Level Expert Group on Climate Finance, the OECD Advisory Group on climate and economic resilience, as well as Board and trustee roles including the Centre for Greening Finance and Investment and the Born Free Foundation.     

From 2015 - 2020, Amal-Lee was Chief of Climate Change at the Inter-American Development Bank and from 2011- 2015 developed E3G’s international climate finance programme.

Kaya Axelsson is a research fellow and head of Policy and Partnerships at Oxford Net Zero, an interdisciplinary climate change mitigation research programme at the University of Oxford. Kaya earned a distinction for her research on politically unlikely renewable energy coalitions. Her current research is on the emerging net zero policy landscape. She has recently served as a strategic advisor to the UN-backed Race to Zero campaign and as a technical author on the International Standard Organization’s new Net Zero Guidelines. With 15 years of experience in social and environmental sustainability, Kaya speaks and consults regularly for organizations and initiatives on their climate strategies.

Richard Barker was appointed as a full-time member of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) in June 2022, effective 8 July 2022. 

Before joining the ISSB, he served as deputy dean and professor of accounting at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK. In this capacity, he led Oxford Saïd’s sustainable business initiatives.  

He has published a wide range of academic research papers on accounting and sustainability disclosures. He has chaired the expert panel of Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) and served as a member of several committees and bodies focused on corporate reporting in the UK and Europe, including the UK Corporate Reporting Council (UK accounting standard-setter), the Financial Reporting Advisory Board and the European Accounting Association’s Accounting Standards Committee. 

Professor Barker served as a research fellow at the International Accounting Standards Board from 2001 to 2007. 

He has a Bachelor’s degree in history and economics from University of Oxford and a PhD from University of Cambridge, UK 

The Forum's communities bring together leaders from the world's top banks to engage in key global issues with government leaders, CEOs and senior executives from other industries, heads of international organizations, academics, experts, thought leaders, head of NGOs, labour leaders and other representatives from civil society. 

The Sustainable Finance and Investing team at the World Economic Forum engages private financers from across the investment value chain- banks, investors, insurers, asset managers- alongside MDBs, DFIs as well as policy makers, We focus on decarbonisation of heavy-industries, food systems transformation, designing nature-positive economic growth and supporting the net-zero transition in emerging economies. We enable the financing and investing ecosystem to act upon net zero pathways and sustainability commitments, as well as integrate environmental risks and the impact of climate change as core elements of their long-term strategies.  

Derek Baraldi heads the Sustainable Finance work within the World Economic Forum. Prior to this, Baraldi worked at UBS AG for over 18 years in various roles, including management, coverage, risk. His last mandate was heading Corporate and Institutional Clients for the region Americas. 

Derek holds a Master of Science in Business Management and Financing, HEC Lausanne. 

Heather Bell represents the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in the United Kingdom from the U.S. Embassy in London, where she enhances bilateral collaboration on shared energy security and resilience, clean energy, science, nonproliferation, and net zero objectives. Prior to this position, worked on DOE’s Ukraine response.

Ms. Bell has also served DOE in Ukraine, Russia, and China. She began her career with DOE/NNSA leading nuclear security projects at weapons sites in Russia and Belarus. She previously worked on Capitol Hill. Ms. Bell is originally from Pennsylvania and has advanced degrees in physics, policy/economics, and strategy. She shares her home in London with her husband, their lively young daughter, and one enormous but jolly dog.

Mr. Gordon S. Bennett has been Managing Director at Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. since February 2015. Mr. Bennett is responsible for the sales and business development of ICE’s global environmental portfolio, the world’s largest environmental marketplace.

He is a member of the Board of ICE Endex, ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, Spark Commodities and a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of BeZero Carbon. 

He was named Environmental Finance’s sustainable business leader of the year in 2022 and contributes to a wide range of external environmental and energy market initiatives including being a current member of the UNDP, Advisory Group for Paris Agreement Investments, the Advisory Group for BSI Flex 701 - Nature Markets, the City of London VCM Steering Committee, the VCMI Stakeholder Forum, the Advisory Board of the University of Cambridge Energy Policy Research Group. He has also served on the Nature Based Solutions Taskforce of the Sustainable Markets Initiative and the Transition to Net Zero Working Group of the FCA and Bank of England’s Climate Financial Risk Forum.

Prior to ICE, Mr. Bennett spent 12 years at the global energy broker, Spectron, joining as Group Financial Controller. During his tenure at Spectron he held several Board roles including Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer. After the acquisition of Spectron by Marex he joined the Executive Committee of Marex Spectron in the role of Managing Director and Global Head of Energy.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. He served as a Senior Manager in the Energy, Infrastructure and Utilities division of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

Mr. Bennett holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (with Honours) in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh.

Kieron Boyle is the Chief Executive of the Impact Investing Institute, the UK’s national body for impact investing. The Institute works to transform capital markets in support of a fairer, greener, more resilient economy.  

From 2016 to 2023, Kieron was the Chief Executive of Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation, one of the world's largest health foundations. Through this period, the foundation transformed its £1 billion investment arm into one of Europe's leading responsible investors. 

Kieron was formerly the UK government's chief advisor on impact investment and the key architect, starting in 2012, of the government’s strategy to make the UK a global hub for impact investing. That catalytic work included the creation of Big Society Capital, the world’s first wholesale social investor, and putting impact investing on the agenda of the G7 during the UK’s presidency.  

Prior to that, Kieron worked in both Downing Street and the Foreign Office. He started his career at the Boston Consulting Group. 

Kieron is a Governor of the Southbank Centre, a non-executive director of Big Society Capital, and the Chair of the Long-term Investors in People’s Health programme, a $7 trillion global alliance of institutional investors. 

Alice Carr is Executive Director for Public Policy and Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) at the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), which is working at pace to ensure that the global financial system can deliver on its net zero commitments.  Alice leads on engagement with international organisations, governments and regulators across GFANZ's broad portfolio of activities. 

Prior to joining GFANZ, Alice had a two-decade career in central banking, working across a broad set of functions but including heading the Bank’s International Policy and Strategy Division which led on G7, G20, EU engagement and the financial services aspects of trade agreements. She has worked in more than 20 countries to strengthen financial stability and crisis management arrangements, including three years at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. 

Shaun is the Global and EMEIA Financial Services Climate Change and Sustainability Leader at EY, where he spearheads the sustainability initiatives across banking, capital markets, insurance, and asset management. With over two decades of experience, Shaun specialises in guiding financial services clients through complex ESG transformations, focusing on strategy, governance, risk management, and reporting. Shaun’s expertise is instrumental in shaping sustainability service propositions at EY, working closely with regulators, clients, and industry.

His career spans 20 years in the professional services industry, where he managed finance and risk transformations, driving significant organisational change in response to global financial and regulatory developments. Shaun's international experience extends across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, underscoring his global perspective on sustainability and finance.

Shaun has held senior roles at major global investment banks and is a member of SAICA and ICAEW. He is committed to building a sustainable future, helping clients develop credible net-zero transition plans, embed climate risk into their operations, and create innovative products to support a greener economy.

Fraser Dobbie is the CFO at North Star, the Aberdeen based UK market leading provider of offshore support vessels to the Energy industry.  

North Star was established over 137 years ago, and has seen various stages of market transition, including its recent growth in the offshore wind Service Operations Vessel (SOVs) market. Today, North Star owns 48 vessels, including 7 SOVs, all of which have been ordered since 2021. This growth has required considerable investment, North Star’s capital commitment to the offshore wind industry already sits at more than £350 million, with ambitious plans to grow its offshore wind SOV fleet to over 40 vessels by 2040.

Fraser joined North Star in 2021 to focus on offshore wind market penetration. Since joining the company he has overseen the raise of over £250 million of debt facilities, as well as the sale of the company to Partners Group from its previous owner Basalt Infrastructure Partners.

Fraser’s background is in corporate finance, having spent 10 years as an M&A adviser to the international Energy Services sector, he is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.  

Rowan Douglas joined Howden Group as CEO Climate Risk & Resilience in June 2023.  Previously he led the Climate and Resilience Hub (CRH) at WTW which he grew to over 130 climate risk professionals across parametrics and wider climate related disciplines.  At CRH, Rowan led the creation of the Insurance Development Forum (IDF) with the UN, World Bank and Industry Leaders and incubated the award-winning Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment.

Previously he served on the board of Willis Re as CEO Analytics and founded the Willis Research Network. Rowan served on the UK Prime Minister’s Council for Science & Technology and the International Insurance Society Executive Committee. He was made CBE in 2016 for Services to the Economy through Risk, Insurance and Sustainable Growth. 

Marisa Drew has been appointed as Chief Sustainability Officer for Standard Chartered Bank on 1 July 2022. However, during her 30 years career, Marisa covered several appointments. She worked from 1992 in Merrill Lynch until she joined Credit Suisse in 2003 in the investment banking area until 2017. Then, in 2017 Marisa founded the Impact Advisory and Finance Group of which she was CEO. She was appointed in early 2022 as a NED of the US-listed broadband and mobile company, Liberty Global plc, and in late 2021 as a non-executive director of the City of London Corporation. She further serves on the advisory boards of the Aspen Institute UK, the Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy, and on several High-Level Working Groups (HLGs) sponsored by the World Economic Forum and the UN, including the UN Oceans Panel. Marisa’s external activities also include charitable Advisory Board roles for Cash & Rocket and the UK charity, Room-to-Read.

In 2022, Marisa was recognized by Sustainability Magazine as one of the Top 10 CSOs of a Global Corporation and in 2021 as one of 100 Global Visionary Leaders by Meaningful Business and EY. She has also been recognized by the BBC as one of the Most Powerful Women in Britain and by Fortune Magazine as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in International Business

Rose joined the Principles for Responsible Investment in 2021 as a Regional Director in the Signatory Relations team before taking on executive responsibility for leading the newly formed Responsible Investment Ecosystems team, ensuring we provide the very best support to our signatories in their implementation of responsible investment.  

Prior to joining the PRI, Rose has spent the last 25 years working in the financial sector in asset management with a focus on business development and client relations.  In her most recent role, she successfully built, developed and ran a client management function for Ninety One (formerly Investec Asset Management).  Previously, Rose was a consultant relations director and client advisor at AllianceBernstein and a client director and US equity product specialist at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.  She has also worked for Goldman Sachs Asset Management in their sub-advisory business having begun her career at Goldman Sachs International in private wealth management.  Rose has particular experience in Emerging Market investment solutions and is passionate about sustainable investing. 

Rose has a BA (Hons) in Spanish & Latin American Studies from the University of Portsmouth and holds the IMC & CFA Certificate in ESG Investing. 

Adam is a sustainability leader with over 18 years of experience in driving positive transformational change for some of the world's most influential companies. As Google’s Head of Sustainability for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, he works at the intersection of the physical, digital, and natural worlds. He coordinates with Google's real-world and digital infrastructure teams, from real estate and supply chains to data centers and products, to ensure that the company is taking advantage of opportunities to strategically advance sustainability. 

Previously, Adam held senior sustainability roles at Amazon, Marks & Spencer, and Klöckner Pentaplast, where he developed and delivered innovative sustainability strategies and programs that enhanced their environmental, social, and governance performance. He is a Chartered Environmentalist and a Fellow of both IEMA and ICRS, and an Executive Fellow at King’s Business School. He has been recognized as one of the UK's top 100 environmental professionals and among the top 50 sustainability thought leaders and influencers globally. He is passionate about creating a more sustainable and inclusive future for everyone. 

Mr. Fang is the General Manager of Bank of China Limited London Branch and the Chief Executive Officer of Bank of China (UK) Limited. He served as the Deputy General Manager and the Chief Risk Officer of Bank of China USA from 2015 to 2018. He was General Manager of Bank of China Limited London Branch & the Chief Executive Officer of Bank of China (UK) Limited from 2011 to 2015. Mr. Fang joined Bank of China Head Office in 1996. Educated at Beijing Foreign Studies University in China to postgraduate level, Mr. Fang also received his MBA with Distinction from the University of Hertfordshire, UK in 1996. He has been a CFA Charter Holder since 2007.  

Mr. Fang has been appointed as chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK （CCCUK） since December 2018.  

Jamie is responsible for IFC’s climate strategy and policies, and delivery on its ambitious targets to make all investments Paris Aligned and 40% of its investment climate positive. In FY23, IFC committed a record $14.4bn in climate finance, representing 46% of all long-term finance investments. In July 2023, IFC began aligning all investment operations to the Paris Agreement.

Jamie joined IFC in 2005 and has led and contributed to a range of innovation and new business growth across IFCs investment, advisory and support operations. As Chief Investment Officer and Global Sector Lead for Renewable Energy, Jamie oversaw growth in annual commitments from $88m to $898m between 2005 and 2015, an annual growth rate of 30%. Jamie’s direct transaction experience includes corporate and project debt, equity and mezzanine investments in hydro, wind, solar PV, solar CSP, geothermal and biomass in Latin America, Africa, South and East Asia and the Middle East.

Jamie led the development of Scaling Solar (www.scalingsolar.org), which brings together a suite of World Bank Group services under a single engagement aimed at creating viable markets for solar power in each client country. This “one stop shop” program aims to make privately funded grid-connected solar projects operational within two years and at competitive tariffs. Now active in 5 African and 1 Central Asian countries with a pipeline of over 1GW, Scaling Solar has delivered 6c/kWh tariffs in Zambia, attracted the world’s top developers to challenging emerging markets and has inspired IFC’s corporate-wide ‘upstream’ strategy.

As Global Manager for Sustainability Leadership, Jamie led IFC’s efforts to drive adoption of good Environmental, Social and Governance standards across emerging market companies and investors, with over US$4.5trn invested over the past decade applying IFC’s Performance Standards. And as Director of Environmental and Social Policy and Risk Jamie built a new department to manage E&S risk across IFC’s new and portfolio investments and to maintain and update IFC’s policies which have become the global market standard (www.ifc.org/performancestandards)

As Global Director for Strategic Market and Business Development, Jamie led a corporation-wide change process to build IFC’s long-term investment pipeline creation practice across all industries and regions. Leading the creation of new teams, processes and products, Jamie helped to build a $34bn 5-year pipeline and grow annual conversions of that pipeline to $4.4bn in investment commitments.

Prior to his career at IFC, Jamie co-founded Credo, a boutique strategic consultancy in London, UK which is now in its 20th year of operation. Jamie began his career producing wildlife documentaries for the likes of BBC, Discovery and National Geographic, filming throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

Jamie has a BA and MA in Zoology from Cambridge University, UK, and both a Master’s in Environmental Economics & Policy and an MBA from Yale University, USA.

Matt is the Chief Executive of UKAS, the national accreditation body for the UK. He is responsible for making sure that over 3,000 conformity assessment bodies (testing, inspection and certification bodies) are competent, impartial, and consistent in various sectors in the UK and abroad.

Matt came to UKAS in 2018 with more than 20 years of experience in the conformity assessment, training and consulting sectors. He has a proven record of achieving sustainable growth and productivity within accredited enterprises in the UK, Europe, India and China.

He is enthusiastic about raising awareness of the value and benefits of accredited conformity assessment, engineering, technology and sustainability. He has an MBA from the Manchester Business School, where he also taught MBA courses for four years in corporate and business strategy. He has an MSC in Environmental Impact Assessment and is a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), the biggest professional body for environmental practitioners.

Matt is also a trustee board member of the Engineering Council, the UK regulatory body for the engineering profession.

Vanessa is leading the Transition Finance Market Review for HM Treasury and DESNZ and is part of the TPT Delivery Group. Vanessa was a partner at Linklaters until May 2023 and sits on the board of UK Export Finance and co-chaired the Oil and Gas sector working group with Bruce Duguid of Federated Hermes. 

Sherry Madera is a prominent thought leader and author on sustainability, with a focus on sustainable finance, environmental data and public policy. As CEO of CDP, a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions, Sherry manages an international team spread across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Prior to joining CDP, Sherry was Founder and Chair of the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA), a global organization focused on supporting data requirements to drive success in sustainable finance. Sherry held previous senior global roles including Senior Vice President, Public Policy for Mastercard, Chief Industry and Government Affairs Officer, LSEG and Economic Ambassador for the City of London to Asia. Sherry led on identifying trends and issues that are a priority for governments, industry and regulators.

A unique combination of former investment banker and diplomat, Sherry sits on the Board of Directors of Sondrel Limited and the University of Nottingham and has held roles advising Hong Kong’s Cyberport and APEC’s Sustainable Finance Development Network amongst others. Sherry speaks regularly in global forums on topics including sustainable finance, FinTech, international trade, data policy and geopolitics. She is also author of the newly published book, Navigating Sustainability Data: How Organizations can use ESG Data to Secure Their Future.  

Michael Mainelli is the 695th Lord Mayor of the City of London.

Originally a research scientist in aerospace and computing, he became a senior partner with accountants BDO Binder Hamlyn and later Corporate Development Director for Europe’s largest R&D firm, the Defence Evaluation & Research Agency.

During a mergers & acquisitions spell in merchant banking with Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, he co-founded Z/Yen in 1994, the City’s leading think-tank, promoting societal advance through better finance and technology, renowned for its Global Financial, Green Finance, and Smart Centres indices. Michael chairs Z/Yen Group, FS Club, and Esop (employee share ownership) Centre. He is non-executive director of an AIMlisted mining firm and the United Kingdom Accreditation Service overseeing UK laboratories and quality standards.

He has served as Alderman for Broad Street since 2013 and as Sheriff of the City of London 2019-2021. Significant past posts have included Almoner of Christ’s Hospital, International Financial Advisor to the Taoiseach, London Waterways Commissioner, Trustee of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and Trustee of Ocean Alliance.

He has strong connections to the Livery having been a Past Master of the World Traders, Craft-Owning Freeman of the Watermen & Lightermen, Honorary Liveryman of multiple Livery Companies as well as Honorary Freeman of the Educators, and member of the City Livery Club.

Dr. Sabine Mauderer has a been Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank since September 2018.

She is currently responsible for Markets, Financial Stability, Sustainability, Data and Statistics, Human Resources, Controlling, Accounting and Organisation as well as Compliance. She is Chair of the “Central banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)” and a member of the Exchange Experts Commission. Prior to her current responsibilities, she held several senior positions at the KfW Banking group and worked as a senior adviser at the Federal Ministry of Finance and at the German Embassy in Washington. Sabine Mauderer was born in Schleswig in 1970. She studied law in Germany and Spain, holds a PhD by the Osnabrück University and an Executive MBA by the ESSEC & Mannheim Business School.

Marc Palahi is the Chief Nature Officer at holistiQ Investment Partners, the sustainable asset management platform of Lombard Odier Investment Managers. Powered by a unique partnership between the Lombard Odier Group and the systems change firm Systemiq, holistiQ is driving the design and management of science-based sustainable investment products, utilising an integrated approach to investment management that combines analysis of the commercial, environmental and societal factors shaping the transition to a nature positive economy.

Marc is an internationally recognised expert on forests, circular bioeconomy, and global change, with over two decades of experience in leading scientific initiatives, including serving as the Director of the European Forest Institute. He has contributed to, and co-authored, over 40 scientific publications, promoting the integration of knowledge into actionable initiatives at the intersection of science, policy, and business.

Marc is also the CEO of the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, a leading collaborative platform, established by His Majesty the King, that facilitates public-private partnerships to accelerate the transition to a nature-first, circular bioeconomy that is climate neutral, inclusive, and powers prosperity.

Antonio Patriota has been Ambassador of Brazil to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since August 2023. He served as Foreign Minister from 2011 to 2013, and Deputy Foreign Minister from 2009 to 2010. Patriota was Ambassador of Brazil to Egypt (2019-2023), Italy (2016-2019), and to the United States (2007-2009), as well as Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations (2013-2016).

During his period as Ambassador to the UN, Patriota was Chairman of the 60th and 61st Sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women and Chairman of the Peacebuilding Commission of the UN (2013-2014). During his diplomatic career, he was also posted in Geneva (1983-1987 and 1999-2003), New York (1994-1999), Beijing (1987-1988) and Caracas (1988-1990).

Ambassador Patriota is a member of the “Leaders for Peace” initiative under the chairmanship of former French Prime Minister Raffarin.

Dr Nicola Ranger is Director of the Resilient Planet Finance Lab of the University of Oxford, and co-Director of the UK Integrating Finance and Biodiversity Programme. Nicola brings 20 years' expertise in environmental sciences, risk, analytics, economics, finance and fiscal policy as a practitioner and researcher across industry, government, IFIs and academia.

She works with governments, regulators, financial institutions and international organisations to help align policy and finance with resilience and sustainability goals. She holds several advisory roles including as a senior advisor to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. She has formerly held senior positions at the World Bank, HM Treasury, DFID, Defra and the LSE.  

Grant is Chair of the Sustainable Markets Initiative Agribusiness Transition Hub, established at the invitation of the former Prince of Wales. The Hub – which includes a number of leading CEOs – is driving substantial action on how to scale regenerative agriculture. 

Outside of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, Grant is a Board member of hospitality and hotel group Marriott International, the investment advisor Vanguard and is a private equity partner.

Until the end of 2022, Grant served as CEO at Mars for almost nine years, leading a substantial portfolio, talent, sustainability, and digital transformation agenda. As of the end of 2022, with operations in more than 80 countries, 140,000 Associates and net sales of well over $45 billion; Mars has a significant economic, environmental, and social footprint serving billions of consumers and their pets. Grant twinned an ambitious growth programme that saw sales grow by over 50% with a bold leadership agenda on value creation, climate action and sustainability. 

Grant has also been a Board Member and co-chaired the Governance Committee of The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), he co-led the CGF Forest Positive initiative and was a Board member of Business For Inclusive Growth. All driven by his belief that “performance without purpose is meaningless, and purpose without performance is impossible”. 

He holds an honours degree in management economics from the University of Stirling as well as certification in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. 

Mariana is a specialist in environmental policy and strategy. She has a Masters degree in Environmental Policy and Management from Yale University and is a graduate in Political Science and Environmental Studies from Tulane University.

She has experience developing and implementing environmental sustainability strategies for companies, governments and communities in Latin America and the United States. 

The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, who took office as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth in April 2016, serves the 56 governments and 2.4 billion people of the Commonwealth. 

Born in Dominica, she moved to the UK at an early age and was brought up in a large close-knit Caribbean family where she was taught the importance of hard work, education, pride in her heritage and the obligation to give back to the region of her birth and to the society in which she was raised. This ethic has guided her throughout her dynamic career in law, public service and politics. 

A lawyer by profession, she became the first black and youngest woman ever to be appointed Queen's Counsel. She is the only woman since the post was created in 1315 to be Attorney General for England and Wales, and was also Attorney General for Northern Ireland. 

Appointed to the House of Lords as Baroness Scotland of Asthal in 1997, she has been Alderman for Bishopsgate Ward in the City of London since 2015. 

Sir Alok was a Member of the UK Parliament from 2010-2014. Prior to entering Parliament he qualified as a chartered accountant and then worked in investment banking for 16 years based out of London, Frankfurt, and Stockholm. 

He served in a range of UK Government ministerial roles prior to entering the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development.  He was appointed President Designate of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2020, alongside his role as Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. In 2021, he took on the COP26 role full-time, leading the UK’s work in bringing together the world to tackle climate change and getting almost 200 countries to sign up to the historic Glasgow Climate Pact. 

Sir Alok was knighted in 2023 for his services to tackling climate change. He is a Climate & Finance Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford. 

As the former Energy Minister who signed the UK’s Net Zero by 2025 into law in 2019, The Rt Hon Chris Skidmore OBE has been at the forefront of developing net zero policy and strategy. 

He chaired the Independent Review of Net Zero, commissioned by the UK Government. ‘Mission Zero’, a 340-page report containing 129 recommendations was launched on 13 January 2023, receiving a welcome reception both among business, industry and NGOs. 

Chris was the Conservative MP for Kingswood from 2010 to 2024. He served in five government departments between 2015 and 2020 including as Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation twice between 2018 and 2020. 

In 2019, he was appointed Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth, attending Cabinet, during which time he signed the UK’s commitment to Net Zero by 2050 into law, and helped secure the UK Presidency of COP26. 

In July of 2021, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev appointed Elin Suleymanov as Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Prior to that Mr. Suleymanov served as Azerbaijan’s long-time Ambassador to the United States of America for a full decade representing his nation's interests in the dynamically changing environment of Washington. From 2005 to 2011, as the nation’s first Consul General to Los Angeles and the Western States, Mr. Suleymanov led the team, which established Azerbaijani diplomatic presence on the West Coast. Earlier, he served as Senior Counselor at the Foreign Relations Department, Office of the President in Baku, Azerbaijan and as Press Officer of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington, DC. Mr. Suleymanov’s experience before joining diplomatic service includes working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Azerbaijan and Glaverbel Czech, a leading manufacturing company in East-Central Europe.

A graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford, Massachusetts, Mr. Suleymanov also holds graduate degrees from the Political Geography department of the Moscow State University, Russia, and from the University of Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Suleymanov has authored numerous articles and is a frequent presenter at academic events. He speaks Azerbaijani, English, Russian languages.

Richard Tarboton is currently serving as the Head of Sustainability Strategy and Policy at Barclays. Richard spearheads the development of group-wide strategies aimed at addressing the challenges and opportunities posed by climate change, nature, and human rights.

Previous to this, Richard held the position of Global Head of Net Zero Strategy for Credit Suisse at UBS.  He was instrumental in crafting and implementing the net zero strategy across all divisions, paving the way for the bank to achieve its transition to net zero emissions by 2050.

A seasoned professional with a rich and diverse background. Richard has held influential positions in major corporations and government entities. His executive roles include serving on the board of Carbon Intelligence, as the Executive Director of EY's Energy Optimization Practice, and as the Energy and Environment Director at BT.  During his tenure at the Energy Saving Trust, Richard was seconded to the UK government, contributing his strategic insights to the government’s Climate Change strategy.

Beyond the corporate landscape, Richard Tarboton founded Project WorldTalk, a social enterprise embodying his commitment to positive global change.

Richard is an alumnus of the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, where he earned his engineering degree. He furthered his academic pursuits with an MBA from Cranfield, and has completed post additional courses at Harvard and Cambridge in International Strategic Management and Sustainable Finance.

Dr. Rhian-Mari Thomas is Chief Executive of the Green Finance Institute, an independent, commercially focused organisation seed funded by the UK Government.

Rhian spent 20 years in investment banking and corporate finance and was the first person to be awarded an OBE for services to green banking. She is an emeritus member of TCFD and co-chaired the launch of the TNFD, to which she remains an advisor.

Rhian sits on numerous advisory groups across UK Government, as well as the World Economic Forum’s Clean Energy Financing steering committee and co-chairs the leadership council for Snowball Impact Investments. Rhian is also a Trustee of the World Wildlife Fund UK. A fluent Welsh speaker, Rhian holds a PhD in Physics from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

Dr Gabrielle Walker is an expert strategist, speaker and moderator focused on unleashing capitalism on climate change. She is a TED speaker and works with global companies at boardroom-level, analysing emerging trends, challenging conventional thinking and driving meaningful action. Gabrielle is co-founder of two organisations aiming to accelerate action in the confused but vital area of carbon removals and figure out how to do them right: non-profit Rethinking Removals (working in partnership with the UNFCCC Climate Champions) and for-profit CUR8. 

Gabrielle gives keynote addresses to corporate audiences around the world and is an accomplished moderator of high-level debates. She has presented many BBC TV and radio programmes, was Climate Change Editor at Nature and Features Editor at New Scientist, has written extensively for many international newspapers and magazines including the FT, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and has authored four books. She earned her PhD at Cambridge University and has taught at both Cambridge and Princeton.

Frances Way is Executive Director of the Climate Champions team. She joined the team during its start up phase in 2020. The team supports the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions to drive real world momentum into the UN Climate Change negotiations. This involves mobilising climate action amongst non-state actors to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, in close collaboration with the UNFCCC, the Marrakech Partnership, and the COP Presidencies. This year’s High-Level Champions are Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin for COP27 and H.E. Razan Al Mubarak for COP28.

Prior to this Frances was Chief Strategy Officer at CDP, an international non-profit that drives companies and governments to measure and reduce their environmental impacts. She has also worked in the private finance sector, primarily at Dresdner Kleinwort's Global Equities Division. Frances sits on the board of EIRIS Foundation and holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College. 

Irem Yerdelen is the Managing Partner of ERM’s Sustainability & Climate Solutions in Northern Europe, which includes several strategic advisors, subject matter technical experts, consulting staff and other partners. Irem is advising global clients from all sectors to manage their transition to a low carbon economy; from strategy, reporting to operationalising sustainability - including all types of ESG, Climate, Biodiversity and Net Zero related matters.

Irem is also an elected Councillor for the City of London Corporation, representing the Lime Street Ward. Currently acting as the Policy Lead for Sustainable Finance and Board Director of the Green Finance Institute.

Irem brings decades of international risk management and insurance industry experience, having worked at Marsh and WTW, specialising on (re)insurance and alternative risk solutions for global complex risks.