Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

Professor Dame Julia King (Baroness Brown of Cambridge) DBE, FRS, FREng is an engineer, crossbench member of the House of Lords and Chair of The Carbon Trust.Julia started her career in academia as a Rolls-Royce fellow at University of Cambridge and was involved in teaching and research for 16 years, before moving to business. Between 1994 and 2002  she held a number of managerial positions at Rolls-Royce. In 2002 she became the Chief  Executive of the Institute of Physics. Between 2004 and 2006 Julia was the Principal of the Engineering Faculty at Imperial College London. After that, she was Vice-Chancellor of Aston University for a decade.  Julia has worked closely with the government on a number of climate, technology and education issues. She led the King Review of low-carbon cars (published in 2008) and sat on numerous government bodies, such as Climate Change Committee's Adaptation Sub-Committee of which she is the chair.  Julia was appointed a life peer in the House of Lords in 2015. In 1999 she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012. 

Todd Stern is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, best known for leading the US delegation at COP21 in his capacity as Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State.Todd’s political career started in 1993, when he joined President Clinton’s administration. Between 1997 and 1999, he led the US government efforts on global climate change – he was the senior White House negotiator at the Kyoto and Buenos Aires negotiations. Between 1999 and 2001 he was a Counsellor to the Secretary of the Treasury.After 7 years in the private sector, Todd returned to politics, joining President Obama’s administration as the Special Envoy for Climate Change, U.S. Department of State in 2009. As the chief climate negotiator he led the US delegation at COP21 and was one of the key architects of the Paris Agreement.Todd is now a Senior Fellow at Cross-Brookings Initiative on Climate and Energy.  He graduated from Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. Todd is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.Further reading:Official Biohttps://www.brookings.edu/experts/todd-stern/Can the United States and China reboot their climate cooperation? (September 2020)https://www.brookings.edu/articles/can-the-united-states-and-china-reboot-their-climate-cooperation/Podesta email dump reveals tight US-China climate ties (October 2016)https://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/10/19/podesta-email-dump-reveals-tight-us-china-climate-ties/

Alain Ebobissé is a specialist in the financing and development of infrastructure and CEO  of Africa50. Prior to joining the organization, Mr. Ebobissé served as the Global Head of the World Bank Group’s Global Infrastructure Project Development Fund (IFC InfraVentures), where he oversaw a team of infrastructure specialists and led the development of and investment in numerous infrastructure projects in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Mr. Ebobissé led the design, structuring, and implementation of IFC InfraVentures from its inception. He also served as Chief Investment Officer in the Global Infrastructure and Natural Resources Department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, based in Washington.Prior to joining the IFC in 1998, he held several positions in the financial services industry in France, including Deputy Head of Project and Structured Finance at Caisse des Depots et Consignations. Ebobissé holds a Master of Business Administration from the International School for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland.Further reading:Africa50https://www.africa50.com/

John Redfern is an investor, advisor and serial entrepreneur in the data analytics, oil service and energy tech verticals. John spent his career in executive roles at multiple international oil and oil service companiess including as a Director at Hess in London, President of Accumap in Calgary and President of IHS Energy in Denver.   Prior to Eavor, John spent 13 years in China co-founding a series of start-ups, the most recent of which is LocalGravity, the leading retail data analytics platform in China. As a director, executive and advisor over the years, John has specialized in commercial strategy, negotiations, alliancing, M&A, and private equity.   John holds a degree in Engineering Physics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Law degrees from McGill University in Montreal, and an MBA degree from INSEAD in France. 

Julie Klinger is an Assistant Professor of Geographer at the University of Delaware and also affiliated with the university's new Minerals, Materials and Society Program. She is the author of "Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes”, Cornell University Press. Julie Klinger was formerly Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. Julie lists her research interests as “the dynamics of global resource frontiers and space-based technologies with particular emphases in China, Brazil, and the United States; how diverse forms of violence and strategies for survival shape land use, environmental conservation, and livelihood security; rare earth elements; natural resource use; environmental politics; and outer space.Further reading: Official bio:https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/ceoe/departments/gss/faculty/julie-klinger/ Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes (2017)https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt1w0dd6d U.S. Geological Surveyhttps://www.usgs.gov/ 

William Russel was elected as Alderman for the Ward of Bread Street in 2013 and served as Sheriff of the City of London in 2016-17. He has been the Lord Mayor of the City of London since 2019.Before leaving for public service, William Russell spent over 30 years working in the financial sector. In 1987 he went to work for First Boston Corporation before joining Merrill Lynch in 1992 as an investment banker in Institutional Equity Sales, working in Asia, New York and London. William is currently Chair of CDAM, a London based Asset Management business, and Senior Advisor to STJ Advisors. He was also on the Board of Innovate Finance, the industry body for the UK based FinTech community.He has a number of charitable interests. He has served as Chair of the Development Board of the Royal Court Theatre, he is a Board Member of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Barbican Centre and is on the Council of the Royal Theatrical Support Trust. He is immediate past Chair of Prostate Cancer UK and is currently Deputy Chair of Place2Be, a children’s mental health charity. He is a Trustee of Morden College and a past member of the Development Board of the Charterhouse.William is the fifth member of his family to be Lord Mayor in the past 110 years.Further reading:Official Biohttps://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-us/about-the-city-of-london-corporation/lord-mayor/lord-mayor-biography London is a leader in green finance but we must strive for more (February 2021)https://www.cityam.com/londin-is-a-leader-inn-green-finance-but-we-must-strive-for-more/ Board of Trade report: green trade (July 2021)https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/board-of-trade-report-green-trade

Elizabeth Wathuti is a Kenyan environment and climate activist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative, which nurtures young people to be environmentally conscious and has planted 30,000 tree seedlings in Kenya. She grew up in Nyeri County, which has the highest forest cover in Kenya, planting her first tree at the age of seven and establishing an environmental club in her high school. She was part of the leadership of Kenyatta University Environmental Club (KUNEC) where she led tree plantings, clean ups and environmental education and education on climate change. She is a recipient of a Wangari Maathai Scholarship award for her outstanding passion and commitment to environmental conservation. She is also a full member of the Green Belt Movement, which was founded by the late Professor Wangari Maathai who is Wathuti’s role model and a big inspiration and influence. In 2019, Wathuti was awarded the Africa Green Person of the Year Award by the Eleven Eleven Twelve Foundation, and named as one of the 100 Most Influential Young Africans by the Africa Youth Awards. She has also been featured on the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust website.

Laurence Tubiana is CEO of the European Climate Foundation (ECF). In addition, she is the Chair of the Board of Governors at the French Development Agency (AFD), the Chair of the Board at Expertise France (The French public agency for international technical assistance) and a Professor at Sciences Po, Paris.  Before joining 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 and through COP22, she was appointed UN High Level Champion for climate action, after a long career in public service - from 1997 to 2002, she served as Senior Adviser on the Environment to the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. From 2009 to 2010, she created and then led the newly established Directorate for Global Public Goods at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). In 2013, she chaired the French National Debate on the Energy Transition.  In 2002 she founded Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI).  and led it until 2014 . Throughout the years, 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 a member of numerous boards and scientific committees, including the Chinese Committee on the Environment and International Development (CCICED).Laurence Tubiana is an officer of the Legion of Honour, the highest French order of merit and recently was awarded the title of Doctorat Honoris Causa at the Université Catholique de Louvain.Further reading:Official Biohttps://europeanclimate.org/member/tubiana/Paris climate agreement: Five years on are there reasons for optimism? (December 2020)https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-interview/20201209-paris-climate-agreement-five-years-on-reasons-for-optimism

Eamon Ryan is the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Minister for Transport in the Irish government and leader of the Green Party.Eamon’s political career began in 1998 when he was co-opted to Dublin City Council. In 2002 he was elected to the Dáil Éireann. In 2007, when the Green party entered the government, he became the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. His time in office saw doubling of the renewable share in the electricity mix and a wide-ranging house retrofit programme. He resigned in 2011 after the Green Party left the government. After the Green Party failed to win any seats in the 2011 general election, Eamon became the party leader and has led it ever since. Eamon was elected TD for Dublin Bay South in 2016 and re-elected in 2020.Eamon graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Commerce.Further reading:Official bio:https://www.eamonryan.ie/homeEU’s carbon targets challenging but doable for Ireland, says Ryan (July 2021)irishtimes.com/news/politics/eu-s-carbon-targets-challenging-but-doable-for-ireland-says-ryan-1.4620617Statement from Minister Ryan at Leader's Climate Summit (April 2021)https://www.eamonryan.ie/news/2021/6/3/statement-from-minister-ryan-at-leaders-climate-summit 

Tony Abbott was the Australian PM between 2013 and 2015, the leader of the Liberal Party between 2009 and 2015 and an MP for Warringah between 1994 and 2019. He currently serves as an advisor to the UK Board of Trade alongside Michael.During his time in office he repealed Australia’s carbon tax and finalized trade deals with China, Japan and Korea. Tony Abbott was also Health Minister between 2003 and 2007.Prior to entering parliament, he was a journalist with The Australian, a senior adviser to opposition leader John Hewson, and director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. He has degrees in economics and law from Sydney University and in politics and philosophy from Oxford which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.Further reading:Official bio:http://tonyabbott.com.au/biography/Board of Trade report: green tradehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/board-of-trade-report-green-trade