Focus: Environment/Sustainability
Binbin Wang
Binbin Wang is a climate activist and social scientist. A stubborn optimist, she has tracked the UNFCCC process since 2009 as a trusted witness, passionate advocate, creative expert, and multi-talented practitioner. She offers extensive expertise on global climate governance and policy, nature-based solutions, strategic communication, and multi-stakeholder cooperation between actors from different sectors and institutions. Binbin co-founded a local think tank to conduct national surveys investigating the public’s perception of the climate, the key findings of which were picked up by China’s National White Paper and the UNFCCC. Her monograph about China’s green transition was published by Springer Nature and received a nomination at the China New Development Awards in…
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Sascha Müller-Kraenner
Sascha Müller-Kraenner is CEO of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (Environmental Action Germany), a leading environmental, nature conservation, and consumer advocacy organization. He is also a founding partner and board member of the Ecologic Institute, a non-profit applied environmental policy research institute with offices in several European and North American cities. From 2007-2014, Sascha built and led The Nature Conservancy's regional program in Europe. From 2003-2006, he served as the Heinrich Böll Foundation's Director for Europe and North America as well as head of the Foundation's program on foreign and security policy. From 1998-2002 he served as Director of the Foundation's office in Washington DC. Sascha serves on several boards of scientific and…
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Oyungerel "Oyuna" Tsedevdamba
Oyungerel "Oyuna" Tsedevdamba is an author, public speaker, and human rights activist based in Mongolia. She formerly served as Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism for Mongolia and served as president of the Democratic Women's Union of Mongolia and as non-staff advisor to Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia. During her 15 years in public service, she has worked on the country’s privatization efforts and social insurance reform, and served as advisor to the prime minister and a member of parliament. As the co-founder and Executive Director of the Liberty Center, a human rights watchdog, Oyuna has developed a reputation as a tireless advocate for democracy and gender equality in Mongolia. As the…
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Rebecca Sullivan
Rebecca Sullivan is a sustainable-living advocate residing in a straw bale home off the grid on a 90-acre eco-farm in the Clare Valley, South Australia. She is a self-taught cook and has worked with some of the world’s best food producers, academics, activists, and chefs. She is a food curator, consultant, TV presenter, activist, author, regenerative farmer, and social entrepreneur. Rebecca has worked on many global sustainability projects including the Real Food Festival in London and serving as Taste Curator on Slow Food Nation in San Francisco. Her current work includes writing three more books, presenting on green living, hosting workshops, running her social enterprises Warndu and the Granny Skills…
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Christine Hogan
Christine Hogan was appointed Canada's Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change on September 30, 2019. Prior to her appointment, she served as Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean, at the World Bank Group (in Washington), from November 2016 to September 2019. From January 2015 to October 2016, Christine was Deputy Minister of International Trade. Between 2010 and 2015, Christine served in the Privy Council Office including as Foreign and Defence Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister. Throughout her career of more than 30 years, Christine has contributed to a diverse set of public policy issues ranging from international relations and development to trade policy, science and technology,…
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Bryan Eckstein
Bryan Eckstein is Vice President of Project Finance and Business Development at ForeFront Power, a San Francisco-based renewable energy company. He has over a decade of experience developing market-based clean energy solutions, including renewable energy development and finance, corporate energy management, and implementation of market-based climate change programs. Prior to this, he was part of the SunEdison project finance team. He has also consulted in energy, water, and climate change programs for clients including the World Bank, the UNFCCC Secretariat, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Environment Canada, the New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development, the Australian government, and public utility regulators. He started his career…
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Mehmet Gürcan Daimagüler
Dr. Mehmet Gürcan Daimagüler is a German-Turkish human rights and policy adviser lawyer based in Berlin and Bonn. Mehmet is also one of the leading political and cultural activists on German-Turkish issues and was the first German of Turkish descent to be elected to the national board of a German political party, the Free Democratic Party. An outspoken advocate for human rights in Germany, he founded the first political advocacy group for Turkish immigrants in Germany in 1994. He also spearheads inter-religious dialogue in Germany, bridging, in particular, the Muslim-Jewish divide. As a co-plaintiff, he represented several relatives of victims of a neo-Nazi terrorist cell (the National Socialist Underground) at…
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Weslynne Ashton
Weslynne Ashton is Associate Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology with joint appointments at the Stuart School of Business and the Institute of Design. She is a sustainable systems scientist, whose research, teaching and practice are oriented around transitioning our socio-ecological systems towards sustainability and equity. She studies the adoption of socially and environmentally responsible strategies in business, and the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in addressing social and environmental challenges. Her research is grounded in industrial ecology. Her current work focuses on increasing sustainability and equity in urban food systems, and developing regenerative economies in post-industrial regions and emerging economies. Weslynne previously led Yale University's Industrial Ecology in…
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Eliot Abel
Eliot Abel leads commercial sales & project development at Namasté Solar, a solar energy company based in Colorado, guiding the development of solar projects ranging from 100kW to 10MW. Prior to joining Namasté Solar, Eliot was Founder and Principal of Abel Clean Energy Advisors, a consulting firm that helps commercial property owners and developers utilize innovative financing, such as C-PACE, to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions that increase value, reduce operating costs, and enhance the sustainability of their properties. Earlier in his career, Eliot worked in business development roles at a UK-based thin film solar startup, GE’s global Renewable Energy business, and San Diego-based Renovate America. Eliot serves…
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Roz Savage
Roz Savage MBE earned a law degree at Oxford and was a management consultant for eleven years, before an environmental awakening led to her setting out on a life of adventure. She now holds four Guinness World Records for ocean rowing, including first woman to row solo across three oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian, using her adventures to raise awareness of environmental issues. She returned to Yale in 2017 to teach a class on Courage in Theory and Practice. The author of Rowing the Atlantic, and Stop Drifting, Start Rowing, in 2020 she earned a doctorate with her dissertation titled “Yin Leadership for Tumultuous Times,” and she…
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