UN Economic and Social Development
Division for Sustainable Development

Rae Kwon Chung, Ambassador for Climate Change of the Republic of Korea

Ambassador Chung is the chief negotiator for climate change issues representing the Republic of Korea since May 2008.

Since the early 1990s Ambassador Chung has been involved in international environmental negotiations for climate change and the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. He contributed as a lead author for an IPCC special report on technology transfer and received a personal copy of 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as contributor to the award of IPCC Nobel Peace Prize 2007. He studied at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and graduated with MA for Foreign Service. He served as Director-General for International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Korea. While working at UN ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) as Director for Environment and Sustainable Development Division, he was promoting a new paradigm of “Green Growth” as a regional strategy of sustainable development for Asia and the Pacific.

Tim Jackson (UK), Professor, Director of the RESOLVE Research Group, Member of Centre for Environmental Strategy (CES) and Economics Commissioner at the Sustainable Development Commission

In his ground-breaking book “Prosperity without growth”, Tim Jackson, acknowledges that society faces a profound dilemma: economic growth is unsustainable; but 'de-growth' - or economic contraction - is unstable. The prevailing 'escape route' from this dilemma is to try and 'decouple' economic activity from its impacts. But there is no evidence at all that this is working. The book engages in a critical re-examination of the economic structure and social logic of consumerism.

He was appointed Professor of Sustainable Development in April 2000, the first such chair to be created in the UK. His current research interests include: sustainable consumption, sustainable energy systems, ecological economics and environmental philosophy. In March 2004, Tim was appointed to the UK Sustainable Development Commission as chair of the Economics Steering Group. He is the only academic member to sit on the UK Government’s Sustainable Consumption Round Table, and advises DEFRA on sustainable consumption and production, behaviour change, well-being and sustainable procurement.

Robert Pollin, Professor of Economics and founding Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

His research centers on macroeconomics, conditions for low-wage workers in the U.S. and globally, the analysis of financial markets, and the economics of building a clean-energy economy in the U.S. Most recently, he co-authored the reports “Job Opportunities for the Green Economy” (June 2008) and “Green Recovery” (September 2008), exploring the broader economic benefits of large-scale investments in a clean-energy economy in the U.S.

He has worked with the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa on policies to promote to promote decent employment expansion and poverty reduction in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. He has also worked with the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress and as a member of the Capital Formation Subcouncil of the U.S. Competiveness Policy Council.

Carsten Staur, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations

Carsten Staur has served as Denmark’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 1 March 2007. Ambassador Staur has an extensive background in development cooperation. He was State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2007 and in this capacity he had the operational and managerial responsibility for the implementation of Denmark’s development assistance programme (Danida), which has an annual budget of more than 2 billion USD (in 2008 amounting to 0,81 percent of Denmark’s GDP). As State Secretary, he was also in charge of Denmark’s cooperation with the United Nations system, the European Union and the World Bank. In this context, he was Member of the Board of the Global Fund against hiv/aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis from 2005-2007. He served as Chairman of the joint UNDP and UNFPA Board in 2007.

Pavan Sukhdev, (India), Project Leader for UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative; Chairman, Deutsche Bank’s Global Markets Centre Mumbai

Pavan Sukhdev is the Project Leader for UNEP’s “Green Economy” initiative, a project suite to demonstrate that the greening of economies is not a burden on growth but rather a new engine for growth, employment, and the reduction of persistent poverty. He is also Study Leader for the G8+5 commissioned report on “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity” (“TEEB”). The Interim Report was welcomed globally for its fresh economic outlook, showing the economic significance of the loss of nature’s services, and connecting biodiversity and ecosystems with ethics, equity, and the alleviation of poverty.  

As a career banker, Pavan Sukhdev continues to be Chairman of Deutsche Bank’s Global Markets Centre Mumbai (“GMC Mumbai”), whilst on sabbatical from the Bank for two years to conduct his environmental projects “TEEB” and “Green Economy”.