Minister of Energy, Thailand

Education : - S.B. (Honor) degree in Chemical Engineering,
California Institute of Technology

- Sc.D. degree in Chemical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Former Positions - Executive Director, Petroleum Institute of Thailand

- Member of the National Reform Council (NRC)
Secretary of the Energy Reform Committee of NRC

- Board of Commissioner and Acting Director General,
Port Authority of Thailand

- Member, Board of Commissioners, State Railway of Thailand

- Business Rehabilitation Plan Administrator,
Thai Petrochemical Industry Public Co., Ltd.

- Managing Director, LPN Plate Mill Public Co., Ltd.

- Senior Vice President and Senior Director,
Merchant Banking Department, Bangkok Bank Public Co., Ltd.

- Manager of Planning and Information Department,
National Petrochemical Public Co., Ltd.

- Head of Systems Planning Division,
Petroleum Authority of Thailand

(Academic Institution) - Lecturer, Chemical Engineering Department,
Chulalongkorn University

Director-General, the International Renewable Energy Agency

Adnan Z. Amin is the Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), currently serving his second term. He was elected as the Agency’s first Director-General in 2011. During his tenure, IRENA has achieved near universal membership with 158 Members sand has become the global authority on renewable energy. The agency today provides the world community with a strong international cooperation framework to accelerate the sustainable energy transformation, as a major pathway to fostering sustainable development and one of the most important solutions to climate change.

Mr. Amin has over 25 years of experience in international environment, sustainable development and energy policy. Mr. Amin has held senior positions in the United Nations (UN), including as Head of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination Secretariat, Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence and Director of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Mr. Amin is a development economist specializing in sustainable development. He is a national of Kenya

Policy Director, Energy and Climate Change, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Co-Facilitator of SDG 7 Technical Advisory Group

Mr. Hans Olav Ibrekk is Policy Director, Section for Energy, Climate and Food Security, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has more than thirty years of experience from government, international organizations, research and consulting in development cooperation, climate change, energy, water resources management, environmental financing, and capacity building, among other areas. He is a member of the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and served on the Board of the Adaptation Fund 2007-2017, including serving as Chair in 2013 and 2015. Mr. Ibrekk is also the co-facilitator of the UNDESA-appointed SDG7 Technical Advisory Group. He is the focal point for water and sanitation in the Ministry. Mr. Ibrekk previously worked at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from University of Washington and a Master’s in Civil Engineering from the Norwegian Institute of Technology.

Senior Director of Energy, World Bank Group

Riccardo Puliti joined the World Bank Group as Senior Director, Head of the Energy and Extractives Global Practice in November 2016. In his role, Riccardo leads a team of 400 professionals in their work developing policies and financing in the global energy and extractive industries. The Energy and Extractives practice has a portfolio of approximately USD 52 billion.

Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Riccardo was the Managing Director in charge of Energy and Extractive Industries at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, leading a group of 100 professionals with a portfolio of approximately EUR 11 billion.

Riccardo started his career at Istituto Mobiliare Italiano in 1987 before moving to Banque Indosuez and NM Rothschild where he worked in equity capital markets, always in the energy and infrastructure sectors. During his career, Riccardo has been a nominee or independent member of the board of several energy and extractive companies, including OMV Petrom (where he chaired its Risk and Audit Committee), Irkutsk Oil and Iberdrola Poland. He holds an MBA from Instituto Superior de Estudios de la Empresa (IESE) and postgraduate studies at the Kennedy School of Government (Harvard University) and Imperial College.

Secretary General of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact

Joan Carling is an indigenous activist from the Cordillera, Philippines. She has been working on indigenous issues at the grassroots to international levels for more than 20 years. Her field of expertise includes human rights, sustainable development, environment, and climate change. She has been also been actively engaging in international bodies, processes and mechanisms such as the Agenda 203 on sustainable development, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN mechanisms relating to human rights among others in advancing the issues and concerns of indigenous peoples in Asia. Joan Carling is the Secretary General of Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) representing its 47 member-organisations in 13 countries. She is also an expert member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

CEO of the European Climate Foundation

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), 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, 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. 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. She founded in 2002 and directed until 2014 the Paris-based Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI). In the 80’s and early 90’s she founded and then led Solagral, an NGO working on food security and the global environment. She started her career as a Research Director for the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA).

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).

President of State Grid US Representative Office, GEIDCO US Representative ad interim

Ms. Cheng is the Deputy Director General of Dept. of International Cooperation of State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), President of SGCC U.S. Office and Acting Chief of GEIDCO North America Office.

Ms. Cheng started her career in 1991 in Dept. of International Cooperation of China Electricity Council. Since then, she has been intensively involved in international cooperation business in major projects and events between China’s power sector and international community. She worked in the then China’s Ministry of Power Industry since 1993, and later held major positions in charge of international affairs in China State Power Corporation (1996-2003) and State Grid Corporation of China (2003 till now). She is also a member of IEC Market Strategy Board (MSB), Director of Board of REN, a national energy network company of Portugal, Sherpa on Management Committee of Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership(G-SEP) Ms.Cheng received a Master Degree of Business Management from Tsinghua University.

Executive Director of ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy

Sheila Oparaocha has twenty-one years of working experience in the gender and energy sector, a Bachelor’s Degree in Veterinary Medicine and a Master’s Degree in Gender and Development Planning.

Sheila is the Executive Director of the ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy. ENERGIA is an International Network of like-minded organisations and professionals that was established in 1996 to create an institutional base for galvanising action aimed at integrating gender into the energy access agenda of developing countries. Currently, ENERGIA has a programme of work with 31 partner organizations in 18 countries in Africa and Asia. Sheila has over has twenty one years of experience working at the intersectionality of gender equality, women empowerment and energy access, specifically in the areas of women entrepreneurship development, gender mainstreaming in energy programmes, international policy advocacy, research and evidence development, network building and knowledge management. Sheila is the co-chair of the Technical Advisory Group for the Sustainable Development Goal 7 and a permeantent member of the Steering Committee of the Health and Energy Platform for Action.

In the gender and energy sector. Sheila has the overall and primary responsibility for managing ENERGIA’s international programmes, planning, monitoring, reporting and liaising with ENERGIA’s donors. Sheila also provides technical support to ENERGIA’s activities on