December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/
December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/
Mr. Peter Bakker is President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) which is a CEO-led organization of forward-thinking companies that galvanizes the global business community to create a sustainable future for business, society and the environment. WBCSD has been very active in the Rio process since 1992. Peter Bakker is a distinguished business leader who until June 2011 was the CEO of TNT NV the Netherlands based holding company of TNT Express and Royal TNT Post (formerly TPG Post). At end of May 2011 TNT NV was split in two separately listed companies: TNT Express NV and PostNL NV. He led the demerger of TNT and, after its completion has stepped down and left the TNT group per June 1, 2011. Under leadership of Mr. Bakker, TNT became a leader in Corporate Responsibility with a ground-breaking partnership with the UN World Food Program, ambitious CO2 reduction targets from its Planet Me initiative and multiple year leading positions in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. He joined Royal TPG Post in 1991 and was appointed financial director of its parcels business unit in 1993. He was appointed financial control director of TPG Post in 1996 and became a member of the Board of Management of TPGPost in 1997. Since the split of TPG N.V. from Koninklijke PTT Nederland N.V. until his appointment as CEO in 2001, he was chief financial officer and a member of the TPG Board of Management. Mr. Bakker is a respected leader in Corporate Responsibility. He is the recipient of Clinton Global Citizen Award in 2009; SAM Sustainability Leadership Award in 2010; and the UN's WFP Ambassador Against Hunger in 2011. In addition he is the Chairman of War Child Netherlands. Mr. Bakker holds a masters degree in Business Economics from the Erasmus University Rotterdam and a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from the HTS Alkmaar.
Prof. E. William Colglazier is currently Visiting Scientist at the Center for Science Diplomacy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He served as 4th Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State from 2011 to 2014. His role was to provide scientific and technical expertise and advice in support of the development and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. Previously, he served as Executive Officer of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) where he helped to oversee the studies that provide independent, objective advice on public policy issues, and as Executive Director of their Office of International Affairs. From 1983 to 1991, he was a Professor of Physics at the University of Tennessee where he directed several research centers: Energy, Environment, and Resources Center; Waste Management Research and Education Institute; and the Water Resources Research Center. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1971, and prior to 1983 worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. While at Harvard, he also served as Associate Director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Humanism of the Aspen Institute. In 1976-77, he was an AAAS Congressional Science Fellow. He is past chair of the Forum on Physics and Society of the American Physical Society (APS) and a Fellow of the AAAS and APS.
Dr. Myrna Cunningham Kain is an indigenous Miskita woman from Nicaragua and President of the Center for Autonomy and Development of Indigenous Peoples which is an organization working in areas of intercultural communication, cultural revitalisation, indigenous women’s rights, and climate change and its impact on indigenous communities. With a professional background as doctor of medicine, she has experience in health issues and health policy. She collaborates with Nicaragua’s Autonomous Regional Governments in establishing Intercultural Health models. She has also supported the rights of indigenous peoples and served as Secretary-General of the Indigenous Inter-American Institute, as well as Chair of the UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues from 2011 to 2013. She has worked as a consultant for many multilateral, bilateral, governmental and non-governmental organizations on issues ranging from health, education, land, environment and natural resources, racial discrimination, evaluation mechanisms, to international human rights instruments. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Global Fund for Women.
Ms. Elenita Daño is Asia Director of the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC Group) – an NGO that monitors and analyzes trends, developments and potential impacts of new and emerging technologies on developing countries and marginalized communities. Ms. Daño is based in the Philippines. She holds a Bachelors’ degree in Development Studies and a Master’s degree in Community Development. She has been involved in civil society, multi-stakeholder and intergovernmental discussions on sustainable development and technological innovations, and the need for the evaluation of the potential impacts of technology on the environment, economy and society, as an advocate, researcher and activist. She has engaged UN agencies, institutions and governments in Asia and the Pacific, especially in the area of sustainable development, biodiversity and agricultural research. She has mobilized civil society in the region, engaging in key UN processes on sustainable development and the environment. At present, she represents environmental NGOs in UNFCCC’s Advisory Board of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN).
Prof. Xiaolan Fu is Founding Director of the Technology and Management Centre for Development, and Professor of Technology and International Development. Her research has focused on innovation, technology and industrialization; trade, foreign direct investment and economic development; emerging Asian economies; innovation and productivity in UK/US. She has published many academic papers and a number of books, including recently on China’s Path to Innovation, The Rise of Technological Power in the South, China’s Role in Global Economic Recovery, and Innovation in Low Income Countries (forthcoming). She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, and serves on the Editorial Boards of several international journals. She has carried out consultancy research for various UN organizations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, European Commission, UKTI and the Chinese government. She serves on the Advisory Expert Group of the OECD Global Investment Forum and the DFID/ESRC Growth Research Directorate (DEGRP), and was 26th President of the Chinese Economic Association (Europe) and CEA (UK). In 2012 to 2015, she led a multi-country research team as Principal Investigator completed a pioneering research on ‘The diffusion of innovation in low income countries’ (DILIC). She is also a Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and University of Tsinghua, and a Visiting Professor at Fudan University. As a leading China expert, she is well known to mainstream media in China and the UK. Previously, Prof. Fu was a Senior Research Fellow at Cambridge University, and Associate Professor in international trade and finance at a higher education institution of the Central Bank of China.
Dr. Paulo Gadelha is a MD and PhD in public health. He has worked on technology application in public health, health care models and history of science and technology, from both a research and a policy perspective. He participated in the UNDP Commission of Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Finance and Development. Dr. Gadelha is the President of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Brazil which is a renowned scientific and research institution for biomedical sciences. Fiocruz is responsible for generating and disseminating scientific and technological knowledge, e.g. for the development and production of vaccines, drugs, reagents, and diagnostic kits, as well as promoting health and social development in general. Fiocruz is also a WHO Collaborating Center for Health and Environment, Pharmaceutical Policies and South-South Cooperation, among other issues. Fiocruz has also participated in the creation of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes – IANPHI and coordinates the South American Nations Union (UNASUL) and the Community of Portuguese-Speaker Countries (CPLP) IANPHI’s networks. He created Casa de Oswaldo Cruz (COC), dedicated to sociology and history of science and health and served for several years as a member of the Intersectorial Commission on Science and Technology of the National Health Council. As the President of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (ABRASCO) from 2005-2006, he chaired the 11th World Congress of Public Health. He represented Fiocruz in the creation of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi).
Dr. Heide Hackmann is currently the Executive Director of the International Council for Science, following eight years as Executive Director of the International Social Science Council. Heide holds a M.Phil in contemporary social theory from the University of Cambridge, UK, and a PhD in science and technology studies from the University of Twente in the Netherlands. She has worked as a science policy maker, researcher and consultant in the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and South Africa. Before moving into the world of the international councils, Heide worked as Head of the Department of International Relations and Quality Assessment of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her career in science policy dates back to the early 1990s when she worked at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa. Heide holds membership of several international advisory committees and boards, including the Scientific Advisory Board of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, the Swedish Research Council’s Committee for Development Research, Sweden, and the Board of Cape Farewell in the UK. She is a South African and German national.
Dr. George Owusu Essegbey is the Director of the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) of the Council of Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) of Ghana. He was a member of the country’s National Development Planning Commission (NDPC). Currently he serves on the Governing Council of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which spearheads Research and Development in Ghana; the Scientific Board of AfricaLICs based in Nairobi, and other national and international boards. He has several years of experience in Science and Technology (S&T) policy research, innovation studies, research on new technologies and other relevant fields. He holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies (University of Cape Coast) and M.A. in International Affairs (University of Ghana). He did Ph.D. internship at the United Nations University (Institute for New Technologies) in Maastricht, The Netherlands and a Commonwealth Fellowship at the Policy Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (PREST) at the University of Manchester. Dr. Essegbey has served various national and international organisations with his expertise including FAO, UNESCO, UNCTAD, UNEP and the World Bank. He is currently involved in the project on Diffusion of Innovation in Low Income Countries (DILIC) based at the Oxford University. He is active academically supervising Ph.D. students and teaching.
Prof. Nakicenovic is Deputy Director General and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and former Professor of Energy Economics at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria. He is a world renowned energy economist and computer scientist with degrees from Princeton University and the University of Vienna, as well as a Honoris Causa Doctorate in engineering from the Russian Academy of Sciences. He has authored more than 300 publications and is Editorial Board Member of several scientific journals. He is one of the leading experts on technology change and future scenarios, especially with regard to infrastructures, energy and environmental technologies, and climate change. Prof. Nakicenovic has held many science-policy and advisory positions, including as member of the Advisory Council of the German Government on Global Change (WBGU); the International Council for Science (ICSU) Committee on Scientific Planning and Review, and Co-Chair of the Global Carbon Project; United Nations Secretary General High-Level Technical Group on Sustainable for Energy for All Initiative; Board, Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA); Working Group of the Austrian Panel on Climate Change (AG-APCC); Panel on Socioeconomic Scenarios for Climate Change Impact and Response Assessments; Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) Steering Committee; International Advisory Board of the Helmholtz Programme on Technology, and the Earth League. Prof. Nakicenovic has been engaged in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in various roles over the past 25 years. In particular, he was Convening Lead Author of the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, the Third Assessment Report, and the Fourth Assessment Report. He was director of the Global Energy Assessment (GEA); Coordinating Lead Author of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; director of Global Energy Perspectives, World Energy Council, 1993 to 1998, Convening Lead Author of the World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, 1999 to 2000, Member of the International Science Panel on Renewable Energies (ISPRE), 2006 to 2008, and Guest Professor at the Technical University of Graz, 1993–2003. He also served as member of the UN Secretary General Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change. He is originally from Montenegro and also a citizen of Austria.
Dr. Hayat Sindi, a Saudi Arabian national, is founder and President of the Institute for Imagination and Ingenuity (i2institute), which focuses on fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as co-founder and director of ‘Diagnostics for All’, a nonprofit institution fusing biotechnology and microfluidics, dedicated to creating low-cost, easy-to-use, point-of-care diagnostics designed specifically for the 60 percent of the developing world that lives beyond the reach of urban hospitals and medical infrastructures. Originally graduated with a degree in pharmacology she holds a PhD in biotechnology from Cambridge University, UK, and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University. She has invented a machine combining the effects of light and ultra-sound for use in biotechnology. Along with her scientific activities, she participated in numerous events aimed at raising the awareness of science amongst women, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the Muslim World. She currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Secretary-General. Dr. Sindi was one of the first women to be appointed by the King to the Saudi Arabia’s highest consultative body, the Shura Council, and she is also a Goodwill Ambassador for Sciences at UNESCO. In 2012, she was named one of Newsweek's "150 Women Who Shake the World". Recently, Dr. Sindi was named by Forbes number 2 the most powerful Arab women in kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Last year Hayat Sindi received Clinton Global Citizen Awards "leadership in Civil Society" for her work to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among young people in the Middle East.