Agenda

Ine Eriksen Søreide

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Ine Eriksen Søreide is Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway. She was Minister of Defence from 2013 to 2017. Before that, she served as member of the Storting (Norwegian parliament) for 12 years. From 2009 to 2013, she chaired the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. In the same period, she was also Head of the Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament as well as Head of the European Consultative Committee. From 2005 to 2009, Ms Eriksen Søreide chaired the Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs.Ms Eriksen Søreide started her political career in 1996 as a member of the Central Committee of the Young Conservatives. From 2000 to 2004, she was Chair of the Young Conservatives. She was a member of the Conservative Party Executive Committee from 2004 to 2014. Ms Eriksen Søreide has a graduate degree in Law from the University of Tromsø. She was born in 1976 and grew up in Strømmen, just outside Oslo.

HE Erna Solberg

Prime Minister, Norway

Erna Solberg was born and educated in Bergen: Norway’s ancient maritime capital and gateway to the Atlantic Ocean.

Erna Solberg has combined numerous national positions as Minister, Parlamentarian and regional politician with a strong commitment to global solutions for development, growth and conflict resolution.

As Prime Minister, and former Chair of the Norwegian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, she has championed transatlantic values and security.

In 2018 she assembled a global High Level Panel on sustainable ocean economy and introduced the topic at the G7 Summit. Her Government supports the World Bank’s PROblue initiative to prevent marine damage.

From 2016 the Prime Minister has co-chaired the UN Secretary General’s Advocacy group for the Sustainable Development goals. Among the goals, she takes a particular interest in access to quality education for all, in particular girls and children in conflict areas. This was also central in her work as MDG Advocate from 2013 to 2016.

Solberg has secured significant financial support for the Global Partnership for Education and hosted the Global Finance Facility for women’s and children’s health pledging Conference in Oslo in November 2018. Her firm belief is that investment in education will accelerate progress on all other SDG goals. She was awarded the inaugural Global Citizen World Leader Award in 2018 for her international engagement. Solberg has been leader of the Conservative Party of Norway (EPP, IDU) since 2004 and has held the position as Prime Minister since the General Election in 2013. She was re-elected in September 2017.

Call for action: Penelope Lea

Head of the Children`s Climate Panel, Eco-agents Norway

Moderator: Susannah Streeter

Anchor for World Business Report on BBC World Service and BBC World TV

Augusto Santos Silva

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Portugal

Karmenu Vella

EU Commissioner, Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Karmenu Vella is the European Commissioner for Environment, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs. He was born in Malta on June 1950. Mr Vella graduated in Architecture and Civil Engineering, and later obtained a Master of Science in Tourism Management from University of Sheffield. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 and continued to be was re-elected in the elections that followed for nine consecutive times. During his political career he has been appointed Minister for Public Works, Minister for Industry and Minister for Tourism twice. Mr Vella had also held various senior posts in the private sector.

Peter Thomson

Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean, United Nations

Ambassador Peter Thomson is a Fijian diplomat who served as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations from September 2016 until September 2017. He was Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 2010 and 2016. For the year 2014, he was elected President of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS). He led the Fiji team of diplomats that in 2013 chaired the Group of 77 and China – the UN’s largest negotiating group comprised of 133 developing countries. He was elected as President of the International Seabed Authority’s Assembly in 2011 and as President of its Council in 2015. In October 2017, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Ambassador Thomson as the first UNSG’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, in which role he is driving the implementation of SDG14, the UN Sustainable Development Agenda’s goal to conserve and sustainably use the resources of the Ocean.

HE Erna Solberg

Prime Minister, Norway

Erna Solberg was born and educated in Bergen: Norway’s ancient maritime capital and gateway to the Atlantic Ocean.

Erna Solberg has combined numerous national positions as Minister, Parlamentarian and regional politician with a strong commitment to global solutions for development, growth and conflict resolution.

As Prime Minister, and former Chair of the Norwegian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, she has championed transatlantic values and security.

In 2018 she assembled a global High Level Panel on sustainable ocean economy and introduced the topic at the G7 Summit. Her Government supports the World Bank’s PROblue initiative to prevent marine damage.

From 2016 the Prime Minister has co-chaired the UN Secretary General’s Advocacy group for the Sustainable Development goals. Among the goals, she takes a particular interest in access to quality education for all, in particular girls and children in conflict areas. This was also central in her work as MDG Advocate from 2013 to 2016.

Solberg has secured significant financial support for the Global Partnership for Education and hosted the Global Finance Facility for women’s and children’s health pledging Conference in Oslo in November 2018. Her firm belief is that investment in education will accelerate progress on all other SDG goals. She was awarded the inaugural Global Citizen World Leader Award in 2018 for her international engagement. Solberg has been leader of the Conservative Party of Norway (EPP, IDU) since 2004 and has held the position as Prime Minister since the General Election in 2013. She was re-elected in September 2017.

Scene-setter: Hans-Otto Pörtner

Professor, Marine Biology/Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology, Alfred-Wegener-Institute. IPCC Co-Chair, Working Group II.

Dr. Hans-Otto Pörtner studied at Münster and Düsseldorf Universities where he received his PhD and habilitated in Animal Physiology. As a Research and then Heisenberg Fellow of the German Research Council he worked at Dalhousie and Acadia Universities, Nova Scotia, Canada and at the Lovelace Medical Foundation, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Currently he is Professor and Head of the Department of Integrative Ecophysiology at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany. He acts as an associate editor ‘Physiology’ for Marine Biology and as a co-editor of the Journal of Thermal Biology. He was Honorary International Associate Member of the Society for Integrative Biology, USA, between 2006 and 2013. He gave the Peter Hochachka Memorial Lecture at University of British Columbia in 2007, the Plymouth Marine Lecture in 2013, and the Bidder Lecture of the Society for Experimental Biology in Florence in 2018. After involvement in the 4th and 5th Assessment Report cycles (AR4 and AR5) of the IPCC he was elected Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II for AR6 in October 2015. His research interests include the effects of climate warming, ocean acidification, and hypoxia on marine animals and ecosystems with a focus on the links between ecological, physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms limiting tolerance and shaping biogeography and ecosystem functioning.

Keynote: HE Macky Sall

President, Senegal

Keynote: Fiame Naomi Mataafa

Deputy Prime Minister, Samoa

Panelist: Aziz Akhannouch

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Marocco

Panelist: Seong-Hyeok Moon

Minister of Ocean and Fisheries, Republic of South Korea

Panelist: Yldiz Pollack-Beighle

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Suriname

Panelist: Sergey Khruschev

Director of the Department for State Policy and Regulation of Hydrometeorology, the study of the Arctic, Antarctic and the World Ocean. Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation.

Sergey Khrushchev is Director of State Policy and Regulation of Hydrometerology, the Study of the Arctic, Antarctic and World Ocean at the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology.  Most his life dedicated to Arctic. With a background in the Geophysics, Oil&Gas and Economics, Sergey received a Global Executive MBA from the IE Business School of Madrid in 2015.  He has held a diverse range of senior positions with federal and regional government as well as the private sector in Russia (Yamal LNG etc.).  Sergey¹s professional focus has been on infrastructure, oil and gas development and finance.  He has dedicated much of his career to developing the potential of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Western Siberia.   In his current role Sergey is leading Russia¹s strategy and policy work for the Arctic, Antarctic and  global ocean as well as Russia¹s network of meteorological and environment monitoring.

Panelist: Naoko Ishii

CEO Global Environment Facility

Panelist: Sam Teicher

Founder and Chief Reef Officer Coral Vita

Sam Teicher co-founded Coral Vita, a company that grows corals up to 50x faster to restore dying reefs.

Coral reefs sustain up to one billion people and 25% of marine life while generating $30B annually through tourism, fisheries, and coastal protection. But half of coral reefs are dead, and over 90% are on track to die within thirty years. Coral Vita grows corals in months instead of decades while strengthening their resiliency to climate change threats. By deploying a global network of land-based coral farms selling restoration services to customers, Coral Vita works to preserve these critical ecosystems and the communities that rely upon them.

Previously, Sam worked to implement climate resiliency initiatives at the White House and for the Global Island Partnership and was a contributing author to SDG 14. He is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur, launched Coral Vita out of his master’s program at Yale, somehow still plays rugby, and has been in love with the ocean since becoming a scuba diver as a child.

Panelist: Remi Eriksen

Group President and CEO, DNV GL

Remi Eriksen is the Group President and CEO of DNV GL Group, since 2015. With more than 23 years with DNV GL, he has extensive management and technical experience from working in the oil and gas, maritime and renewable energy sectors in Asia, Europe and Americas. Remi is acknowledged for his leadership skills in capturing growth opportunities in a complex and ever-changing global business environment. His keen interest in building resilient and sustainable business drives him to develop new competencies in leadership, transformative technologies and to the accelerated application of ’data-smart’ and digital solutions. He is a technology optimist and strongly believes business must make a bigger impact on the journey towards a sustainable future. Remi holds a Master’s in electronics and computer science from the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTNU) and has conducted his executive education at Rice University, IMD and INSEAD. Member of MARUT Strategic Council since 2012, appointed by the Norwegian Government to advise the Minister of Trade on maritime related matters. Member of the Executive Committee of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

Panelist: Lasse Kristoffersen

President Norwegian Shipowners Association

Panelist: Annette Detken

Head of InsuResilience Solutions Fund Management, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management GmbH

Annette Detken is heading the InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF). As implementing programme of the InsuResilience Global Partnership and funded by KfW the ISF is an important contribution of the German Government to the international initiative on climate risk insurance. Annette has established the fund within Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and is leading the ISF Management team.

Prior to the ISF Annette was Head of Division of the Financial Sector Policy Unit within KfW Development Bank responsible for all policy and strategic issues regarding KfW activities in financial system development in developing countries. Since 2015 the support of insurance market development and risk financing approaches has been a focus of her work. Before joining the Financial Sector Policy Unit Annette managed the acquisition team of KfW Carbon Fund mobilizing private capital via its purchase activities of carbon credits.

Annette Detken studied economics and finance at the University of St. Gallen und Stern School of Business, New York University. After her PhD studies at the University of Basel she joined the Economic Research Directorate of KfW.

Scene-setter: Chelsea Rochman

Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto

Chelsea Rochman is an Assistant Professor in Ecology at the University of Toronto. She is also a co-founder and director of the UofT Trash Team, a community outreach program. Chelsea has been researching the sources, sinks and ecological implications of plastic debris in marine and freshwater habitats for the past decade. She has published dozens of scientific papers in respected journals and has led international working groups about plastic pollution. In addition to her research, Chelsea works to translate scientific work beyond academia. For example, Chelsea regularly presents her work to and/or provides advice for policy makers and managers in Canada, the US, the EU and the UNE.

Keynote: Isabella Lövin

Minister for Climate and Environment, Deputy Prime Minister, Sweden

Keynote: Simon Stiell

Minister for Climate Resilience and the Environment, Grenada

Panelist: Brune Poirson

Secretary of State to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, France

Panelist: Simon Lowden

Chief Sustainability Officer, PepsiCo

Lowden has built a global reputation for leading transformative brands and innovation, fostering best-in-class marketing capabilities and shepherding collaborative functional teams, culled from more than two decades of experience across multiple businesses and roles in multinational companies such as PepsiCo and Unilever.

As Chief Sustainability Officer, Lowden leads PepsiCo’s Sustainability Office, including the Global Sustainable Plastics team and Global Sustainable Operations team, accelerating PepsiCo’s efforts to integrate purpose into the company’s business strategy and brands.

Lowden was most recently President of PepsiCo Global Foods, where he oversaw a period of strong growth driven by the global expansion of Doritos, innovation platforms such as Lay’s Oven Baked, and other initiatives. Since August 2018, Lowden has led PepsiCo’s Plastics Agenda, charged with steering the vision, critical partners and innovation initiatives to lead PepsiCo’s plastics reduction efforts. He was also responsible for media and content, overseeing the in-house PepsiCo Content Studio and Global Media Center of Excellence.

Lowden has two children, Ben who is 26 and a consultant, and Caitlin who is 23 and works for Live Nation.

Panelist: Tim Grabiel

Environmental Investigation Agency

Tim Grabiel is an experienced environmental lawyer based in Paris, France. He joined the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) in 2011, providing legal and policy advocacy and advice on marine plastic pollution and climate change at the European Union and international levels. Prior to joining EIA, Tim spent 1.5 years working in Brussels and 6 years working in the United States on environmental litigation and legislation. Tim has extensive experience with governmental and non-governmental organizations on a wide range of environmental issues, which in addition to the above also include renewable energy, waste management, transportation, forests, air quality, energy, water quality, coal mining, biodiversity and trade. He has also taught international and trade law as an adjunct professor at Sciences Po-Le Havre in France. Tim is a law graduate of New York University (NYU) School of Law and received his undergraduate degree in Economics/International Area Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is admitted to practice law in England and Wales, the European Union, New York and California.

Panelist: Wilhelm Myrer

Founder & CEO, Empower

Wilhelm is the founder and CEO of Empower (www.empower.eco), a company that is implementing a global plastic waste deposit and tracking system powered by blockchain technology, currently operating in Europe, Asia and Africa to close the tap on plastic waste. He is also the Chairman of the Oslo Blockchain Cluster and the tech startup Rage for Climate who is making the next generation of disruptive, traceable and transparent carbon credits allowing for real climate action (www.rage.eco).

Call for action: Joi Danielson

Program Director, Ocean Plastics Asia, SystemIQ

Call for action: Jacob Duer

President and CEO Alliance to End Plastic Waste

Panelist: Tony Ribbink

Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Seas Trust

Dr. Ribbink has worked extensively in Africa, principally leading international scientific, educational and socio-economic programmes to foster sustainability and build capacity. In his early years he developed management and conservation strategies for Lake Malawi/Nyasa, including the development of the Lake Malawi National Park. He was Deputy Director of the South African Institute for Aquatic biodiversity, and then Acting Director before he led the SADC/GEF Lake Malawi/Nyasa Biodiversity Conservation Programme. In 2001 he developed and led the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme using ships, manned and unmanned submersibles in the Western Indian Ocean countries. He initiated and became the founding trustee of the Sustainable Seas Trust in December 2007 to care for the oceans. In 2016 he launched its African Marine Waste Network project for the 54 states of Africa. The mission is to move Towards Zero Plastics to the Seas of Africa.  This is a project that is funded by Norway and is having a positive, growing impact in Africa.

Panelist: Veronique Cremades-Mathis

Global Head of Sustainable Packaging, Nestlé

Veronique Cremades-Mathis is Global Head of Sustainable Packaging at Nestlé. She is responsible to lead the Packaging transition of the Group so by 2025, all Nestlé’s products packaging will be either recyclable, reusable or compostable. This is encompassing I&R, Operations, Communication, Training and External key stakeholder management in supporting & nurturing the principle of circular economy.Prior this assignment, Veronique was Global Head of Food-Dairy & Confectionery for Nestlé Professional, the Out of Home arm of Nestlé group and before Managing Director & CEO of Nestlé in New Zealand. With a double degree in Food Sciences and Business, Veronique has over 29 years experience in the worldwide Food and Beverages industry, has worked in the fields of Marketing, Product development, Communications, Compliance, Sales and General Management in Europe, Singapore with regional responsibilities in Asia-Oceania-Africa, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and New-Zealand.Beyond Nestlé, Veronique was Chairman of the New Zealand Food & Grocery Council, Patron of Autism New Zealand and founder member of Superdiverse Women New Zealand.

Panelist: Tom Dillon

Vice President and Head of Environment, Pew Charitable Trusts

Tom Dillon oversees Pew’s environment portfolio, which includes land and ocean initiatives in the United States and around the world. Dillon’s efforts to advance a healthy and resilient ocean include establishing protections for vital coastal and ocean habitats, elevating governance of the high seas, preventing the causes of plastic pollution, advocating for sustainable, science-based fishing practices, and working to end illegal fishing. Through deep engagement with local and Indigenous communities, scientists, and policymakers, Tom and his team work to conserve large landscapes in Australia, Chile, Canada, and the U.S.

Before joining Pew, Tom was senior vice president at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), where he directed land, freshwater, and marine programs. He led WWF’s initiative to establish, fund, and protect in perpetuity 150 million acres of the Brazilian Amazon. While living in Asia, he was a leader in creating WWF’s Mekong program, which is focused in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Dillon holds a bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University and a master’s in environment studies from Yale University.

Panelist: Wang Juying

Director General, National Marine Environment Monitoring Center, China

Scene-setter: Gabriella Bianchi

Research coordinator, The EAF-Nansen Programme, Institute of Marine Research

Gabriella Bianchi, a PhD in fisheries research from the University of Bergen, has extensive and life-long experience with ocean sustainability issues, particularly in a development context. Her field of work ranges from marine biodiversity, marine ecology, to fisheries AND environmental management. In addition to working at the Institute of Marine Research (IMR, Bergen), where she was leading the “Centre for Development Cooperation in Fisheries”, she has been serving the UN FAO for many years where she also led the Fisheries Management and Conservation Branch of the Fisheries Department. Main technical responsibilities included development and promotion of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries and contributing to the production of FAO’s biennial SOFIA (State of the World Fishery Resources and Aquaculture). She is presently working at IMR coordinating the research activities linked to the FAO EAF-Nansen Programme, including the activities of the RV Dr. Fridtjof Nansen.

Keynote: Qu Dongyu

Director General, FAO

Keynote: Bernhard Esau

Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Namibia

Panelist: Harald Tom Nesvik

Minister of Fisheries and Seafood

Harald T. Nesvik was appointed Minister of Fisheries on August 13th, 2018. Nesvik is an experienced politician who was first elected to parliament in 1997, where he served as a parliamentary representative for Møre og Romsdal County for two decades, until 2017.

From 2005 to 2009 Nesvik chaired the Standing Committee on Health and Care Services in Parliament, and from 2009 to 2013, he was the second deputy chairman of the Standing Business and Industry Committee. He has also been a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense, and the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Affairs.

He began his political career in the Progress Party Youth in the 1980s, and has since held many political positions. From 2013 to 2017, he was the parliamentary leader of the Progress Party.

Harald Tom Nesvik was born in the city of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, where he studied fisheries export marketing, at the Technical Fisheries College in Møre og Romsdal.

From 2017 and until he was appointed Minister of Fisheries, he was head of public affairs and government relations in Sølvtrans, the world’s largest wellboat company for transport of live salmon and trout.

Panelist: Keith Krach

Under Secretary of State, United States

Panelist: Reagan Aliklik

Minister for RONPHOS and the Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation, Nauru

Panelist: Martin Exel

Managing Director, SeaBOS

Martin has been in the seafood sector for 40 years, and working with an Australian seafood business called Austral Fisheries since 1997, mainly in their Southern Ocean operations fishing for toothfish and icefish.  He has held many other roles, such as Chair of the international Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators; member and Chair of various Australian seafood industry Associations; and is a current Board member of the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania.    Before this, he worked for the Australian government, culminating in 5 years as General Manager Fisheries at the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and, earlier, he spent several years as a deckhand on longline and trawl vessels.  He holds a Bachelor of Science from Victoria University of Wellington (NZ), a Graduate Diploma in Fisheries Technology from the Australian Maritime College, and is a passionate recreational angler.

Panelist: Steve Trent

Executive Director, Environmental Justice Foundation

Steve Trent has worked for over 30 years in environmental advocacy, campaigning for the protection of natural resources, the environment and human rights, taking action to bring about tangible positive change and implementing solutions to ensure genuine long-term sustainability.

As a campaigner and Campaigns Director for the Environmental Investigation Agency from 1989 to 1999, Steve contributed to protecting the natural world from environmental crime and abuse, working for a pioneering organisation actively investigating and exposing wildlife and other environmental crimes.

He went on to co-found WildAid, serving as president for over a decade, and establishing and leading WildAid’s work in China and India.

Steve co-founded the the Environmental Justice Foundation in 2000 and currently serves as its Executive Director, addressing both environmental abuses and the associated human rights violations. EJF engages in detailed field-based investigations and research combined with advocacy reaching the highest levels of government and business.

Panelist: Despina Symons Pirovolidou

Director of the European Bureau for Conservation & Development

Call for action: Wayne McCook

Senior Advisor to the Director-General, World Trade Organization

Closing statement: Gerd Müller

Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany

Ine Eriksen Søreide

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Ine Eriksen Søreide is Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway. She was Minister of Defence from 2013 to 2017. Before that, she served as member of the Storting (Norwegian parliament) for 12 years. From 2009 to 2013, she chaired the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. In the same period, she was also Head of the Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament as well as Head of the European Consultative Committee. From 2005 to 2009, Ms Eriksen Søreide chaired the Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs.Ms Eriksen Søreide started her political career in 1996 as a member of the Central Committee of the Young Conservatives. From 2000 to 2004, she was Chair of the Young Conservatives. She was a member of the Conservative Party Executive Committee from 2004 to 2014. Ms Eriksen Søreide has a graduate degree in Law from the University of Tromsø. She was born in 1976 and grew up in Strømmen, just outside Oslo.

Ola Elvestuen

Minister of Climate and Environment, Norway

H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway

Crown Prince Haakon is the heir to the Norwegian throne and has a broad range of national and international engagements. Youth leadership, the environment and global development are issues close to his heart, with the ocean as a special priority.

Crown Prince Haakon has a keen interest in how innovation and entrepreneurship can contribute to move the world forward. Since 2003, the Crown Prince has been Goodwill Ambassador for UNDP. In this role he is currently focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals, with particular focus on SDG #1 regarding fighting extreme poverty, and SDG #14 regarding life in the oceans.

The Crown Prince holds a Bachelor in Political Science from the UC Berkeley, a Masters in Development Studies from LSE, and has studied Law at the University of Oslo. He graduated from the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy in 1995 and holds the rank of General in the Norwegian Army and Air Force, and Admiral in the Royal Norwegian Navy.

Crown Prince Haakon is a passionate surfer and music lover. He enjoys skiing, especially the traditional ‘Telemark’ style. He also does kiting, both on skies and on water. Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit have an active family life and spend a great deal of time with their children enjoying outdoor activities.

Scene-setter: Manuel Barange

Director of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Resources Division

Professor Manuel Barange is the Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Resources Division at the FAO, responsible for all technical issues regarding global and regional fisheries and aquaculture, including: scientific developments and needs; fish production and consumption; policy development and implementation; management and sustainability status; food and livelihood dependency; trade and markets and information and technology development, among others. Previously he was Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Science at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK, and Chair of the Science Committee of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Manuel is an Honorary Professor at the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK. He is a global expert on the impacts of Climate Change impacts on marine ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture, and on the interactions between natural and socio-economic drivers of change. He has over 120 academic publications and has edited two books. Manuel is a Review Editor of the IPCC Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) and a contributing author of the 6th IPCC Assessment. In 2010 he was awarded the UNESCO-IOC Roger Revelle Medal for his contribution to ocean science.

Keynote: Dr. Hussain Rasheed Hassan

Minister of Environment, Maldives

Panelist: Aupito William Sio

Minister for Pacific Peoples, New Zealand

Hon Aupito William Sio arrived in New Zealand as an eight year old when his parents migrated from Samoa to live in Otahuhu in 1969. His father comes from the village of Letaupe in the district of Lotofaga, Samoa, while his mother’s side is from the village of Satapuala.

Aupito William has been the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Mangere since 2008. Previously he was a City Councillor in Auckland for the Otara ward, and the first Pacific Deputy Mayor for Manukau City. In 2017 he was sworn in as Minister for Pacific Peoples, Associate Minister for Courts, Associate Minister for Justice.

Aupito William is passionate about advocating for diversity and the needs of Pacific peoples. In addition, he has been very vocal about climate change and how it is affecting the smaller islands and atolls in the Pacific region.

Aupito William is married to Jean  and has four adult children.

Panelist: Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted

Research Program Leader for Value Chains and Nutrition, WorldFish

Panelist: Sebastian Mathew

Executive Director, International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)

Mr Sebastian Mathew, Executive Director, International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), has been engaged in enhancing fisheries policy processes for nearly three decades at national, regional and international levels, towards valorizing the social and ecological dimensions of small-scale fisheries that are embedded in the knowledge and institutions of small-scale fishers and fishworkers. On behalf of ICSF, Mr. Mathew, since the 1990s, has followed major international policy processes that concern small-scale fishers and fishworkers. Mr. Mathew has undertaken studies on topics such as gear conflicts, tenure rights, fishers’ knowledge, labour (migrant, forced and child labour in fisheries in developing countries), social protection and fisheries subsidies. Also on behalf of ICSF, Mr. Mathew has organized several workshops and conferences from the perspective of securing the fishery-based livelihoods of coastal and inland fishing communities. Mr. Mathew is currently engaged in implementing the 2014 FAO-SSF Guidelines within a human rights-based approach towards improving governance and conservation and sustainable use of marine, coastal and inland fishery resources, mainly at the national and local levels.

Panelist: Erlend Sødal

Operations Director, Skretting Group

M.Sc Industrial Economics from NTNU, M.Sc Technology Management from NTNU/NHH/MIT. Worked for Skretting group since 1995. Various positions, M.D Skretting Norway since 2012, M.D Skretting Cluster Norway/UK/Australia since 2017. Skretting Group Global Operations Director since August 2019. Board member of the Norwegian Seafood Federation.

Panelist: Rupert Howes

CEO, Marine Stewardship Council

Statement: Patricia E. Harris

CEO Bloomberg Philanthropies

Patricia E. Harris is the Chief Executive Officer of Bloomberg Philanthropies, a data-driven foundation that encompasses all of founder Michael R. Bloomberg’s charitable giving. As CEO, Harris works across five key program areas—arts, education, environment, government innovation, and public health—to help ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. By developing, supporting, and incubating initiatives, Bloomberg Philanthropies is improving lives across the nation and the world.

Previously, Harris served as the First Deputy Mayor of the City of New York during the Bloomberg Administration. She is the first woman in New York City’s history to have served in this role, which is the City’s highest appointed position.

Before joining the Bloomberg Administration in 2002, Harris managed Bloomberg L.P.’s Corporate Communications Department, overseeing its Philanthropy, Public Relations, and Governmental Affairs divisions. Prior to that, she was Vice President for Public Relations at Serino Coyne Advertising. She began her career in public service in 1977 as an Assistant to then-Congressman Ed Koch and, upon Koch’s election as Mayor, served in a number of roles within his Administration, including Executive Director of the City’s Art Commission.

Call for action: Alexandra Cousteau

Explorer, Storyteller, Ocean Advocate and Senior Advisor to Oceana

Alexandra Cousteau is a Senior Advisor to Oceana. She lends her environmental expertise and influence to help guide the organization’s global campaigns to protect and restore the oceans. Alexandra is a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, filmmaker and globally recognized advocate on water issues who continues the work of her renowned grandfather Jacques-Yves Cousteau and her father Philippe Cousteau, Sr. Alexandra’s global initiatives seek to inspire and empower individuals to protect not only the ocean and its inhabitants, but also the human communities that rely on freshwater resources.

Scene-setter: Lise Kingo

CEO and Excecutive Director, UN Global Compact

Keynote: HE Tommy Remengesau Jr.

President of Palau and co-chair of the High Level Panel on Sustainable Ocean Economy

Panelist: Agostinho Salvador Mondlane

Minister of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries, Mozambique

Panelist: Bjørn Otto Sverdrup

Senior Vice President Sustainability Equinor

Panelist: Elisabeth Grieg

Chair Grieg Maturitas

Co-owner of the Grieg Group and a member of the founding family, Chair of Grieg Maturitas, and member of several other boards in the Group. Grieg is also chair of the election committee in Grieg Seafood and she is vice chair of G2 Ocean AS.

Grieg is boardmember at London Business School, SOS Children Villages and REV Ocean AS, in addition to chair the election committee in WWF. Grieg served as the first female president of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association. Grieg has also served as Chair of the Norwegian Guarantee Institute for Export Credits (GIEK) and board member of Nordea AB, Norsk Hydro and Statoil.

Grieg is well known for her strong social commitment, the need for sustainable business development and the fight against climate change.

Panelist: Prof. Jane Lubchenco

Co-chair HLP Expert Group

The Honorable Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., is a marine scientist with expertise in the ocean, climate change, and interactions between the environment and human well-being. Following completion of her Ph.D. at Harvard University, her primary academic appointments have been on the faculties of Harvard, Stanford, and Oregon State Universities. She served in President Barack Obama’s first term as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, the Administrator of NOAA, and an inaugural member of the President’s ‘Science Team’ (2009-2013). During Obama’s second term, she was appointed to serve as the first U.S. Science Envoy for the Ocean, a position with the State Department (2014-2016).  She is an elected member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and others.  Her awards include 23 honorary doctorates and the highest award given by both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation.  She co-chairs the Expert Group that advises the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, co-chaired by Norway and Palau.

Panelist: Janis Searles Jones

CEO Ocean Conservancy

Janis Searles Jones is CEO of Ocean Conservancy, the U.S.’s most-established conservation organization focused solely on solutions to tackle the most pressing ocean issues of our time. Jones is a renowned marine conservation and policy expert, with deep expertise in Alaska and the Arctic. She holds a JD and a certificate in environmental and natural resources law from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, where she is also a Distinguished Environmental Law Graduate and an adjunct faculty member. She is a 2017 Pew Marine Fellow. Prior to joining Ocean Conservancy, Jones was senior regional counsel and policy advisor for Oceana and a staff attorney for the Alaska office of Earthjustice. She is based in Ocean Conservancy’s Portland, Oregon office.

Twitter:  @In_VeritasJones

Panelist: Gerard Barron

Founder and CEO, DeepGreen

Panelist: Ingrid van Wees

Vice President, Asian Development Bank

Panelist: Emma Navarro

Vice-President, European Investment Bank

Call for action: John F. Kerry

Former Secretary of State, U.S.

Scene-setter: Enric Sala

Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society

Keynote: Wallace Cosgrow

Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Seychelles

Keynote: Victor Harison

AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs

Panelist: Michael Pintard

Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Bahamas

Panelist: Marco Lambertini

Director General, WWF International

Marco Lambertini is Director General of WWF International, having first worked with WWF as a youth volunteer in his native Italy. As the head of one of the largest and most respected nature conservation organizations, he works with world leaders, corporate executives and civil society to forge a future in which people and nature thrive. He sits on the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), is an international ambassador of the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) and a founding member of the Friends of Ocean Action.

He leads a global Network with over 50 years of environmental conservation successes, five million supporters, 30 million followers on social media and activities in over 100 countries.

Prior to joining WWF, he served as Chief Executive of BirdLife International where he restructured and led a highly decentralized secretariat, overseeing a global partnership of over 120 civil society organizations based in countries and territories in all continents. Marco’s experience and career ranges from field research to international policy, nature reserve management, environmental education, communications and campaigning, NGO development, ecotourism and integrated conservation and development projects in many countries all over the world.

Marco Lambertini has a degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Pisa, with a thesis on ecotoxicology, and has published books ranging from Safari in Africa (Muzzio) to A naturalist’s guide to the Tropics (Chicago University Press).

Twitter: @WWF_DG.

Panelist: Diva Amon

Deep-sea biologist, Natural History Museum, London

Diva researches the weird and wonderful animals of the deep ocean and how our actions are impacting them. She is currently a Research Fellow at the Natural History Museum in London, UK. She has participated in expeditions around the world, exploring previously unknown deep-sea habitats from Antarctica to the Mariana Trench. Sharing her science with the public, fellow scientists and policymakers is of the utmost importance. She has recently spoken at the United Nations, International Seabed Authority, and the Nobel Prize, as well as filmed with the BBC and CNN, to name just a few. Diva is also the co-founder of the non-profit NGO, SpeSeas, dedicated to increasing marine science, education and advocacy in Trinidad and Tobago.

Panelist: Vladimir Ryabinin

Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO

Dr Vladimir Ryabinin (Engineer, 1978; Ph.D., 1982; and Doctor of Sciences, 1995) is the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO in the rank of Assistant Director-General of UNESCO. Dr Ryabinin is an oceanographer, marine engineer, climatologist, and emeritus meteorologist of Russia. His research has led to a number of achievements in the medium-range weather prediction, marine services, offshore engineering, ocean and climate science. He has contributed to core design of such international initiatives as the Global Ocean Observing System, Joint Technical Commission of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and IOC for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology, International Polar Year 2007/2008, and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). His previous affiliations include Hydrometcentre of Russia (as a researcher and head of a laboratory), Moscow State University (as a lecturer), International Ocean Institute (as the director), and World Climate Research Programme (as a senior scientific officer at WMO).

Statement: Yohei Sasakawa

Chairman of The Nippon Foundation

Chairman, Yohei Sasakawa has shaped the Nippon Foundation into the unique entity that it is today. As a nongovernmental organization, the foundation works with multi-stakeholders—including governments, academia, businesses, and civil society—to address various issues ranging from supporting subsistent farmers in Africa, to creating a global network of ocean scientists to solve the most pressing issues facing our ocean. Sasakawa is personally dedicated to the fight against leprosy, the national reconciliation in Myanmar, and the effort to pass on sustainable oceans to future generations. One of the Nippon Foundation’s longstanding pillars in the ocean field is to build the human capacity of professionals in the global ocean community. Working with the United Nations and research institutions around the world, the foundation has nurtured more than 1,300 professionals in various ocean disciplines from over 140 countries.

Panelist: Martha Delgado Peralta

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mexico

Panelist: Matts Johansen

CEO Aker Biomarine

Matts joined Aker BioMarine in 2009. Before being named the CEO in 2015, Matts was the Chief Operating Officer of Aker BioMarine. As the CEO of Aker BioMarine, Matts is on a mission to improve human and planetary health. Prior to joining Aker BioMarine, he was the Chief Marketing Officer at Telefonica O2. Before that Matts studied at Oslo University College and Columbia University.

Panelist: Afroz Shah

Date with the Ocean

Youth Leadership Summit: Daniela V. Fernandez

CEO, Sustainable Ocean Alliance

At the age of 19, Daniela founded Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) as a college-room idea at Georgetown University. Five years later, she has built SOA into a global organization that is cultivating and accelerating innovative solutions to protect and sustain the health of the ocean. With phenomenal speed, SOA has created the world’s largest network of young ocean leaders – by establishing a presence in over 185 countries and has successfully launched the world’s first Ocean Solutions Accelerator to develop technological solutions that can address the greatest threats facing our planet.

How can we cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset in the next generation? What are the leading technologies that can be implemented to help address the challenges facing our environment? How can established companies harness the power of young people? What trends are we seeing in Gen Z and Millennials as consumers, employees, and future business leaders? Daniela is answering these critical questions that will influence the new wave of entrepreneurs and redefine the relationship between emerging technologies, mitigating climate change, restoring ocean health, as well as social good.

Ine Eriksen Søreide

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Ine Eriksen Søreide is Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway. She was Minister of Defence from 2013 to 2017. Before that, she served as member of the Storting (Norwegian parliament) for 12 years. From 2009 to 2013, she chaired the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. In the same period, she was also Head of the Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament as well as Head of the European Consultative Committee. From 2005 to 2009, Ms Eriksen Søreide chaired the Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs.Ms Eriksen Søreide started her political career in 1996 as a member of the Central Committee of the Young Conservatives. From 2000 to 2004, she was Chair of the Young Conservatives. She was a member of the Conservative Party Executive Committee from 2004 to 2014. Ms Eriksen Søreide has a graduate degree in Law from the University of Tromsø. She was born in 1976 and grew up in Strømmen, just outside Oslo.

HE Tommy Esang Remengesau Jr.

President of Palau and co-chair of the High Level Panel on Sustainable Ocean Economy