Speakers
Aimee T. Gonzales is currently the Executive Director of PEMSEA, a regional coordinating mechanism to foster healthy, resilient coasts and oceans through applying science based integrated management solutions, strategic partnerships in the East Asian Seas. She has more than 20 years of analytical, advocacy experience on sustainable marine and fisheries governance, policy reforms with WWF International. Before working with WWF, Aimee served as Head Executive Assistant to two Cabinet Secretaries of the Philippine DENR. Aimee holds a Masters on Environmental Assessment and Education from London School of Economics and a Masters’ Degree in Public Policy from National University of Singapore.
Alok Pandey, a development practitioner, has more than 21 years of work experience. Having a background of Economics he obtained his Ph.D. in 2001. Alok has expertise in local governance and decentralised planning, both in rural and urban contexts. He has conducted training programmes for officials of state governments and elected representatives of panchayats with a capacity of Master Trainer of Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India. At present Alok is associated with Solidaridard, an international not for profit company, engaged in fair trade and sustainability of supply chain. Alok leads sugarcane vertical of Solidaridad, at Asia level.
Based in Bangkok, Alvaro is the team leader of the EU/BMZ-project “Rethinking Plastics-Circular Economy Solutions to Marine litter in China-Indonesia-Japan-Philippines-Singapore-Thailand-Vietnam”, implemented by GIZ and Expertise-France.
He has extensive experience in international development cooperation projects. Some highlights: the incorporation of EPR into a new Chilean waste management legislation, the implementation of ozone- and climate-friendly technologies for cooling and air-conditioning in Latin-America and Sub-Saharan Africa. From 2014 to 2019 he managed in Mexico a challenging Waste-to-Energy cooperation project.
Alvaro graduated from the Universidad de Chile as a Mechanical Engineer and holds a Magister’s Degree in Environmental Sciences of the University RWTH-Aachen, Germany.
Amparo has worked in FAO since 2015 on reduction of impacts of fishing operations in the environment. In particular she has focused on discards, bycatch and abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear related issues. From 2020, she is coordinating the implementation of the Global Partnerships for Marine Litter (GloLitter). GloLitter is an IMO-FAO programme focusing on prevention and reduction of marine plastic litter from the shipping and fisheries sectors.
As the Founder / CEO of Plastics For Change, Andrew’s role is to make it easy for brands and manufacturers to transition from virgin to recycled plastic.
Plastics For Change has developed an ethical sourcing platform that connects waste-pickers to global markets. Our fair trade certified supply chains ensures a consistent supply of high quality recycled plastic for brands. This initiative is about creating better livelihoods for the urban poor while keeping plastic out of the ocean.
Andrew has catalyzed several global brands and manufacturers to replace the use of virgin plastic with fair trade recycled plastic.
Andrew Jeffries has 28 years of professional experience including nearly 14 years with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He is currently the Country Director for Viet Nam, serving as ADB’s representative and is responsible for ADB operations in the country. ADB’s main instruments for helping its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance.
Ann Måwe is the Ambassador of Sweden to Vietnam since 2019.
Before that, she was director and deputy head of the MENA department at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (2015-2019).
Previously, she has served as Counsellor for MENA affairs at the Swedish Permanent Representation to the UN in New York (2005-2010) and deputy Consul General in Jerusalem (2002-2005).
Ms Måwe holds a Msc. in International Politics focusing on the Middle East from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1998) and a BA in Oriental Studies from Uppsala university (1994).
Passionate about understanding the numbers behind sustainability, I spent more than 10 years supporting organizations who desire to embed sustainability in their strategy. I am a senior sustainability consultant at Quantis, working with the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) community in Europe.
I lead the technical development of the plastic leakage assessment at Quantis and have expertise in the evaluation of the plastic leakage generated by products or corporate activities for the food, apparel and cosmetic sectors.
Dr. Anne Bowser is the Director of Innovation with the Wilson Center, a quasi-government think tank in Washington, DC, and a Consultant with UNEP, where she supports work on the forthcoming Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) Digital Platform. Dr. Bowser’s PhD, from the University of Maryland, is in Human-Computer Interaction. Through out her career, her research focuses on understanding the role of humans in social-technical systems. The GPML Digital Platform represents a critical opportunity to understand and address a pressing global issue- Marine litter and plastic pollution- from both human and technological perspectives.
Anthony Cox is the Deputy Director of the Environment Directorate of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Since joining the OECD in 2000, Anthony has led multi-disciplinary teams tackling a wide range of environmental issues including climate, water, fisheries, biodiversity, political economy of reform, green finance and the ocean. He has coordinated major multi-agency projects on climate, finance and growth, and guides the OECD’s work on the sustainable ocean economy. He also leads the OECD’s engagement on environment, climate and energy issues in the G7 and G20. Prior to joining the OECD, Anthony worked as Senior Economist in the Australian Public Service, including positions in the Productivity Commission and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Antoinette Taus is a Filipino-American award-winning actor, singer, host, humanitarian and Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. She is also the founder of the non-profit organization CORA (Communities Organized for Resource Allocation). Together with their team of volunteers, they are dedicated to creating sustainable programs to help solve global issues focused on hunger, poverty, inequality, climate change and the mission to beat plastic pollution. Today, Antoinette collaborates with media groups, such as Discovery, National Geographic, FOX and CNN Philippines, on projects centered on important social and environmental issues, and the solutions to create a better world for all.
Åsa has worked in the field of resource management for 20 years. Her focus is sustainable use of resources and sustainable consumption and in recent years, a lot of her work has been on the different aspects of plastic. She is now heading the Swedish national coordination towards sustainable plastic use.
Ayako Mizuno is a Program Manager of the Regional Knowledge Center for Marine Plastic Debris (RKC-MPD) at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), where she coordinates efforts to mitigate marine plastic pollution in East and Southeast Asian regions. The RKC-MPD is an information clearinghouse on marine plastic debris established in October 2019 within ERIA to serve ASEAN+3 countries (10 ASEAN countries + China, Japan, and Republic of Korea).
Based in Singapore, Belinda is the Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability (PACS) Director for Coca-Cola ASEAN, a position she has held since 2018.
Belinda has significant experience with Coca-Cola in Southeast Asia having held PACS leadership roles in markets including Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Her initial role in the region was in Yangon where she helped establish operations and governance for Coca-Cola Myanmar. She has played a key role in driving the company’s ‘World Without Waste’ initiative and related partnerships across the region.
Belinda joined Coca-Cola in its Sydney office in 2006 in the role of Communications Manager. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Business Administration from the Australia Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales. She previously worked for consumer and technology public relations agencies in Australia.
Bénédicte has dedicated her academic and professional career to work on environmental issues, with two Master’s degrees in Environmental Policies and Environmental Sciences, and a junior expertise on environmental crimes. She is part of INTERPOL’s Global Pollution Enforcement Team since April 2017, contributing to the coordination of the largest enforcement operations ever led against crimes related to waste and marine pollution. Her analysis of official data allowed to identify criminal trends and risk indicators, serving to enhance detection and disruption of pollution crimes globally. Bénédicte recently conducted a strategic analysis of the criminal trends in the plastic waste sector.
Bernhard Barth is Human Settlements Officer at UN-Habitat’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, based in Fukuoka Japan. On an interim basis he also oversees UN-Habitat’s global Programme on Climate Action and Urban Environment. Bernhard holds Master’s degrees in Economics and in Environmental Policy.
Bénédicte has dedicated her academic and professional career to work on environmental issues, with two Master’s degrees in Environmental Policies and Environmental Sciences, and a junior expertise on environmental crimes. She is part of INTERPOL’s Global Pollution Enforcement Team since April 2017, contributing to the coordination of the largest enforcement operations ever led against crimes related to waste and marine pollution. Her analysis of official data allowed to identify criminal trends and risk indicators, serving to enhance detection and disruption of pollution crimes globally. Bénédicte recently conducted a strategic analysis of the criminal trends in the plastic waste sector.
Butch Bacani leads UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative (PSI), the largest collaboration between the UN and the insurance industry. Endorsed by the UN Secretary-General and insurance industry CEOs, the PSI is a global framework and initiative for the industry to address sustainability issues—as risk managers, insurers and investors—and to build resilient, inclusive and sustainable communities and economies on a healthy planet.
Butch leads activities supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Financial Stability Board’s climate risk disclosure recommendations (TCFD). These include a global initiative to develop “Insurance Sustainable Development Goals”, the largest gathering of insurers to pilot the TCFD recommendations, and working with the California Insurance Commissioner to develop the world’s first sustainable insurance roadmap. He co-led the development of the first global sustainability guide for the insurance business, led the creation of the Insurance Industry Development Goals for Cities, forged the PSI’s partnership with the world’s inclusive insurance community, and co-led the creation of UNEP’s Sustainable Insurance Forum for supervisors and regulators. Butch is involved in the InsuResilience Global Partnership, Vulnerable 20 Group of Finance Ministers, California Climate Insurance Working Group, Insurance Development Forum, and Microinsurance Network. In 2020, he was included in InsuranceERM’s inaugural list of the most influential people leading and shaping the insurance industry’s response to climate change.
I graduated with a Master of Social Sciences and Documentary Cinema. I have developed a deep sense of both scientific rigor and artistic creativity which I place at the core of my professional values. I started as a volunteer on the field for the organization of ocean plastic collection in Thailand. As a project coordinator, I am in charge of a social impact study at the request of the IUCN, and creating contents for the social media platforms. I would also be interested to develop a research project in applied anthropology on the control of plastic pollution in southern Thailand.
Casper Durandt has a Mechanical Engineering Degree from the University of Pretoria an Honors Degree in Business Administration from Stellenbosch Business School an MBA from Stellenbosch University and a PhD from Stellenbosch on Production process and efficiency improvement
Has held the following directorships: The Glass Recycling Company, The PET recycling Company – PETCO (Chairman), The Metal packaging Recycling company – PETMAC-SA and
The South African National Bottle water Association – SANBWA
Casper has been working in sustainability for the past 20 years.
Bachelor of Science at Kasetsart University, Master of Education Program in Environmental Education at Mahidol University, Doctor of Phylosophy Program in Sustainable Land use and Natural Resource Management At Kasetsart University
Cheryl is presently Head of the Environment Section within MIMA, a national policy research institute. Cheryl has been instrumental in establishing the Clean Coast Index as a tool for a structured and systematic baseline data collection for coastal cleanliness monitoring and assessment. She is currently focusing on addressing policy and management gaps on marine litter at the national and local levels under the SEA Circular Project, in cooperation with the focal ministry towards establishing a national marine litter policy framework.
Chettiyappan Visvanathan is a Professor at the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. He lectures in Environmental Engineering and Management Program. He holds a Doctoral degree in Chemical/Environmental Engineering, Institute de Genie Chimique, Institut National Polytechnique, Toulouse, France. His expertise includes Solid-liquid separation technologies for water and wastewater treatment, Clean technologies, Circular Economy in Plastic waste management and Industrial pollution control.
Commissioner Crispian Lao is the Vice Chairman of the National Solid Waste Management Commission under the Office of the President, Republic of the Philippines, as the Private Sector Representative for the Recycling Industry.
He is the Founding President of Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Material Sustainability (PARMS) which brought together stakeholders and launched its “ZERO WASTE TO NATURE: AMBISYON 2030” developing a roadmap for single use products and packaging applications.
He was an expert panel member of the Study on “Breaking the Plastic Wave” and a Technical Advisory Group member of the Global Review on Safer End of Engineered Life.
Christina Ameln is a Sustainability Strategist & Advisor at consultancy Purple IVY that integrates sustainability further into companies’ business models. She is the Founder of Sustainable Vietnam lifting knowledge on sustainability, partnerships and impact in the region.
Ameln has over 20 years of experience in CSR and Sustainability with multiple sectors from corporates; and multilateral and non-profit organizations in Asia, Europe and USA.
Ameln has an MBA from Nottingham University and a BBA from the University of Kent at Canterbury. She writes regularly on sustainability and sits on the Board of Advisory for LIN Center for Community Development.
Dominic has worked in oceans for seven years and his work focuses on combatting IUU fishing and human rights abuses across Southeast Asia. More recently Dominic has begun working on community-based solutions to plastic pollution both on land and by the coasts. In 2019 he helped introduce the Net Free Seas project to Thailand aimed at empowering local fishing communities to become part of the solution to rid the country’s seas of harmful ghost fishing gears.
Douglas Woodring is the Founder and Managing Director of Ocean Recovery Alliance, a non-profit organization which is focused on bringing together innovative solutions, technology, collaborations and policy to create positive improvements for the health of the ocean. Two of its global programs were launched at the Clinton Global Initiative, and he was recently was awarded the 2018 Prince’s Prize for Innovative Philanthropy by Prince Albert of Monaco. He is a UN Climate Hero, and Google Earth Hero, and Ocean Recovery Alliance is one of the few NGOs to have worked with both UNEP and the World Bank on plastic pollution issues, and is the founder of the Plasticity Forum which focuses on plastic innovation and solutions for circularity. He is also a co-founder of the newly created Commitments Accelerator for Plastic Pollution (CAPP).
Mr. Woodring has worked in Asia for over 25 years, including four years in the asset management industry, where at Merrill Lynch Asset Management Hong Kong in 1998, he proposed the company’s first global environmental technology fund. In 2019 he was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame for his innovative contributions to the sport, and was also named as one of the top 50 “watermen” in the world.
Born in Northern California, Mr. Woodring has a dual master’s degree from The Wharton School (MBA) and Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Environmental Economics. He has BA from the University of California at Berkeley.
Edwin leads Food Industry Asia’s (FIA) Sustainability strategy and efforts to support FIA’s mission as the voice of the food industry in Asia.
His career includes roles with industry & government in policy development, corporate communications & sustainability and before FIA, he was Executive Director of the Singapore Environment Council.
He is the first Southeast Asian elected to the Board of the Global Eco-labelling Network, and was nominated for Singaporean of the Year in 2016 for his role in leading the fight against the haze that engulfed Singapore and several Southeast Asian countries in 2015.
Federica Piovesana is Policy Analyst at INTERPOL, Environmental Security. In this capacity she has been developing INTERPOL’s strategy on waste and marine pollution enforcement, which involves operations, analysis, capacity building and partnerships. Over ten years working in international affairs and cooperation in criminal matters, Federica specialized in research and strategic analysis on organized crime and environmental crimes, as well as criminal justice reform for women and children in contact with the justice system. She also coordinated two major INTERPOL global operations tackling marine pollution crime and several environmental investigative trainings as a certified INTERPOL Instructor. Prior to joining INTERPOL, Federica worked for the Thailand Institute of Justice, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNODC. She holds a Master of Philosophy in Political Science (Sorbonne University), a Master in Diplomatic Studies and a Master in Latin American Studies. She worked and studied in six countries across Asia, Europe and Latin America.
François is the Managing Director and one of the two co-founders of the consulting firm InOff Plastic. InOff Plastic’s ambition is to accelerate the transition to a world without plastic waste. François supports companies in setting up single-use plastic free distribution models by capitalizing on InOff Plastic’s global network of 1000+ solutions developing reuse models and alternatives to single-use plastic packaging.
Prior to that, François has been working as an ESG analyst for the French asset manager Malakoff Humanis where supported the equity investment team in their allocation by studying the sustainability of the strategy of Stoxx600 firm and of local social enterprises. Thanks to his experience in analyzing and supporting sustainable business models, François is looking forward to fostering collaboration between large corporations, local communities and local actors to tackle plastic waste, especially in South-East Asia.
Dr. Georgina Lloyd Rivera is the Regional Coordinator (Asia and the Pacific) of Environmental Law and Governance for the United Nations Environment Programme. Georgina’s works covers the areas of environmental rights, environmental crime, technical assistance in environmental law and capacity building at the national and regional level. She joined UNEP after spending 12 years in Cambodia. During her time in Southeast Asia she has conducted research and provided advice on environmental law and policy, heritage law and the development of good environmental governance. Georgina holds a PhD in Law, Master in Environmental Law and Bachelor in Environmental Science (Hons 1).
Giovanna Vera is currently AVP-Investor Relations, Treasury and Corporate Finance for the Century Pacific Group. The Group includes listed companies Century Pacific Food (CNPF), which is the Philippines’ largest shelf-stable food company, and Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures (PIZZA), the country’s number 1 full-service restaurant operator. Giovanna established a comprehensive and effective investor relations program which has since won several awards internationally. In addition to playing a leadership role in the Group’s major M&A and capital-raising initiatives, she has also been at the forefront of establishing an Environmental, Social, and Governance strategy for the two listed companies in the group – evolving from a simple reporting mechanism to investors, to an actual corporate roadmap towards becoming more responsible and sustainable businesses. She is currently taking her MBA from a joint program between Columbia Business School, London Business School, and University of Hong Kong.
Haischel started researching blockchain technology over five years ago while studying at the University of Amsterdam. He started organizing blockchain initiatives as Region Head of Amsterdam at Blockchain Education Network. Soon after, he cofounded Kryha with his two companions, a blockchain studio based in Amsterdam and Singapore. Kryha has been collaborating with industry leaders for the past 3yrs, tackling value chain problems and industry-wide problems by guiding ecosystem development and product development, exploring the cutting edge of what the technology has to offer.
Hamish Daud Wylie is Co-founder of Indonesian Ocean Pride, a marine NGO, and OCTOPUS, a waste collecting start up in Indonesia.
Heidi coordinates UNEPs marine litter activities within the framework of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter hosted by the GPA. During the last 17 years she has worked with coastal and marine management particularly related to land-based sources of pollution, specially protected areas and wildlife; and implementation of training programmes in various areas. She is an ecotoxicologist by training from Lund University in Sweden.
Igor Driesmans, Ambassador to ASEAN, was Member of Cabinet of Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice‐President of the European Commission until August 2019. His responsibilities included Asia and Pacific, Cultural Diplomacy, Transport and Fisheries. He served previously as Principal Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer of the European External Action Service (2014), Desk Officer for ASEAN (2013‐2014), and Deputy Head of the Political, Economic, Trade and Information Section of the EU
Delegation to South Africa (2009‐2013). Ambassador Igor Driesmans is an official of the EU since 2003. He holds a Masters in History, University of Gent (Belgium).
Inger Andersen is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Between 2015 and 2019, Ms. Andersen was the Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Ms. Andersen has more than 30 years of experience in international development economics, environmental sustainability, strategy and operations. For 15 years at The World Bank, Ms. Andersen held several leadership positions including Vice President of the Middle East and North Africa; Vice President for Sustainable Development and Head of the CGIAR Fund Council. Prior to the World Bank, Ms. Andersen worked for 12 years on drought, desertification; and water management at the United Nations including at the UN Sudano-Sahelian Office and UNDP.
Ingpat has worked with the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) on its oceans campaign and human rights since 2019 – focusing on sustainable fisheries and building relationships with small-scale fishing communities. She has been leading EJF’s Net Free Seas project that helps over 700 small-scale fishers in Thailand keep their discarded fishing nets away from the oceans by recycling them into exciting, new products. This involves empowering fishers to participate in a community-based recycling scheme and getting them to join forces with a diverse range of stakeholders including government agencies, recycling industry representatives, and community organizations to tackle marine plastic pollution.
Iris Lam is the Director of Food and Beverage, Design and Sustainable Development for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (MOHG). Iris supports the group’s design and development of F&B facilities, working with various stakeholders to translate from conceptual phase into the final operation. She is a member of MOHG’s Sustainability Leadership Council, and actively leads the group’s concerns pertaining to F&B sustainability initiatives with a team of likeminded and passionate colleagues from across the globe, and bridges her passion for smart design with an eagerness to explore innovative business solutions that are sustainable and address climate change.
Isabel Petit is the Asia Pacific Director for Evian Volvic International, a division of Groupe Danone. Prior to her current role, she was the Director of International customers, leading the relations with Airports Operators and Hotel Groups around the world. Isabel started her career at General Mills in Sales & Marketing, then joined Danone more than 10 years ago and has held a wide variety of roles in different channels & territories. She is a graduate of Ottawa University in Canada.
Isabella Lövin has served as Minister for International Development as well as a Member of the European Parliament and has a background as a journalist and author, with a dedicated interest in healthy oceans and fisheries. Isabella Lövin holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Swedish Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Minister Isabella Lövin is co-chair of the Friends of Ocean Action initiative and a long-time advocate for the Oceans.
Jacob Duer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a global non-profit organisation that brings together industry, government, civil society, development agencies and investors to help end plastic waste in the environment. The
Alliance has nearly 50 member companies and supporters across the world’s leading
organisations in the plastic value chain.
Jacob leads the strategic visioning and direction of the Alliance that targets to invest $1.5
billion over five years to develop, accelerate and scale technologies and solutions focussing
on integrated waste management systems, engaging communities and catalysing capital
towards a circular economy.
Jacob has more than 20 years of experience with the United Nations, focusing on chemicals
and waste management, environment and sustainable development. Currently based in
Singapore, he has lived and worked with the United Nations in Austria, Senegal, Kenya and Switzerland.
Since early childhood, James has had a love for understanding and conserving all things aquatic. This has followed into his professional career as he is currently working to remove and recycle ocean-bound waste and ensure it is recycled. Currently, his removing and recycling 1200 kgs a day with a pilot project in Bangkok’s canals and is working to expand throughout Thailand and South East Asia.
Janet Salem has worked on circular economy, low carbon development and innovation at the United Nations for over fifteen years. Currently, she manages projects on technology and circular economy innovation. Previously, she designed and launched the Asia Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge, a startup competition for entrepreneurs in low carbon mobility, energy and plastic waste prevention, as well as the Asia, Circular Economy Leadership Programme. She has provided industry and government policy support in a variety of sectors including tourism, fashion, food retail, eCommerce, gaming and plastics.
Jasmin is a youth mobilisation expert on climate action and experienced sustainable development researcher at the science-policy-practice nexus. She was the former Manager of the Malaysian Youth Delegation to UNFCCC, where she tracked the climate change negotiations. She has also held research positions at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development, and the Earth Institute and NASA GISS in New York.
She holds a Masters in climate science with concentration in climate law, policy and governance from Columbia University, and is currently the Climate and Environment Consultant at UNICEF Malaysia.
Jerker Tamelander is the Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), a regional intergovernmental body for protection and sustainable development of the coastal and marine environment administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In this position he oversees implementation of the East Asian Seas Action Plan, COBSEA’s Strategic Directions as well as the COBSEA Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter. Jerker has spent more than 20 years in international environmental cooperation, mainly focusing on protection and sustainable development of the marine and coastal environment, in different positions at UNEP, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Finnish Institute of Marine Research. He holds a Master of Science in Marine Biology from University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Jewel is a career environmental management practitioner and has over twenty years of diverse experience in environmental assessment, policy and planning in both the private and public sectors within the Caribbean region. Ms. Batchasingh’s past experiences range from global climate change negotiations to marine resource conservation and now waste and chemicals managment.
John Duncan holds an MBA and an MSC in Environmental Science and Policy and has over a decade of experience working across diverse value chains to develop effective multi-level, multi-actor sustainability approaches. With a background in marine biology, and a deep interest in sustainability transitions, he previously led WWF South Africa’s Marine Program. As the father of two young daughters, he is optimistic about the future and sees enormous potential in the power of collaboration to solve some of the planet’s most pressing challenges.
Jon Khoo is the Head of Sustainability (EAAA) at Interface with a focus on sustainability, inclusive business and intrapreneurship. Jon specialises in the commercialisation of Interface’s sustainability initiatives and response to the current climate emergency, such as its mission Climate Take Back – to run its business in a way that reverses the effects of global warming.
He was a key part of developing Interface and the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Net-Workshttp://net-works.com/ partnership, a community-based supply chain for discarded fishing nets that provides access to finance and seeks to provide long term conservation benefits. Net-Works was awarded the Guardian Sustainable Business Award in 2015 for Collaboration and the 2016 US State Department Award for Corporate Excellence (Sustainable Oceans Management).
He is also part of the team responsible for Interface’s membership of NextWave, an open-source initiative led by Dell and Lonely Whale to engage corporates, scientists, and NGOs to figure out how to integrate ocean-bound plastics into products in a way that is both scalable and sustainable.
Jon is also the host of the Designing With Climate In Mind podcast a series of interviews with experts taking an in-depth look into the ever-evolving world of sustainable design.
Jon currently serves on the trustee board of UK environmental charity, Surfers Against Sewage.
Josse Kunst is a circular economy entrepreneur. He has lived and worked in China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands and has 25+ years business experience in more than 60 countries worldwide. After leading DSM’s circular economy initiative Niaga® he has recently founded his own company Kiduara focussing on molecular recycling, designing with advanced bio-based materials and impact investing in early stage circular start-ups. He is currently active in molecular recycling projects for polyester, polyamide 6 as well as polylactic acid. Josse is co-founder and co-owner of circular start-ups in Vietnam (CL2B) as well as The Netherlands (Arapaha).
Jost is Programme Officer in the Science and Technical Assistance Branch of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. He supports technical assistance activities and projects on plastic waste. Before joining the Secretariat, Jost worked in various positions at the United Nations Environment Programme’s Chemicals and Health Branch, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the International Solid Waste Association. In these positions he worked among others on the Global Chemicals Outlook II, green and sustainable chemistry, mercury and persistent organic pollutants. Jost holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs, with specialization in International Environmental Law.
Julien Boucher is a sustainability entrepreneur and expert with over 15 years of experience in sustainability consulting, LCA, and eco-design. He recently played a pivotal role in the development of plastic footprint methodologies.
Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO)/ Global Alliance of Wastepickers
Kakuko Yoshida is the Regional Coordinator for Chemicals, Waste and Air quality, at the United Nations Environment Programme Asia and the Pacific Office in Bangkok. She is currently overseeing UNEP regional portfolios on plastic pollution, chemicals and mercury management, and air quality and health. She has more than 20 years of professional experience in the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements, integrated environmental assessment, and conservation education. Kakuko facilitated more than 150 multi-stakeholder consultations, planning exercises, and trainings in 40 plus countries across 3 continents. She holds a degree of MSc in Environmental Management from the University of Stirling in UK.
Dr Karen Raubenheimer is a lecturer at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Karen holds a PhD in international policy to prevent marine plastic pollution. She was lead author of the UNEP report assessing the effectiveness of international and regional governance strategies, presented at the third meeting of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-3). Karen has led numerous studies on the topic for UNEP and is the lead author of the 2020 report commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers for the Environment and Climate Change, titled “Possible elements of a new global agreement to prevent plastic pollution” (www.nordicreport2020.com).
Kavinda Gunasekara is the Associate Director at the Geoinformatics Center (GIC), Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. He holds an affiliated faculty position in School of Environment, Resources & Development, AIT. Over the past 12 years, he had involved in implementing geospatial related projects on environment, disaster management, and capacity building projects in South, Southeast and Central Asian countries. He extensively involves in mapping river and coastal morphological changes, spatial-temporal river discharge mapping using Satellite Remote Sensing data, and related applied research using geospatial data. He holds a doctorate in Coastal Engineering from the Department of Civil Engineering, the University of Tokyo, Japan.
Kei is a Programme Officer of the Science and Technical Assistance Branch and Governance Branch of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. She is the focal point and coordinator of activities related to plastic waste under the BRS Conventions. She also coordinates scientific work of the subsidiary bodies to the Conventions and has been supporting the scientific evaluation and international negotiations for reviewing and listing new chemicals under the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions since she joined the Secretariat in 2007. She holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in analytical chemistry.
The circular economy is not only a solution for a balanced eco-system, but also a potential opportunity for businesses.
Having an Economicx background from the UK with experiences in CSR of manufacturing, supplychain, Kim has been a circular economy activist together with the CL2B team, proactively making action to boost CE transition in Southeast Asia.
In CL2B, Kim works closely with intergovernmental agencies, national and local governments, as well as brands and manufacturers in Asia, she brings her insight understanding of opportunities and challenges faced by many of the countries in the region with respect to waste.
Kim Stengert is Chief, Strategic Communication and External Relations at WWF-Singapore. He leads multi-stakeholder engagement at WWF-Singapore to address some of the region’s most complex environmental challenges, from haze to plastics, climate change and food. He advocates for policy commitments by businesses and governments while driving behavioural changes amongst mass audiences.
Kim has a wealth of experience spanning four countries, three continents in almost two decades. Before joining WWF-Singapore in 2014, he owned a digital marketing agency where he consulted Fortune 500 companies on digital and business development strategies.
Nguyen Le Thang Long is Head of R&D Department at An Phat Holdings. After taking his current position, he has built and led the R&D team to develop biocompound and biodegradable products for the whole Group. He holds a PhD in Science Materials by Ecole Polytechnique and a Master’s degree in Nanochemistry Materials Surface from the University of Paris VII, France. He has an extensive international working experience and spent several years in laboratories, Research Institutes in France.
Leilani is a communications and project management specialist with more than a decade of experience leading outreach, capacity building, and network development for regional environmental projects. She is a passionate about a cross section of issues critical to our changing planet, specifically marine resource management, sustainable fisheries, climate change adaptation, and ocean plastic pollution. Prior to working in the non-profit sector, she was a journalist in the Philippines and the United States. She is currently based in Bali, Indonesia.
Inspired by the circular economy and reuse models, Linh Le founded Ayacup with the ambition to solve the disposable plastic packaging pandemic in take-outs and home delivery. As the winner of UNEP Asia Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge 2020, she actively promotes the circular economy concept through trainings and workshops, using the sharing cup systems as a daily practical example, target the young generations in universities, schools and events.
Louise is an environmental science educator, innovator and business woman, with a passion to stop plastics entering the oceans. Starting a social-enterprise, Plastic Collective in 2016, she developed a mobile lightweight recycling machine called the Shruder – designed for remote and vulnerable communities suffering the impact of plastic pollution. Louise specialises in teaching the chemistry of plastics and zero-waste education, empowering communities to build-capacity to turn waste into resources. Funded through their Plastic Neutral reduction and offset programs, launched in 2017 for businesses and individuals, the programs can now join the global plastic credit market coming in 2021.
Maggie Lee currently is working on the SEA circular programme, an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) to inspire market-based solutions and help formulate policies to prevent marine plastic pollution. She was previously leading the Market Transformation effort in Singapore for WWF. After several roles in research & development and technical affairs in the retail and fast-moving consumer goods industry with moguls such as Aeon, Nestle and P&G, Maggie has been keen on creating sustainable solutions for Asia. Maggie’s research interests are primarily on marine litter & plastics, NGO-corporate relationships, sustainable commodity procurement, and ASEAN environmental governance.
Malati has been working with wastepickers in Delhi and later became CEO of SWaCH Pune India. She has also worked in HP in their sustainability department and initiated recycling and education projects for HP in Indonesia and Malaysia. She currently works as the Asia Program Manager with Plastic Solution Fund. Malti has an MA in Sociology with concentration in public health and gender from Temple University, USA.
M. Amélie administers the corporate and institutional legal services and activities of the Secretariat, and leads the handling of specific legal and policy matters associated with: i) resources mobilisation; ii) knowledge management and communications; iii) human rights, including gender and staff representation issues. She also acts as Focal Point for legal & policy matters associated with trade & the environment relevant to the BRS Conventions, in cooperation with the World Trade Organization (WTO), UN Environment Economics and Trade Branch (ETB), other relevant Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and stakeholders.
Prior to joining the United Nations, she acquired significant professional experience in the private sector, in Geneva, Paris, Brussels and Santiago de Chile, as an in-house senior legal counsel for a multinational biotech company, as an attorney in law firms, as well as around and within international organisations (e.g. the European Commission, World Trade Organization). She was admitted as an Attorney-at-Law to the Paris Bar Court of Appeals in 2001. Being both a native French and Moroccan national, as well as a Swiss citizen, French is her mother tongue; she is also bilingual in English and Spanish, has a good working knowledge of German and basic knowledge of Arabic and Italian.
Manon is the President and one of the two co-founders of the consulting firm InOff Plastic. InOff Plastic’s ambition is to accelerate the transition to a world without plastic waste. Manon supports companies in setting up single-use plastic free distribution models by capitalizing on InOff Plastic’s global network of 1000+ solutions developing reuse models and alternatives to single-use plastic packaging.
Prior to that, Manon was a sustainable development consultant at PwC France where she led CSR consulting projects for multinationals, ESG due diligences for private equity funds and social and environmental audits throughout the world. She has extensive knowledge of the South East Asian environment when it comes to plastic stakes and plastic reduction innovations.
Masanori Kobayashi is Senior Research Fellow, Ocean Policy Research Institute (OPRI) of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) in Tokyo, Japan undertaking research work on ocean and sustainability policy including sustainable blue economies and marine resource management. He worked for the Ocean Policy Research Foundation, the Yokohama National University, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, the United Nations (New York, Geneva and Bonn) and the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He holds LL.M, M.A., LL.B., and completed the doctor course without degree on life and agricultural sciences.
Matthew is an environmental lawyer with over 30 years of experience in Australia and South East Asia. Working with the Waste Force project, Matthew helped develop a new Waste Crime Prosecution Guidance for Asia and Europe. Drawing on years of experience in environmental criminal prosecutions in Australia this Guidance aims to assist prosecutor and regulators in enforcement of waste laws and waste trade laws. This is available for download at https://www.wasteforceproject.eu/wasteforce-launches-waste-crime-prosecution-guidance/
Mayuree is the Co-founder & CEO of GEPP Sa-Ard and the creator of GEPP Platform – Thailand’s first waste management system. Highly specialized in implementing organizational transformation, she founded GEPP in order to change how waste journey should be traceable and transparent and how all of us need to change our mindset from “disposal” to “management” when it comes to our own waste.
Dr. Megan Morikawa is the Global Sustainability Office Director at Iberostar where she leads the Wave of Change movement, an initiative based on three action lines: circular economy, responsible seafood consumption and coastal health. The company plans to be waste free by 2025 and to be carbon neutral and to have all ecosystems that surround Iberostar properties are improving in ecological health alongside profitable tourism by 2030.
Dr. Morikawa joined Iberostar in 2018 and leads the sustainability team with Gloria Fluxà, fourth generation leadership and ownership of Iberostar, in scientific-driven actions for a sustainable ocean economy and responsible tourism model.
Mengyao Zhu is a research fellow of the Ocean Policy Research Institute (OPRI), Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) since 2020. She received Ph.D. in Aquatic Bioscience at The University of Tokyo. Her research field is marine management and policy, especially focuses on the fishery stock assessment by using models, such as the spatio-temporal models, marine ecosystem models, et al. Recently, she is focused on the project of Ocean Digital Society and in charge of the visualization of microplastics and fishery resource around world.
Michael Gilmore is the head of research for Albizia Capital, a boutique fund management firm that has been investing in consumer companies in ASEAN since 2009, although the firm’s three partners have more than 75 years of experience combined. Albizia Capital’s long-term approach to investing has always led them towards high-quality companies that take a holistic view of their growth and risk outlooks, and in turn to responsible investing. While this can and does take the form of excluding damaging industries via negative screens, increasingly the company engages with its investee companies as long-term partners to learn what sequential improvements can be made and help them follow a more sustainable path. This was formalised in 2017 by signing the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing.
Michikazu Kojima is a Research Fellow in Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia(ERIA), and a Chief Senior Researcher in Institute of Developing Economies in JETRO. In ERIA, he is working for Regional Knowledge Centre for Marine Plastic Debris. One of his recent works is Michikazu Kojima (eds.) Regional Waste Management – Inter-municipal Cooperation and Public and Private Partnership, ERIA Research Project Report, published in October 2020. The report contributes argument on how to expand waste management services to small cities and rural area, which are regarded as major sources of leakage of plastic waste to the ocean.
Mona Sur is the Practice Manager for Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy in the East Asia. She manages a team which provides financing, technical assistance, and knowledge solutions in areas such as forests and landscapes, circular economy, pollution management, blue economy and environmental policies and institutions in Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR.
Immediately prior to that, she was the Operations Manager for the World Bank’s Papua New Guinea and Pacific Office. She has over 14 years experience working in various positions in the World Bank’s Global Agriculture and Food Practice.
UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, Nadya has been involved in various initiatives such as the launch of the Global Environment Outlook at the UN Environment Assembly, Sea of Solutions in Bangkok, Wild For Life and the Clean Seas campaign in Bali. An environmental advocate since the 90s combined with Nadya’s extensive 35 years in television, film and fashion has led to Nadya becoming one of Asia’s leading voices for the environment. Through her work in sustainability and conservation, Nadya strongly believes that our inner wellbeing directly relates to our outer action and moving from apathy to empathy.
Nagulendran Kangayatkarasu, or better known as Dr. Nagu, joined the Malaysian Government as a Diplomatic and Administrative Officer in 1995. A Chevening Scholar, he has been for most of his career worked on issues related to biodiversity, biosafety and environment.
Nalini is a co- founder of Hasiru Dala, a social impact organization that works with wastepickers located in Banaglore, India. Her passion is to restore the dignity of workers in the unorganised waste sector, improve their access to predictable livelihoods and social security. She advocated the need for rights of survivors of violence for a decade in the USA.
She has co-authored articles and books on informal workers contribution to solid waste management.
Nalini has won many accolades in India and USA, Chosen as one of 100 women in India who madw difference by BBC.Com. Recently was awarded Bangalorian 2020
Nanette Medved-Po is the Founder and Chairwoman of The Plastic Credit Exchange (PCEx), a non-profit entity that offers businesses and consumers a simple and responsible way to be accountable for plastic. She is also Chairwoman and President at Friends of Hope, Inc. and the Chief Executive Officer at GenerationHope, Inc. She has likewise been serving on the Board of Trustees of the World Wildlife Fund Philippines, as well as on the Board of Directors of Winrock International in Arlington, Virginia. Nanette recently received the NGO Leadership Award and Social Innovation Leadership Award from the Philippines Leadership Awards. Prior to this, she was honored as one of Forbes’ Heroes of Philanthropy. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with degrees in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Babson College in Wesley, Massachusetts.
Nguyen Que Lam is Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He has a Bachelor of Economics and Master of Business Administration. He had four years to work for VCCI, with MOFA (2009-2012) and VUFO (2013-2019). He was promoted to be a Deputy Director General, Administration of VASI in 2019.
PhD at Nyenrode Business University (NL) in CSR and Leadership, Msc. at York (UK)- PRDU and Bsc. in Economics (IT), Nika is a practitioner and researcher in the fields of CSR, Sustainability and Economic Recovery. Her aim is to contribute to a more sustainable world, either by sharing knowledge, researching or implementing projects to tackle societal challenges. In Vietnam she co-founded with other 4 colleagues, Rethink Plastic Vietnam to raise awareness on the plastics waste challenges in order to change individual, corporate and collective behaviours. She also teaches at ISB/UEH and MSM/UTechnology on management of change, leadership and CSR/sustainability.
Industrical ecology ingenieur. Circular economy and EPR.
Omar Siddique is an urbanist serving as Economic Affairs Officer in the Sustainable Urban Development Section of UNESCAP where he coordinates the organization’s efforts in localizing the SDGs, Paris Agreement and New Urban Agenda. He has over 16 years’ experience in formulating sustainable urban development strategies. His current portfolio includes designing and implementing municipal solid waste management, affordable housing, urban climate action, municipal finance and urban management technical assistance programmes in over 24 countries across Asia-Pacific. Prior to joining UNESCAP in 2017, Omar worked for four years as Senior Urban Specialist at the Cities Alliance Secretariat and for nine years as Programme Specialist at the United Nations Development Programme.
Pamela Mejia was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. She graduated with a degree in BS Clothing Technology from the University of the Philippines and a Master’s Degree in Fashion Entrepreneurship and Innovation Student at the University of Arts London. She is the founder of two fashion social enteprises, Phinix and FIBERS. Phinix collects textile wastes and turns them into higher valued products. Pamela also founded FIBERS which stands for Fashion Inclusive Businesses for Environment, Reformation,and Sustainability. The aim of FIBERS is to be a platform of in Fashion Social Entrepreneurship, Ethical Fashion, and Sustainable Fashion.
Paola Cortese possesses 12+ years of experience in building, running and monetising small businesses in Design, F&B and Sustainability fields. As the founder of Cortese Design Studio – an eco-forward interior design studio, Zero Waste Life HK – a consultancy agency that focuses on lowering barriers to sustainable behaviour, and a Climate Reality Leader, Paola is frequently invited to speak in public on the topic of designing a circular lifestyle in the urban environment. Paola is also the first zero-waste practitioner who successfully reduced her annual solid household waste to 540 grams (2018 data) while living and running her business in cosmopolitan Hong Kong. Now working in Bali as the Indonesia Country Manager of Plastic Bank, Paola expands her impact by cleaning the environment and tackling the plastic issue while alleviating extreme poverty nationwide, in a country that produces the second biggest ocean plastics in the world.
Patrick Buergi is a sustainability entrepreneur and expert with over 18 years of experience in carbon markets, climate policy, corporate sustainability and impact investing. He is a co-founder of both the myclimate Foundation in 2002 and South Pole in 2006.
Today, Patrick oversees a portfolio of innovation and R&D initiatives within South Pole, including plastic stewardship for corporates and plastic credits. Patrick is actively engaged in the 3R initiative, which is launching a plastic credit mechanism and corporate stewardship guidelines in early 2021.
Patricia is a Chief Environment Officer at Nairobi Metropolitan Services. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Health, Master of Science Degree in Health Systems Management and Diploma in Water Sector Governance and Operations-The Danish Model. Patricia has also been trained on ‘National Marine Litter Data Collection’ by CSIRO and ‘Resource Recovery-Made in North Rhine Westphalia’ by GIZ. Patricia has also been working with UN-Habitat on proposal development. Recently, she was awarded the ‘TAP Seal of Approval’ after submitting a proposal to fund the project ‘Enhancing Nairobi’s Community Based Organisations Capacity in Solid Waste Management.’ Patricia is a member of the multi-agency team spearheading Nairobi’s SWM transition from a linear to a circular economy model. Patricia spearheaded participation in the solid waste management unit in the ‘Connective Cities’ Platform. Patricia was among the JICA teams that formulated and implemented the ISWM Strategy for Nairobi City.
Percy Onianwa is Executive Director of the Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for the African Region (BCCC-Nigeria), and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He currently leads the BCCC-Nigeria in supporting the work of the BRS Secretariat on the NORAD plastic waste project in Ghana, and will undertake the inventory study and stakeholder mapping for plastic waste management in Nigeria under the Basel Convention’s Small Grants Programme. Percy’s work supports the environmentally sound management of chemicals and waste in the Africa region through knowledge sharing, capacity building, technology transfer and special projects.
Peter J. Kershaw has a background in geology, specialising in multi-disciplinary, marine environmental research on contaminants, nutrients, ecosystem interactions and the impact of human activities, with a particular interest in the application of radionuclides as environmental tracers. He has collaborated on a number of European-funded programmes (e.g. REMOTRANS, COBO, ELME and broader international initiatives, particularly through the NEA (Nuclear Energy Agency, OECD), ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea), and the IAEA.
Petch is a Thai conservation scientist with 20 years of experience in the field of biodiversity conservation, protected area management and environmental education.
Qwanruedee Chotichanathawewong was a Former President of Thailand Environment Institute (TEI). More than 30 years of experiences in the field of energy and environment, Dr. Qwanruedee is the expert in various fields of environment. Environmental pollutions, environmental economics, environmental policy, climate change and sustainable development are the key areas of her expertise. She also extensively engages in several projects and forums pertaining to energy, climate change, sustainable development, international cooperation, and other environmental issues.
Dr. Rasheed Hussain is Regional Advisor of WASH and Climate Change WHO, South East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi. He was the Minister of State for Health from 2014 to 2018, where he was overseeing the Policy, Planning and International Relations Division of Ministry of Health and the development of National Health Master Plan, Monitoring and Evaluation of Implementation Progress of the 10 year Master Plan 2016-2026. Served on various councils, committees, or task forces to coordinate department activities and facilitate agency goals and initiatives and was Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights in Male’, Maldives.
Rocky Guzman is the Deputy Director of the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law. He is an environmental lawyer and policy specialist with extensive background on oceans issues. He has held positions as policy campaigner and fellow for various environmental non-profits, where he handled campaigns and research from fisheries management and plastic pollution, to marine conservation and strengthening the rule of law.
Rolph Payet was appointed as Executive Secretary for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Secretariat in October 2014. He was previously Minister of Environment and Energy, and in 2008 founded the first University in Seychelles, where he also served as its first President and Vice-Chancellor. He is also Associate Professor at the University of Linnaeus, Sweden. Previously he contributed to the reports of the IPCC, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, and has served on numerous global forums such as the World Bank Blue Ribbon Panel, the UN Group of Experts for the Regular process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment, the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands, and as the Interim Coordinator of the Nairobi Convention UNEP Regional Seas Programme.”
He is also founding member of a number of conservation-oriented foundations such as the Global Island Partnership, the Sea Level Rise Foundation, the Seychelles University Foundation, the Seychelles Centre for Marine Research and Technology, the Island Conservation Society and the Silhouette Foundation.
He has received numerous international awards and recognition for his work including, a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the University of London.
Ross Bartley has had responsibility for all trade and environmental matters at BIR, the World Federation of the recycling industries, since 1996. He represents recyclers’ interests: towards the United Nations Basel Convention and Stockholm Conventions; towards the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development; and towards the European Council, Parliament and Commission. As a graduate metallurgist he has worked in secondary copper refining, primary and secondary aluminium smelting, and steel production, in UK, Norway, and South Africa. Besides his work in BIR, he is currently the Co-Chair of the UN Basel Convention’s Plastic Waste Partnership.
Sandra joined the Chemicals and Health Branch in summer 2019, and leads work on chemicals in products, chemicals and plastics, sustainable and green chemistry and the Global Mercury Partnership. She has worked for the past 10 years on sustainable consumption and production at UNEP. Recently, she oversaw the eco-innovation portfolio, engaging all actors, including the private sector and SMEs, towards sustainable value chains and circular economy, where she focused on circularity in the plastics, electronics and textiles sector.
Sanghamitra is a branding and communications professional from India based in Cambodia who grew up in Libya amidst much cultural plurality. Authentic products, emerging cultures and a multi-faceted environment get her going. Over the last thirteen years, she has worked on local and global brands and created brands & platforms with a keen focus on behaviour change. Her current pursuit is to find creative and functional ways to engage people towards a greener, healthier and happier world.
Sankar S. Villupuram holds the responsibility of leading Digital Services for Arup in East Asia. It involves creating Software as a Service & digital solutions apart from advising our clients around the integration of data silos in built environment.
He has over 20 years of experience in design and implementation of transformational smart operational solutions leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics across various domains viz. construction, public security, gaming, property, supply chain/logistics etc. He has managed several landmark projects in Hong Kong and gained extensive multidisciplinary experience in bid to strategic delivery. His pro-bono work includes board of director position at the Hong Kong Internet of Things Alliance and serving Project Management Institute (Hong Kong Chapter Board) & Member of standing committee on Emerging technologies for Hong Kong Computer Society.
Mr Villupuram holds MBA (HKUST) with a bachelor’s in Electrical & Electronics Engineering. He is a professionally qualified CPIT (Project Director), PMP, CISA (Information security auditor) & CISM(Information Security Manager),CDPSE (Data Privacy Solution Engineer). He has recently completed the executive course from MIT on Innovation & Leadership. He was awarded CXO of the year under “Value Creation” category in the program hosted by INSEAD & judged by IDC, HPE & Intel.
Satoquo Seino is an associate professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, Japan.
She graduated with a specialty in fisheries sciences at the University of Tokyo (undergraduate and graduate schools) and acquired Ph.D.(Engineering). Her research interests include coastal environmental conservation based on ecological engineering. She has been studied marine debris problems and marine protected areas for twenty years, especially on community-based management and multi-stakeholder consensus building in islands areas. She has joined many coastal environmental policies and program of national and local governments.
Seah Kian Hoe (“Kian”) is the founder and managing director of Heng Hiap Industries (HHI).
Established since 2002, HHI has been at the forefront of developing and innovating plastic
recycling technology. Having developed Smart Plastics to address plastic manufacturers’ need
for high quality, customized recycled plastic resin, Kian also designed the Smart Factory in Johor
Bahru Malaysia from the ground up. The factory is GBI-certified (“Green Building Index”) Gold
and is now producing PLASHAUS Ocean Plastic while implementing a full track-and-trace
program that directly addresses plastic consumers’ concerns about marine pollution. In the last
18 years, Kian and HHI have won multiple accolades for business leadership and product
innovation – the most recent one being the Frost and Sullivan “2020 Malaysia Smart Waste
Solutions Technology Innovation Award”
Shereen Zorba is Co-founder and Head of the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment (UN-SPBF). She is also Chief of Science-Policy-Business Interface at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). She is an expert in political communications and international relations whose work leading diverse, high-impact environmental and peacekeeping programmes within the UN spans over 18 years.
Shom Teoh is a fellow on sustainable cities and leads the ASEAN SDGs Frontrunner Cities Programme at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). In parallel with research, she manages financial assistance, capacity building and networking services for ASEAN governments. She has spent the last decade visiting over 50 frontrunner cities in Asia to learn how local leaders and citizen innovators improve the quality of life in cities.
Sirirat is Director of Environment Subdivision at Department of Local Administration, Thailand. He works to ensure that every Local Administrative Organizations get ultimately supported and supervisioned for the sustainable future of Municipal Waste Management.
Dr. So Sasaki is a Professor at Faculty of Economics, Chuo University in Japan. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics, Hokkaido University. He has more than 20 years of experience in research about waste management and recycling policy and environmental business in the Asian region. He is a member of several advisory committees for Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan. He is also the Project Leader of “Novel monitoring procedure for plastic wastes on land” under Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) supported by JST and JICA.
Stefanie is Head of Market Transformation at WWF-Singapore. She establishes partnerships with various stakeholders to deepen the sustainability debate and help co-create innovative solutions in Singapore and SEA especially in the areas of palm oil, plastics, sustainable seafood, illegal wildlife trade and climate. She leads PACT (Plastic ACTion) a business initiative that aims to eliminate plastic pollution in nature.
Stefanie is a senior corporate executive with 20 years of experience in marketing and management. Before joining WWF, Stefanie was Director of Partnerships for Eco-Business. Her previous expertise was in leading sales and marketing activities in the automotive and licensing industry.
Suchana Apple Chavanich has a broad base of ecological research interests that involve the study of nearshore species from tropical to polar regions. In addition, her research focuses on conservation and restoration of marine ecosystems and impact of climate change and marine debris. Currently, she is also the Project Leader of Coral Reef Conservation under the UNESCO/IOC-WESTPAC, and serves as a Thailand Reef Check Coordinator that teaches and stimulates local communities to protect and monitor reef health using ecologically sound and economically sustainable solutions. Because of her work, she has received several awards and recognitions both nationally and internationally.
Susan Wingfield is a Programme Officer in the Governance Branch of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. Among her responsibilities is the facilitation of two partnerships under the Convention, on plastic waste and household waste, and coordination of the work of one of the Convention’s subsidiary bodies. Prior to her role at the Secretariat, Susan performed a variety of project management and consultancy roles within the UN, World Bank, UK government and banking, finance and IT sectors. Susan holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in environmental technology.
Environmental engineer graduate from Institut Teknologi Bandung, a 25 years old scuba diver who founded and led Divers Clean Action (Yayasan Penyelam Lestari Indonesia) as the executive director since 2015. Swietenia has enlisted as Forbes 30 under 30 Asia in Social Entrepreneur 2020 List, and BBC’s World Top Influential 100 BBC Women 2019.
Dr. Ta Dinh Thi’s recent positions in MONRE of Viet Nam:
Hoang Thanh Vinh is a Programme Analyst, who is the focal point of waste, chemicals and circular economy at UNDP Vietnam. Before his work at the Country Office, Vinh spent 10 years at Vietnam Environment Administration under MONRE where he performed state management on solid waste, contaminated site cleanup and river basin management. Prior to this, Vinh served as a focal point for bilateral international cooperation at Vietnam Environmental Protection Agency. After gaining his Master’s Degree on environmental management in the United Kingdom, Vinh began his carrier as a technical advisor for World Bank.
Thuy is leading the Plastic program of WWF-Vietnam from the first days up to now. She has long experience of working with multi-stakeholders including government, businesses, communities, NGOs…, coordinating and facilitating many processes of engaging different parties into one strategy or process aiming at sustainable development goals.
Thomas Bell comes from a scientific and technical background with a strong focus on coastal and marine systems. His broad understanding of the issues faced by coastal and marine ecosystems has enabled him to be involved in multiple projects relating to conservation and environmental management, such as plastic pollution, port and ship carbon emissions, and youth environment engagement. Currently, he works as the Science and Communications officer of PEMSEA. Mr. Bell has a MRes in Ecological, Environmental, and Conservation Science from Imperial College London. He has a deep interest in ecological and environmental research and the practical application of these to conservation.
Tom was always upset with the level of plastic pollution in South East Asia as a whole and after one particularly eye opening trip to Thailand, decided to focus his efforts on this issue by founding Seven Clean Seas.
Today, Seven Clean Seas is pioneering the Plastic Offsetting Market, developing innovative river plastic recovery technology and building waste management solutions in remote and island locations.
Tom Szaky is founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams. TerraCycle operates in 20 countries, working with some of the world’s largest brands, retailers and manufacturers to create national platforms to recycle products and packaging that otherwise go to landfill or incineration. It also created a new circular shopping platform called Loop that enables consumers to purchase products in reusable packaging.
Tom and TerraCycle have received hundreds of awards and recognition from organizations including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, Fortune Magazine and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Tom is the author of four books, Revolution in a Bottle, Outsmart Waste, Make Garbage Great and The Future of Packaging.
Trish Hyde is Founder & CEO of The Plastics Circle – the CleanTech data-driven startup helping corporates achieve their ESG commitments. As chief architect of Australia’s packaging sustainability strategic plan, Trish worked with governments, community, and corporates to build a robust framework for positive change. Yet, it is plastic’s transboundary nature, that sparked the entrepreneur in her leading to the creation of PUMP (comprehensive product and place plastic footprinting) and PlastX (responsible and reliable PCR-plastic sourcing platform). For the past 4 years Trish has curated the renowned global plastic circular economy forum – Plasticity.
2019-Present – Innovative Alliances Manager, Circular Innovation & Partnership, SCG Chemicals.
2018-2019 -Program Manager, Biosciences and Environmental Solutions, Innovation R&D.
2010-2018 Senior Researcher, Clean Tech group specialized on Waste valorization for factories of SCG Chemicals.
2014-15 Won 1M baht of SCG Power of Innovation Awards with team.
1996-2010 Senior Researcher at BIOTEC, National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA)
Degree:
2012 MBA Chulalongkorn University,
1996 PhD(Microbiology), 1991 M.Biotech-1991, at University of Kent at Canterbury
1990 BSc. Chulalongkorn University.
Expertise: Biosciences, Environmental Solutions, & Circular Economy. CE is very important tool of systematic resources management to tackle the Climate change problem.
Upon earning her Ph.D. in Asia Pacific Studies from the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), Beppu, Japan in 2009, she worked as a Research Fellow at the IDE-JETRO, Japan from April 2009 to March 2012. Her research involvements focus on environmental governance in waste management in the Philippines and other Asian countries; development management and governance; and sustainable agriculture. Her most recent publication is a chapter in a book, Waste management in the Philippines. In A. Pariatamby, F.S. Hamid, & M.S. Bhatti (Eds.), Sustainable waste management challenges in developing countries, IGI Global, 2020.
With more than 20 years experience as a journalist and communicator, Veronica Pedrosa has played a key role at CNN, BBC World News, BBC World Service and Al Jazeera English, responding to breaking news, shaping coverage, managing and providing leadership to multicultural teams of journalists. Ms. Pedrosa is a communicator who is in demand to speak, host and moderate at international conferences, focusing on development, humanitarian issues, the environment and journalism. In the past, Ms. Pedrosa has worked with heads of state, high government officials, experts and philanthropists to produce informative debates on complex and controversial issues.
Circular Economy is the direction for sustainable development of emerging economy’
Nguyen Trung Viet is former head of Solid waste management & Climate Change department of Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam with more than 40 years of experience in leading & implementing more than hundred projects. At CL2B, Dr. Viet brings his experiences to advise the executive team in the feasibility, impact of the projects.
Vivekanand (Vivek) Sistla is currently R&D Director for Personal Care at Unilever, and Site Leader for the Bangkok R&D Hub. In his current role, he is responsible for Design and Deployment of Hair Care products and packaging in the SEAA region. He is also responsible for driving the Unilever R&D sustainability and capability agenda for Thailand/SEAT Cluster.
Vivek has a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, USA, where he worked on a thesis with the US Environmental Protection Agency to develop alternate solutions to CFCs for solvent applications. He started his career at Unilever as Management Trainee, and has held several positions in Global and Regional R&D across the Foods, Refreshment and Personal Care businesses in Asia, Europe, and Africa. During this time, he has represented Unilever at several external forums and regulatory committees. He has also worked with several Universities and external research institutes on topics related to nutrition and wellbeing, sustainable farming and open innovation. His expertise areas are in product and process design and scale-up, Agile Innovation, Risk Management, and sustainable solutions.
Voltaire Acosta is a chemical and environmental engineer who has 20 years of experience in environmental projects and policies. He was a university lecturer and worked with the science and technology ministry and the League of Cities of the Philippines before he joined various international development organizations in projects that promote cleaner production, good urban governance, climate change mitigation, solid waste and wastewater management, and marine litter reduction. Starting October 2020, he takes on the role of the Project Manager for UN-Habitat’s Healthy Oceans and Clean Cities Initiative (HOCCI), which is being funded by the Government of Japan.
Youna Lyons is a marine policy analyst, trained in international law and oceanography, specializing in issues of global ocean governance and regional regime building for the protection of the marine environment, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia (SEA). She leads multidisciplinary projects that bring social and natural sciences together to tackle marine environmental issues. For the last 11 years, she has been based in Singapore and works for the Ocean Law and Policy Programme of the Centre for International Law of the National University of Singapore.
Yvonne’s role as a Materials Expert aims to guide businesses towards sustainability, by providing consultancy on the material’s impact on the environment.
She is well versed in Materials and Environment issues, having graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a B.Eng. in Materials Engineering (2004), M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering (2007) and PhD in Environmental Engineering (2016).