PRESENTED BY
Catherine Budgett-Meakin | Population and Sustainability Catherine has been involved with environment and development issues since the early 1980s. She worked for (then) ITDG for 15 years, finally as its communications manager. Since 1998, she has been a consultant, and from 2001 has been involved with population issues. She was the coordinator of the Population and Sustainability Network until April 2008. In May 2008 she founded the Highgate Climate Action Network. She has given many presentations on behalf of ITDG and the Population and Sustainability Network, including chairing an event to launch the Network as a UN Partnership at the United Nations in 2004.
Thubten Samdup | Delai Llama’s representative Thubten Samdup was born in Lhasa, Tibet. At the age of 8, Thubten fled the Chinese occupation with his parents and brother, escaping into India where he was placed in a government reception centre for Tibetan refugee children and the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA); the first exile organisation established by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Thubten went on to become a teacher and then the Institute’s Director from 1979-80. He then received a scholarship under which he studied ethnomusicology at Brown University in Rhode Island. In Canada, Thubten was elected President of the Tibetan Cultural Association of Quebec, and founded the Canada Tibet Committee, serving as its National President from 1987 to 2004. In 1990, Thubten became the first elected representative of Tibetans in North America to the Tibetan Parliament in-exile. Thubten is one of the "Committee of 100 for Tibet", an international organisation of eminent persons comprised of several internationally known personalities including seven Nobel Peace Laureates. Thubten was appointed Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Northern Europe in March 2009.
L. Hunter Lovins | Natural Capitalism
A worldwide recognized leader in helping companies and communities profit from more sustainable practices, Hunter Lovins has authored and co-authored numerous books, including Brittle Power (1982), Energy Unbound (1986), Factor Four – Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use (1997), Green Development (1998), Natural Capitalism (1999), and hundreds of papers and articles. She was named as a Time magazine Hero for the Planet in 2000.
Hunter has consulted for governments and the private sector, briefing senior management at such groups as Interface, Mitsubishi, Bank of America, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and numerous utility companies. She is a founding Professor of Business at Presidio School of Management.
Dr Hazel Henderson (via video link) | Qualitative Growth
Dr. Hazel Henderson is president of Ethical Markets Media (USA and Brazil), an independent futurist and an economic iconoclast. She is the author of Building A Win-Win World, Beyond Globalization, Planetary Citizenship (with Daisaku Ikeda), and Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy. She has published other books and articles in over 250 journals; her columns are syndicated by InterPress Service to 200 newspapers, and her work is translated into Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French and many other languages. She has served on the board of the Worldwatch Institute, is an honorary member of the Club of Rome, a fellow of the World Business Academy and of Britain's Royal Society for the Arts. Henderson created the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators with the Calvert Group of socially responsible mutual funds (updated regularly at www.calvert-henderson.com). She shared the Global Citizen Award with Nobelist Pérez Esquivel of Argentina in 1996.
Tony Manwaring | Business and Sustainability Tony has had a series of management, marketing and communications roles in the voluntary sector with NCH (formerly National Children's Home), Diabetes UK and most recently, the disability rights charity Scope, where he was chief executive for over three years. Before that he worked as head of The General Secretary's Office for the Labour Party, playing a key role in transforming its operational fortunes as it became New Labour. He also has a track record in CSR, working with a number of major companies in often ground-breaking partnerships. Tony has a degree in Economics from Cambridge, an MA in Industrial Relations from Warwick and a Management Diploma with distinction from Ashridge. He has a long standing interest in business, leadership and organisational change, having contributed to a comparative project on labour markets, whilst working at the LSE and the Wissenschaftszentrum, Berlin and also the MIT' study 'The Future of the World Automobile Industry before taking responsibility for industrial policy at the Labour Party. He has published articles and books on labour market theory, work, the impact of new technology, and many other topics and is now focusing on the new opportunities of creating value through sustainability.
Dr Sonali Joshi | Cultural Engagement Sonali Joshi is the Founder and Director of film/art organisation, day for night*, which runs Tibet Film Festival. She conceptualised the festival through her involvement in various film-related activities in Dharamsala, India (exile home to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and heart of the Tibetan exile community). Struck by this vibrant creative community, Sonali set up the festival as a means to explore new ways to rethink and reflect on the diverse and intricate aspects of the Tibet issue, while seeking to stimulate broader discussions on human rights, conflict and cultural identity.
Sonali has over a decade’s experience in the film industry, having been based in London, Paris and Copenhagen. Her work has centred on facilitating access to and cultivating an understanding of visual culture, with a particular focus on cultural diversity. Sonali holds a PhD in Cinema Studies (University of Glasgow). Her academic interests cover European cinemas, Asian cinemas, transnational cinema and revolution in cinema.
Polly Higgins | Legal Rights for
the Planet In November 2008 Polly was invited to address the United Nations on the call for a Universal Declaration of Planetary Rights. Now, one year later, the Mother Earth rights and rights of all beings have been included in the forthcoming Copenhagen Treaty. Recently voted by The Ecologist magazine as "One of the Top Ten Visionaries to Save the Planet" for her work on Planetary Rights, Polly is a renowned international speaker and expert on the integration of Earth Jurisprudential principles into global governance systems. Polly has lobbied and advised on EU and international legislative frameworks required for the implementation of concentrating solar power (CSP), is a Founder Member of the DESERTEC Foundation and sits on its Supervisory Board. Polly is also founder of WISE Women in Sustainability and the Environment – an international network set up to provide a voice for more women in the environmental field, bringing together women who are working on sustainability and environment related issues. The Wise Women Speaker Database promotes Wise Women with particular expertise in related areas.
Bill Becker | Environmental Policy
and Envisioning William Becker is Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project, an initiative that created a comprehensive leadership plan for President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress on national energy and climate policy. The plan was delivered to the Obama Transition Team in November 2008 and was called the Gold Standard of policy guidance for the incoming President. Bill also directs a new project called “The Future We Want” project, which is creating vivid computer animations of life in a sustainable society. The animations will be featured in an interactive exhibit and World Wide Web site that will allow the public to not only envision a positive future, but to help design it. Bill served for more than a decade as the Central Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Energy. He founded DOE’s Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development and led a team of U.S. experts to help Chinese officials “green” the Olympic Village for the 2008 Olympic Games. Bill rescued a community from a floodplain and built the nation's first "solar village”, which has been featured in several books and television documentaries, cited as a model of what communities worldwide must do to prevent and cope with global warming. Bill has worked with more than 150 communities on sustainable development, including in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Bill serves on the global advisory board of Ogilvy Earth, as a senior advisor to Natural Capitalism Solutions Inc. and on a climate action task force organized by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. He is a regular contributor to several prominent blogs on energy, climate and the environment including Huffington Post, Climate Progress, SolveClimate and the Environmentalist Magazine. His most recent book is The 100 Day Action Plan to Save the Planet, published in October 2008 by St. Martin’s Griffin of New York.
Donna Young | Climate Communication
Now general manager climate change and programme development for BT Group, Donna Young joined BT’s group corporate and social responsibility (CSR) team in 2006 with a remit to define and implement a strategy for reducing carbon emissions. She then led BT’s environment strategy and ISO14001 certification and took over programme development for BT’s corporate responsibility team as well as maintaining her climate change responsibilities. Donna began her career with BT in 1991, working for 10 years in new product development, marketing, strategy and communications. She then led the ‘Broadband Britain’ rollout programme, which has since been emulated in other countries. Donna previously held a number of roles in sales, marketing and competitive intelligence at CASE communications before setting herself up as a freelance marketing consultant in 1989. Donna has an MBA from Henley Management College and is a trustee of the charity, KidsOut, which helps disadvantaged children and young people throughout the UK.
Dr Jan Ole Kiso | Carbon Reduction Jan is a member of the 2050 Roadmap project at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Previously, he worked on the White Paper ‘The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan’ as well as other publications on Carbon Budgets, Heat and Energy Savings. He started his time in Government at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit of the Cabinet Office in 2002.
Dianne Dillon-Ridgley | Development and Climate Environmentalist and human rights acivist Dianne is Chair of Plains Justice and a director at Interface, Inc, global manufacturer of commercial carpet, and a leader in sustainable design at Green Mountain Energy Co., a leading retailer of renewably produced electricity in the United States. She represents the Center for International Environmental Law (Washington D.C. and Geneva). Over the past fifteen years she has served on numerous United States delegations to United Nations global meetings.
In 1994 Presdient Clinton appointed her to the President’s Council on Sustainable Development. From 1994-97, she was President of ZPG (now the Population Connection) in 1998 and 19999 she was Executive Director of the Women’s Environment and Delvelopment Organisation (WEDO). In 1998 she was elected to the steering committee of the Global Water Parnership, Stockholm and appointed to the Oxford University Commission on Sustainable Consumption.
To better understand the change in thinking required, we’ve searched far and wide for speakers who are pioneering new approaches and who have experience on the ground.
Speaker Biographies
Dr Fritjof Capra (via video link) | Qualitative Growth In addition to being a renowned physicist and systems theorist, Fritjof has been engaged in a systematic examination of the philosophical and social implications of contemporary science for the past 30 years. His books on this subject have been acclaimed internationally, and he has lectured widely to lay and professional audiences in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. Dr. Capra is the author of four international bestsellers, The Tao of Physics (1975), The Turning Point (1982), Uncommon Wisdom (1988), and The Web of Life (1996). He coauthored Green Politics (1984), Belonging to the Universe (1991), and EcoManagement (1993), and coedited Steering Business Toward Sustainability (1995).
Malini Mehra | Social Markets Malini is the founder & CEO of the Centre for Social Markets and Climate Challenge India. A political scientist and gender specialist by training, Malini has worked on sustainability issues in civil society, business, and government for more than 20 years. She served at the UK government’s international sustainable development partnerships, and initiated the UK’s pioneering Sustainable Development Dialogues (SDDs) with China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico. From 2003-4, she served as a member of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on UN-Civil Society Relations. She is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and named an ‘Asia 21 Young Leader’ by the Asia Society.
John Elkington | Sustainable Development John has worked in the environmental and sustainable development fields since 1972. A
co-founder of Environmental Data Services (ENDS) in 1978, he also co-founded SustainAbility in 1987. He served as the organisation’s Chairman from 1995 to 2005, and is now Chief Entrepreneur. In 2004, BusinessWeek described him as “a dean of the corporate responsibility movement for three decades.” He is currently founder-director of Volans.
Shaylesh Patel | Land Guardianship A parent and an entrepreneurial, Shaylesh is a 38 year old chartered accountant having his mid-life crisis a little early and without the Porsche! The founder of a new breed of charity and social enterprise called Healthy Planet – this online organisation pioneers innovative ideas to raise awareness and money for conservation and social projects around the world. Healthy Planet and his children’s health and home on this planet are the driving force behind this project and initiative.
David Wasdell | Climate Science:
Tipping Point Director of the Meridian Programme, David is a world-renowned expert in the dynamics of climate change. He is also a reviewer of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment reports and the author of numerous papers and presentations on climate change and related topics.
Samson Tsegaye | Solar Energy Samson has been a military engineer, a taxi driver and marketing director. While deputy director of a construction firm he by chance visited the Intersolar Fair in Freiburg, where he was surprised by the success of solar technology in Germany where only half the days were sunny. He asked himself why this wasn’t used in his home country of Ethiopia with its 12 months of sunshine. 30 years ago in Ethiopia, the forest coverage was 50%, today it is less than 3% - people cut down trees for cooking and lighting and women now have to walk many kilometers each day to collect wood. Samson quit his job in 2006 to fulfill his vision. He joined the German company Stiftung Solarenergie (Solar Energy Foundation) and became country director of Ethiopia. So far Samson’s vision has seen the for fifty thousand solar home systems by 2013. He is also beginning reforestation projects in their areas of operation.
Beth Stratford | Climate in the Media As a researcher for The Lean Economy Connection, a film-maker and an environmental activist Beth Stratford is determined to make subjects like economics, energy and climate change engaging. Beth co-authored and directed the award-winning viral hit Cheat Neutral, which combines web media, viral marketing and a healthy dose of satire to take environmental messages where they wouldn't otherwise go. She has since worked on the Age of Stupid, produced a series of shorts for Channel Four, and helped to hold up 30,000 tonnes of coal outside Drax powerstation..
Nicky Gavron | Urban Development
and Cities Nicky has been at the forefront of developing land-use, transport and environmental policies for London for over two decades. A London Assembly member since 2000, she was leader of the London Planning Advisory Committee where she commissioned research and formulated policies for a sustainable London. She was heavily involved in shaping what was to become the new strategic authority for London and in 2000, Nicky became the first Deputy Mayor of London. She worked closely with Mayor Ken Livingstone to set up the GLA’s working processes and policy framework. She established the GLA Children and Young People’s Unit and the Hydrogen Partnership. From 2004, she became responsible for leading London’s response to climate change, introducing a set of groundbreaking policies and strategies to reduce C02 emissions covering waste, water, energy and transport. These are brought together in the revised London Plan and the Climate Change Action Plan. Initiatives include the establishment of the London Climate Change Agency, the Better Buildings Partnership and the C40 Large Cities Leadership Group - forty of the world’s largest cities collaborating to cut carbon emissions She is now Deputy Chair (and alternate years, Chair) of the cross-party London Assembly Planning and Spatial Development Committee.
Jobeda Ali | Social Innovation
A media entrepreneur and social innovator, Jobeda established Fair Knowledge in 2007, a company that specialises in nurturing and promoting fresh new voices from usually marginalised communities and promoting them to mainstream audiences. Fair Knowledge specialises in film production, training and exhibition as a way to create knowledge and disseminate influence in a way that celebrates heterogeneity in the global knowledge economy. Jobeda spent 12 years in the public sector initiating new educational and enterprise projects, then became a documentary filmmaker. She has since been utilising her specialism in pedagogy and entrepreneurship throughout her media endeavours. Jobeda is a Cambridge graduate, holds a Masters in World Trade and Development and is a Fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs. In 2007, Jobeda was one of 20 women from across the world to be selected as a “Rising Talent” by the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society.
James Parr | Accelerating innovation in sustainability James is a designer and 'Innovation person' with a specialism in education, sustainability and healthcare. His current work is primarily focussed on accelerating the quality and quantity of innovations within large corporations. James is Creative Director of Fair Knowledge, Sci TV, and collaborative innovation company, Imaginals.
Andrew Leung | China Specialist Andrew is an international and independent China Specialist with over 40 years experience in Hong Kong Government positions involving businesses in Mainland China. He is now Chairman of Andrew Leung International Consultants Limited based in London, providing strategic advice on China globally. Andrew’s experience includes helping set up Standard Chartered Bank’s first merchant banking subsidiary in Hong Kong (1983); overseeing the migration and transformation of Hong Kong’s industries into the Pearl River Delta as Hong Kong’s then Deputy Director-General of Industry; a month-long visit at the invitation of the US government to brief CEOs of Fortune 50 multinationals on China (1990); advising on cross-cultural management issues in Lenovo’s take-over of IBM Computers; and acting as Editor-at-Large in a major international consultancy on China’s energies. Andrew contributes numerous insightful commentaries and presentations on China, development and energy at numerous local and international forums, universities, business schools and on television.
We have so many amazing speakers we can’t fit them all on one page!
We have so many amazing speakers we can’t fit them all on one page!
