Otavio Ladeira de Medeiros is the Chief of the Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) Programme of the UN Trade and Development.
Former National Treasury Secretary, he was appointed Head of the Brazilian Debt Management Office in May 2021 and held the position until January 2025, when he assumed his current role at UNCTAD as Head of the DMFAS Programme.
As head of the Brazilian DMO his responsibilities included managing Brazil's Federal Public Debt, ranging from defining the optimal debt composition and medium- and short-term strategies to executing domestic bond auctions and external operations.
He is also tasked with monitoring debt records and payments and managing institutional relations with financial institutions, investors, rating agencies, and multilateral organizations.
And while leading the DMFAS Programme, he leads a team dedicated to helping countries improve public debt management, primarily through the DMFAS System and capacity-building activities.
Boasting over 15 years of experience working in maritime decarbonisation, Ludovic Laffineur is a Special advisor at the Global Maritime Forum, where he leads the policy action group of the Getting to Zero Coalition and provides expert advice and guidance to the organisation’s leadership on policy, strategy, technical matters, and other areas of expertise. In his role, he engages in high-level discussions with policymakers and industry leaders to ensure that the revised IMO greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy is implemented through clear policy measures.
From 2008 to 2019, Ludovic served as the head of Environmental Affairs and deputy managing director at the Belgian Shipowners Association. During this time, he participated in International Maritime Organization (IMO) meetings on decarbonising shipping, doubling as an advisor to the Belgian maritime administration. Following that, he worked as a visiting professor, leading a team at the University of Antwerp to assess the advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers for shipping. He holds a master’s in environmental sciences from the University of Antwerp.
Pascal Laffont is the International Energy Agency (IEA) Chief Legal Counsel and Secretary to the IEA Board of Governors.
His previous assignments were in Doha for the Government of Qatar, in Brussels for the Energy Charter and as a solicitor with Pinsent Masons LLP, in London and Hong Kong.
Roy Lagolago is the newly appointed Head of the PACER Plus Implementation Unit (based in Samoa) an international organisation setup to implement the PACER Plus Agreement, strengthen the capacity of Pacific countries to benefit from PACER Plus as well as other regional and international trade agreements. Roy has a background in law enforcement, security, intelligence, investigations, and trade.
Jorge Laguna-Celis is the Head of the One Planet Network, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Based in Paris, The One Planet Network is a global community of practitioners, policymakers and experts working to accelerate the implementation of SDG 12: ensuring sustainable patterns of consumption and production.
Jorge has previously worked for the United Nations in multiple capacities and possesses 20 years of experience in intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder processes, global sustainable development policies and sustainable development governance.
Jorge holds an MA degree in International Trade from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences-Po) Paris, alongside being an author of several publications and books on issues related to international affairs and sustainable development. His latest book entitled "From Rio+20 to a New Development Agenda: Building a Bridge to a Sustainable Future", was published in 2014 by Routledge.
PhD in economics from University of Antananarivo
2008 : part of the public administration – Customs inspector
2019 : appointed as Madagascar Customs Director General
Languages : Malagasy , French and English
Values : integrity, accountability , professionnalism
Tomas Lamanauskas is Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, elected at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference of 2022, and taking up duties as of January 2023.
His 25 years of experience spans across sectors of telecoms and digital policy, regulation and strategy, stemming from executive level positions in agencies, companies, and organizations across Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Pacific region.
As Deputy Secretary-General of ITU, Tomas focuses on the financial sustainability and operational excellence of the organization. He also works to raise the digital industry's ambition in fighting the climate crisis through the Green Digital Action initiative and promotes investments into the digital infrastructure as well as digital resilience through the Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative and other efforts. Additionally, Tomas contributes to the global efforts to harness the opportunities and mitigate challenges of new technologies, in particular Artificial Intelligence, including through his role as a co-chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on AI. He is also playing a key role in ensuring ITU's support to other UN-wide development and governance efforts, including through the World Summit of the Information Society process and membership at the Operational Steering Committee of the UN Joint SDG Fund.
Tomas holds Master's Degrees in Public Administration (Harvard), Leadership and Strategy (London Business School), Telecommunications Regulation and Policy (The University of the West Indies) and Law (Vilnius University).
Mr Ronald Ozzy Lamola has served as South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation since June 2024. From 2019 to 2024, he held the position of Minister of Justice and Correctional Services.
Mr Lamola has been a member of South Africa's Parliament since 22 May 2019.
Lamola is a lawyer by profession and holds a law degree from the University of Venda, and two master's degrees in corporate law and extractive law from the University of Pretoria.