Valerie Picard is the Deputy Director for the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation based at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Based in Paris, Valerie leads ICC’s contribution to the Alliance working with her team to leverage the ICC’s network of businesses, national committees and chambers of commerce to support the work of the Alliance and deliver trade facilitation projects. She previously worked at Bolloré Transport & Logistics advising on legal matters relating to public-private partnerships and the development and operation of ports and terminals in Africa and Asia. Valerie holds a BA in Government from Smith College and a JD/LL.M from Duke University School of Law.

Partner at the consulting firm Deloitte and leader of the Sustainability Consulting Central Europe team. Irena has more than 15 years of relevant professional experience regarding sustainability business. She is leading the Central Europe team, coordinating the network, and advising clients on 17 CE markets. She has been managing complex projects for clients from various industries, such as sustainability, climate & energy strategies, stakeholder engagament strategies, ethics programs management, analysis of economic competitiveness, non-financial reporting and verification, analysis of relations with stakeholders including authorities on central and local levels, strategic planning of sustainable line investment promotion energy efficiency promotion and implementation strategies. She advises the Polish government and sits on the board of the Responsible Business Forum. She represents Poland on the international forum at WBCSD, Global Reporting Initiative, and CSR Europe meetings. She is a lecturer at the Koźmiński University and a certified GRI trainer.

Ramón Pichs-Madruga was elected one of the three IPCC Vice-Chairs at the 59th Session of the IPCC held in Nairobi, Kenya in July 2023. During the sixth assessment cycle he was Vice Chair of Working Group III.

He is Director at the Centre for World Economy Studies (CIEM) in Cuba since 2013, where he has been a researcher since 1986 and was Deputy Director from 1999-2013. He is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Havana since 2004. He has been an IPCC Bureau Member since 1997 and was a Co-Chair of Working Group III from 2008-2015. Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Inter-American Institute for Research on Global Change (IAI) from 2007-2013 and was elected member of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba for the period 2012 to 2018; re-elected for 2018-2024.

He has a degree in Foreign Trade Economics from the University of Havana, a Master in Social Sciences from the University of Lund, Sweden, and a doctorate in Economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Birgit Pickel is Director-General for Africa in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. She is also Co-Chair Team Europe Initiative in combatting illicit financial flows and related transnational organised crime in Africa (TEI - IFFs)

She has more than 20 years of experience in development policy and cooperation, including 11 years in management positions.

Francine Pickup is UNDP’s Deputy Director in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) beginning 1st June 2022.

Prior to her appointment, Francine was Resident Representative in Serbia, Resident Representative a.i. / Country Director in India and Deputy Country Director in Indonesia. Before that, she worked as the Strategic Planning Advisor in RBAP and led the UN’s Inter-Agency Information and Analysis Unit under the Deputy Special Representative to the Secretary General in Iraq.

Francine joined the UN in 2002, working with OCHA in Lebanon, Palestine and New York, as well as the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) and FAO in Palestine, and ILO in Central Asia. Aside from the UN, she has worked with several development organisations, including Amnesty International, Oxfam, and the World Bank.

Francine received her undergraduate degree in Social Anthropology from Cambridge University, her Masters in Development Studies and PhD on local level responses to new market forces in Russia, both from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

She has publications on topics including innovative and Islamic financing, aid effectiveness, humanitarian aid policy, economies in transition, livelihoods, the informal economy and gender and development. She is married with three children and loves tennis, running and the outdoors.

As Carillion’s Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), David develops and delivers its Sustainability 2020 programme across UK and international markets. Integrating responsible business operations with its core strategy, Carillion’s award-winning sustainability approach delivers six positive outcomes – benefitting society, the environment and profitable business growth. David joined Carillion in 2012, initially leading supply chain development before becoming CSO in 2013. Previously at Sky, as Director of Supply Chain Operations, and at Motorola as an EMEA Sales and Marketing Director, he also served 20 years in UK and overseas operational and strategic military leadership roles as an RAF Wing Commander. David has an MBA, a King’s College (London) International Strategy MA and an Earth Sciences BSc (Hons). He is a national Speaker for Schools, Pension Trustee and Supply Chain Sustainability School Board Director.

Mr. Emmanuel Pieters is Executive Director of the Directorate General Regulation of the Federal Public Service Economy of Belgium. Graduated in law from the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL). He worked as a lawyer at the Brussels Bar until 1997. He taught for ten years, as a visiting professor, Economic Law and Business Law at the Ecole Supérieure des Affaires (ESA) in Namur. Within the Federal Public Service Economy, he successively worked in the Legal Department , led the study department and served as General Counsel of the Division of Financial Regulations. He lead the Directorate General Regulation and Market Organization from 2010 to 2013. Since 2014, he is also President of the Ethics Commission for Telecommunications. In the framework of his functions, he lead the transposition in Belgium of the Services Directive and the redaction of the new Code of economic law. He is also a member of the OECD Steering Group on Corporate Governance.

Nisha Pillai is an accomplished news presenter who worked with the BBC World News for 25 years. Her areas of expertise span a wide range of subjects including economics, finance, IT and the energy sectors. She is also adept at covering health and social issues and has worked closely with several UN agencies such as UNICEF, UNIDO and UNAIDS. Nisha enjoyed a twenty five-year career at the BBC as a news anchor and investigative reporter. For several years, she was one of the main news anchors at BBC World News and fronted the acclaimed programme, Asia Today. She was awarded the Royal Television Society’s Award for best current affairs programme for ‘The Max Factor’ – her investigation into the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell’s sprawling business empire, which was broadcast a month before his death. Nisha was also one of the first regular interviewers on Hard Talk, the BBC’s half-hour long interview programme.

Carina Pimenta was nominated National Secretary of Bioeconomy, invited by the Minister of Environment, Marina Silva. Carina Pimenta co-founded Conexus in 2018, having previously worked in both the private sector and civil society organizations.

Throughout his career, she developed expertise in green finance, innovative impact financing instruments, market access strategies, development of community businesses and small businesses, entrepreneurship and development of the bioeconomy in areas linked to socio-environmental issues in Brazil, especially in the Amazon.

She holds a degree in Business Administration from EAESP-FGV and a master’s degree in Social Development from the University of Sussex.

Dr. Gilson Pina is National Director for Planning at the Ministry of Finance of Cabo Verde, where he has led national planning and economic strategy since 2019.

He is also Vice President of the Board of Directors of Caixa Económica de Cabo Verde.

Before assuming his current positions, Dr. Pina served as Economic Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance from 2016 to 2019.

Dr. Pina holds a Ph.D in Economics jointly from the University of Minho and the University of Coimbra.