Henrique Pacini is an economist at the United Nations in Geneva, where he works on trade and circular economy issues. He has a degree in economics from the University of São Paulo, a Masters in European Studies  from Hochschule Bremen, Germany, and a Ph.D in Energy Technology from KTH,  Sweden.

He recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University, where he examined the commercial dynamics of secondary/scrap materials in world trade, and co-chaired Harvard’s first Circular Economy Symposium. Dr. Pacini published over 60 articles on environment, energy, trade and development issues.

Priti Padhy is one of the Co-founders and CEO at Cognino.ai.

Pritihas worked across emerging technology for 25 years, working in Japan, UK and USA. An entrepreneurial technologist at heart, Pritihas been building products, incubating high-value complex and disruptive technology innovation with global engineering talents over the past 26 years.

Priti has led one of the data and AI research groups at Microsoft for over a decade. This is where Priti started to see the value of AI and data. His vision for a more intelligent AI proposition was developed during this time. Priti left Microsoft to build his vision and was temporarily the CTO at KPMG in the UK which allowed him to bootstrap Cognino.ai early development.

Ivana Padierna is an international communications and trade and biodiversity specialist, currently serving at the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s BioTrade Initiative. At UN Trade and Development, Ivana promotes sustainable and inclusive development, with a particular emphasis on trade-related aspects of the sustainable use of biodiversity.

She has played a key role in advancing initiatives that support biodiversity conservation and generation of livelihoods through trade, including by leading the development and implementation of diverse knowledge management and communication activities. Ivana represents UN Trade and Development as a co-lead together with the Forest Stewardship Council at the Working Group 4 on Biodiversity and Consumption (WG4) of the One Planet Network’s Consumer Information Programme.

Ivana holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, Spain, and a Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the International University in Geneva (IUG). A native of Barcelona, Ivana draws on her Mediterranean heritage and global perspective to foster sustainable and inclusive economies that help people and the planet thrive together.

Lisa Padmore is Partner at Ernst and Young in the Caribbean. She is Fellow of CPA Canada – Province of British Columbia, Canada, resident in Barbados.

Lisa has enjoyed over 28 years of public accounting experience serving as engagement lead partner for large, complex clients in the consumer products, construction and power and utilities sectors in Barbados and within the wider Caribbean. Lisa has been a member of the Board of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) since 2018, the Audit Committee of IFAC as well as chairs the Technology Advisory Group of IFAC.

Lisa was the 4th female President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados (ICAB) and a former member of the Council of ICAB between 2013 – 2020. 

Oscar Pajuelo is a certified public accountant with over 35 years of professional experience in the public and private sectors. He has experience in the government sector, where he currently holds the position of National General Accountant, leading the National Accounting System. As President of the Accounting Standard Boards, he is in charge of the accounting regulations of the private sector. Mr. Pajuelo has extensive experience in the financial sector having reached the status of Deputy Managing Director of the National Bank, where he also held the position of Credit Manager, Branch Manager, Finance Manager and Chief Accountant. Other professional postions held in the private sector include CFO of “Transformadora Atlantis S.A.”, a multinational company in the industry sector, Director of several other companies as well as liquidator.

Vera Palea, Ph.D. in Finance at Bocconi University, is Associate Professor in Corporate Reporting and Finance at the University of Torino, Italy. She holds a national qualification as a Full Professor. Vera is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Foundation for Business Reporting, where she co-chairs the working group on Climate-related disclosure. She also co-chairs the technical working group on climate change and credit risk assessment at the Italian Association of Financial Industry Risk Management. Vera is fellow at the European Law Institute, where she involved in the Special Interest Group on Corporate Sustaina¬bility and Accounting. She has extensively published on the relevance of international accounting and reporting standards for corporate risk assessement in top-notch journals.

Nadia Paleari is a Brand and Business Growth Consultant. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and a Masters in Cultural Diplomacy. 

As a professional, she combines the international sphere of her background with a passion for communication and marketing. 

In 2019 she joined UNCTAD Youth Network, with the aim of bringing young professionals to discuss and collaborate with institutions in drafting proposals for a sustainable future for all. She is speaker and panelist to events and initiatives in the context of the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, including: Cordillera Youth Movers Program 2020 (Philippines), LCOY 2019 (Florence), World Climate Congress 2021 (Nepal). 

In 2021 she became Visiting Professor for the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Rome, Italy) and the IED (European Institute of Design, Milan). 

She is a member of UNFCCC YOUNGO (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and in September 2021 she became Project Officer of the Global Events and Partnerships Team at SDSN Youth.

Beena J Pallical is currently General Secretary of the Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan of National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR). Over the last 11 years she is with the NCDHR working on the Dalit Economic Rights. She has been passionately working towards policy changes with the Central and State governments towards the marginalised communities (Dalits and Tribals) and been demanding that Dalit Women be included in policy formulation.

Her main focus continues to be on Economic Justice and specifically looking at Gender Equity. Since 2015 she has been engaging on the SDGs and the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) to bring in both Gender Equity but also recognition of communities discriminated on work and Descent (CDWD). She also heads the Asia Dalit Women’s Economic Empowerment Program within the Asia Dalit Rights Forum (ADRF) that works on empowering Dalit women in South Asia (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and India). She is an expert of Gender issues and looks at the intersectionality of Economic Rights and gender.

Laura started her career in 1993 as Finance Auditor in PWC Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1997, she joined Aguas Danone Argentina as Sales & Marketing Controller. She became Financial Controller in Villa Alpina (Groupe Danone) in 1999. In 2003 she moved to France as Sales & Marketing Controller for the World Wide Waters Division. In 2006 she accepted a position at Corporate level where she acted as Investors’ Relations Officer. She later became VP Finance Nature in 2009, in charge of developing and deploying the environmental reporting for the company, including the CO2 accounting system. In March 2014, Laura was appointed Corporate Social Responsibility Director, and as of May 2016, she became Sustainability Integration Director, in charge of coordinating sustainability governance, animation and sustainability reporting at corporate level. Since January 2018 Laura is seconded to the UN Global Compact where she serves as Senior Advisor on sustainability reporting issues.

Katharine Palmer is the global head of sustainability for Lloyd’s Register Maritime and currently seconded to the UN High Level Climate Champion team as the Shipping Lead.

With over 20 years' experience in the shipping industry Katharine is an established thought leader on maritime sustainability and environmental issues, providing advice and insight to maritime stakeholders across the value chain.

Katharine is a Chartered Marine Scientist and a fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineers, Scientists and Technologists (IMarEST) and an Elected Trustee on the Board of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative.