Ms. Violet Eudine Barriteau is Professor of Gender and Public Policy at the University of West Indies Cave Hill in Barbados.

Professor Barriteau's research interests encompass transformational educational leadership, feminist theorizing and investigations of the Caribbean political economy, and gender and public policy.

On 2019, the Government of Barbados conferred on her The Order of Freedom of Barbados, the country's highest national honour.

Ieva Baršauskaitė leads IISD's work on trade and the green transition, including research and advisory work with governments on the role of trade policy in industrial decarbonization and in the fight against major environmental challenges.

During her 15-year diplomatic career at the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ieva has worked on a broad range of negotiations and processes related to the international economy, trade, environment, and energy.

She has represented the Government of Lithuania as Deputy Permanent Representative at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and served as the chairperson of the WTO Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Duties, as well as the Vice-Chairperson of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Joint Working Party on Trade and the Environment.

Paula Bartolomeu has more than 24 years of experience in international companies and in the management of a complete set of administrative, sales and commercial processes and operations, in the Oil and Gas, locomotive manufacturing sectors, transport & logistics, Digital and Information Technology, Electrical Energy Production Systems and agribusines. 

She brings accumulated expertise in leadership skills, expertise in problem solving and solutions, interaction with stakeholders at all administrative and political levels. She demonstrates strong leadership and responsibility in the execution of complex corporate business objectives and high visibility economic, political and social and highly complex projects.

Robbert Baruch is the Senior Vice President for public affairs and multilateral relations at the Center for Music Ecosystems in Amsterdam. He leads the organization’s public policy and government relations efforts across Europe, engaging with multilateral organizations, economic forums, and think tanks.

Previously, he served as Deputy Mayor of the Rotterdam Borough of Feijenoord and as a Member of the Regional Assembly for the Province of South Holland.

He studied Political science, with a focus on political philosophy and public administration at Leiden University and pursued religious studies in Jerusalem and Amsterdam.

Dr. BASAHAG Achile Nestor, Directeur de la Comptabilité Publique au Ministère des Finances Publiques est titulaire d’un PHD en comptabilité et Finances de l’Université de Douala. Sa double casquette de praticien et chercheur, lui a permis de mener une réflexion, dans le cadre de ses études doctorales, sur les enjeux budgétaires de la réforme comptable dans les Etats de la zone CEMAC, mais également, de se positionner comme acteur majeur de l’arrimage de la comptabilité publique aux standards internationaux. Par ailleurs, il siège au conseil d’administration de plusieurs institutions financières, notamment la Société Commerciale de Banque Cameroun (SCB) et la Banque de Développement des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale (BDEAC) dont les missions sont de promouvoir le développement durable des pays de la CEMAC et contribuer à leur intégration économique.

Sheikh Bashir Uddin is an accomplished Bangladeshi businessman, who currently serves as an adviser to the Chief Advisor in the interim government of Bangladesh.

He took on responsibilities for the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Textiles and Jute in November 2024. In April 2025, he expanded his role to include advising the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

Ana is a Programme Officer at the Trade and Environment of the International Trade Centre (ITC). She has over 10 years’ experience working in the intersection of private sector development and green transition. At ITC, she spearheads initiatives to bolster small business transitions towards a just, low-carbon and nature-positive economy.

She is an international development professional from Brazil, holding a Master’s degree in International Affairs and executive training in Business and Climate Change (Univ. of Cambridge), Nature-Based Solutions to Global Challenges (Univ. of Oxford), The Global Biodiversity Framework, Sustainable Development and the Law (Univ. of Cambridge), as well as a Diploma of Advanced Studies in CSR (Univ. of Geneva). Women in biodiversity: cultivating better opportunities in trade.

Mr. Batalingaya is the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the Comoros since December 2020. Prior to that, he was the Head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Central African Republic.

Mr Batalingaya has over 25 years of experience in social development and humanitarian action, acquired inside and outside the United Nations. Prior to joining the United Nations, he led World Vision's humanitarian and development programs in Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Senegal, Somalia, Uganda, and the United States.

Mr. Batalingaya holds a master's degree in public health from Tulane University in New Orleans, USA and a bachelor's degree from the National University of Rwanda.

David is a Director in the assurance technical office and part of global ACS – PwC’s worldwide network of IFRS technical specialists. He grew up and studied in Switzerland. After 6 years in the audit practice, he joined the accounting technical department and has since worked with both the RLO team (focusing on revenue, income taxes and financial statement presentation) and the BC team (focusing on business combinations, consolidation and joint arrangements). He has also completed a 2 year secondment with the ACS team in Melbourne, Australia. In his daily work he supports engagement teams and clients across industries by providing accounting advice on emerging accounting issues and complex transactions. He gives advice on financial reporting disclosures for public documents including IPOs and pro-forma financial statements. Further, he is responsible for PwC’s semi-annual IFRS client update training (stay smart - financial reporting update) and regularly present at internal and external training events.

René Bautz is Chairman of the Global Gas Centre and also CEO of Gaznat SA, Chairman of Swiss Energy Trading (SET) and Gas&Com (Telecommunication), Board and Committee member of several companies and organizations within the gas industry: Fingaz, Swissgas, Swiss Gas Invest, Transitgas and Unigaz. He also acts at an international level in the frame of Eurogas, Green Gas Initiative.

In 2002, René Bautz joined Gaznat, starting his career in the company as Chief technical officer. He then served as Chief operating officer for two years before taking over as CEO of Gaznat.

René Bautz studied electrical engineering and holds a Master of Science degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He dedicated his entire professional career to the energy sector. René Bautz held the position of Managing director at the Société Electrique des Forces de l’Aubonne (SEFA) for 5 years. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Utility of the town of Bienne (ESB). During this period, between 1994 and 2002, he was also Board member and manager of several companies within the water and energy industries.

The first 10 years of his career were spent at the power company Electricité Neuchâteloise (ENSA) as Head of the studies and construction. René Bautz then joined Câbles Cortaillod (now Nexans Switzerland) as Head of the electric network and testing division. As part of his training, he completed an internship on behalf of Brown Boveri Canada in Montreal where he participated in the development of a test platform for electric generators. He further completed his training in the field of business economics and management.