Multi-year Expert Meeting on Commodities and Development, fourteenth session

Rebeca Grynspan, of Costa Rica, became UNCTAD's eighth Secretary-General on 13 September 2021 and is the first woman to lead the organization.

Prior to her UNCTAD appointment, she was the Ibero-American secretary-general from 2014 to 2021, also the first woman to head the organization. During her mandate, she has coordinated the 22-member Iberoamerican Conference and led four key summits of Heads of State and Government. 

In 2010 she was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and prior to that was UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Grynspan served as Vice-President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. She was also Minister of Housing, Minister Coordinator of Economic and Social Affairs, and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 2021 she was named Special International Advisor to the newly created Economic and Social Council of Argentina and invited to join as member of the G20 High-Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.

In addition to her experience as a lecturer and advisor to several international organizations, she has been actively involved in key United Nations initiatives, such as the Millennium Project's Task Force on Poverty and Economic Development and the High-level Panel on Financing for Development.  

In 2014 and 2015, she was recognized as one of the 50 leading intellectuals of Latin America.  And she was recognized as one of the 100 most powerful women in Central America by Forbes magazine.

Ms Grynspan holds a degree in Economics by the University of Costa Rica and a MSc in Economics by the University of Sussex. She has been awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Salamanca, the University of Extremadura and the European University of Madrid in recognition of her outstanding professional achievements. 

Ms Elizabeth Press is Director of Planning and Programme Support in the Executive Office of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). She leads the Agency’s programme and strategy development and related activities in IRENA governing bodies. Ms Press represents IRENA in climate-focused organisations and initiatives and leads several special projects, including geopolitics of energy transitions. She also oversees diversification of the Agency’s resource base and is IRENA’s focal point in Europe. Ms Press has served with IRENA since its inception in 2011. Before joining the Agency, she worked for some 18 years in development and peace and security, predominately with the United Nations. Ms Press served in Africa, Europe, Middle East, North America, and South-East Asia. She has an MA in Public Administration.

Bas Geerts is the Head of Sustainability at Cefetra Group. Initially educated in Marketing and Communications he broadened and deepened his knowledge with a study on Sustainability, combined with extensive international working experience at World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). He has well over 2 decades of experience in leading multi-stakeholder initiatives, focused on implementing sustainability in several global supply chains (e.g. timber, palm oil, soy, cotton, cane sugar, wild and farmed seafood).

André Pierre Mattei is French-Brazilian and currently works as Director of the Senai Institute of Innovation for ICTs (Brazil), Vice President of the FLIC group (Brazil, France, and USA) and President of the startup GrapeHawk in France. He has post doctoral and doctorate training in computer science, a master’s degree in physics, an MBA in strategic management and processes and a degree in electronic engineering and a eronautical s ciences. He has experience as director of Brazilian and multinational companies, business development in LATAM, technical manager of aerospace programs, university professor (ITA, ISA SUPAERO and MIT), scientific researcher and military pilot.

Professor Damilola S. Olawuyi, SAN is a Professor and UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar. He is also Chairperson of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights. A prolific and highly regarded scholar, Professor Olawuyi has published several articles and books on energy, environment, and natural resources law, including Environmental Law in Arab States (Oxford University Press, 2022), which received the 2023 American Society of International Law (ASIL) Certificate of Merit. Professor Olawuyi holds a doctorate (DPhil) in energy and environmental law from the University of Oxford; a Master of Laws (LLM) from Harvard University; and another LLM from the University of Calgary. He has been admitted as Barrister and Solicitor in Alberta, Canada; Ontario, Canada; and Nigeria.He is a regular media commentator on all aspects of natural resources, energy and environmental law.
 

Peter Clubb is a Market Analyst at the International Grains Council (IGC), an intergovernmental organisation that monitors the global situation of grains, rice, oilseeds and pulses. Peter’s primary focus is on assessing the world supply and demand of rice and rapeseed (canola), including production, consumption, stocks and trade, as well as monitoring other grains and oilseeds. Before joining the IGC in 2017, Peter was the Editor of the Live Rice Index, a specialist rice market publication and price reporting agency, and has accumulated more than a decade of experience in monitoring the global rice trade.

Charlotte Eba is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of the West of Scotland. She is also an active member of the Centre for African Research on Enterprise and Economic Development (CAREED). Eba's primary research focus centers on International Trade, with a specific interest in market institutions and their impact. Her dedication has yielded notable accomplishments, including her co-authorship of a book chapter that delves into the intricate relationship between market institutions and their role in trade and economic development in Africa. 

Alexander Bressers is a Senior Oil Market Analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA), where his primary focus is on global oil demand and prices. Before joining the IEA in 2022, he worked for fifteen years as a commodity portfolio manager and futures trader for a number of banks and investment funds, developing quantitative trading strategies in the energy and agricultural markets. He holds a Master’s degree in economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. 

Sofia Dominguez is an Associate Economic Affairs Officer in the Commodities Branch of the Division on International Trade and Commodities (DITC) at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Sofia works on economic research related to development topics in the context of commodity dependence and commodity-dependent countries. Her recent contributions include Chapter 3 of the 2023 Commodities and Development Report, titled “Ensuring Inclusiveness”, and an economic study examining the relationship between diversification and inequality. Sofia also worked in the Economics Department of the European Investment Bank, where she co-authored research papers on European climate investment choices, including “Are EU firms-climate ready?” and “Green Investment by Firms: Finance or Climate Driven?”, among others. Sofia holds an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick.

Julio Kunda Muya is Acting Head of Division in charge of commodities at the Department of Multilateral and Regional Trade Agreements, Ministry of Foreign Trade, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Julio has worked for several years at this Ministry and officially hold the position of Chef de Bureau. He holds a Master's degree in Global ICT Policy from PUSAN National University in South Korea, an advanced postgraduate diploma in Trade Policy and international trade law from the African Trade Policy Training Center in Arusha (Tanzania) and Lund University in Sweden, as well as a Licence (BAC+5) in applied computing from the Higher Institute of Computer Sciences, Programming and Analysis in Kinshasa. Julio represents his country to various international and regional organizations (such as the WTO, UNCTAD, UNCITRAL, SADC, etc.)
 

Ilaria Espa is Associate Professor of International Economic Law and Senior Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute (WTI) in Bern. She is furthermore Adjunct Professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan and Lead Counsel of the 'Natural Resources' Programme of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL). Ilaria’s areas of expertise include international economic law, with a focus on trade regulation, international environmental law, and EU law. She has published extensively on issues at the intersection of trade and sustainability, mainly in the areas of climate change, energy and commodities, as well as on the law governing the sustainable management of natural resources, always from a multi-layered governance perspective.

Kingsley Omeihe is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of the West of Scotland. King currently holds positions at the University of the West of Scotland, where he serves as the co-head of Postgraduate Research, Managing Editor of African Development Policy and Insights, and Senior Lecturer in the School of Business and Creative Industries. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Trust Studies. He holds affiliated fellowship positions at the West African Transitional Justice Centre and serves as a Senior Economic Advisor at Marcel Advisory. He is the President of the Academy for African Studies and the Chair of African Studies at the British Academy of Management.