Nathalie Seddon is Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Oxford and Director of the Nature-based Solutions Initiative, an interdisciplinary programme of research, policy advice, and education aimed at increasing understanding of the effectiveness of nature-based solutions to global challenges. After training as an evolutionary ecologist at Cambridge University, she developed broad research interests in understanding the origins and maintenance of biodiversity and its relationship with global change. She is also Senior Associate of the International Institute for Environment and Development and advises governments, UN agencies, NGOs and businesses on nature-based solutions.

Youba Sokona was elected Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2015. Prior to this, Youba Sokona was Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III on the mitigation of climate change for the Fifth Assessment Report after serving as a Lead Author since 1990. Youba Sokona is currently the Special Advisor for Sustainable Development at the South Centre. With over 35 years of experience addressing energy, environment and sustainable development in Africa, Youba Sokona is a well-known, leading global figure. In addition to these achievements, Youba Sokona has a proven track record of organisational leadership and management, for example as Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and as Executive Secretary of the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory (OSS). Youba Sokona’s advice is highly sought after, and as such, he is affiliated with numerous boards and organisations, including as a Member of the Board for the Institute of Development Studies, Honorary Professor at the University College London (UCL), and as a Special Advisor to the African Energy Leaders Group. In short, Youba Sokona is a global figure, with deep technical knowledge, extensive policy experience and an unreserved personal commitment to African-led development.

Paul Rouse is Science Advisor for C2G. Rouse spent over 20 years designing and delivering interdisciplinary research programmes that produce policy evidence and impact within UK research councils. During this time, he headed up environmental, energy and food security agenda for the Economic & Social Research Council, including thinking on geoengineering research and engagement activity with the SPICE initiative. Rouse left the science policy community to undertake a PhD, at the University of Southampton, on the governance of geoengineering, which he completed in 2018.

Rouse has a record of accomplishment in taking research evidence into the government policy arena, advising key actors on a wide range of issues from climate change adaptation and geoengineering, to enhancing STEM skills within schools. Internationally, he worked with the Belmont Forum, Future Earth and was an EU Framework Programme National Contact.

Most recently, Rouse has been working with the UK Research & Innovation, taking a particular interest in enhancing ethical thinking and responsible innovation approaches within engineering.

He has postgraduate and professional qualifications and a MA and PhD. Rouse is a Visiting Fellow in Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Dr Kate Dooley is a Research Fellow at Melbourne University’s Climate & Energy College. Kate has policy expertise on forest governance, climate change and carbon accounting and has almost two decades experience advising government and non-government organisations. Kate has worked globally with environmental movements and non-governmental organisations, focussing on the intersection of forest governance and climate policy. She has been following the UN climate negotiations since 2009, focusing on the role of forests and land-use in climate mitigation, and how human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples are central to these efforts. Kate has published on rights-based approaches to ecosystem restoration, the politics of forest carbon accounting, and land-use for sustainable development. She is currently researching the potential for ambitious restoration of natural ecosystems to remove and lock up atmospheric carbon.

Kate co-authored the paper ‘Carbon‐dioxide Removal and Biodiversity: A Threat Identification Framework’ published in a forthcoming issue of Global Policy,

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal is the Climate & Energy Global Practice Leader at World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF International.

He has 35 years of experience in environmental law and policy. He served as Minister of the Environment of Peru (2011 to 2016) and President of the Twentieth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – COP20 in 2014. He was the Executive Director of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law, an influential institution in Latin America. He has a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, where he is a professor, and has completed studies for a master’s degree in Business Law at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas.

He is a Board member of Forest Trends, Amazon Conservation Association and Peruvian Society of Environmental Law and a member of the Assembly of the World Wide Fund for Nature – Colombia. He has recently been added to the Aspen Institute Management and Leadership Advisory Group. He is the chairman of the evaluation council of the French sovereign Green Bonds. He is an active member of different groups aimed to get strong outcomes as a part of the formal climate talks and the non-party stakeholders’ agenda. He has been recognized by the governments of France, Germany and Spain and by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for his contribution to the Paris Agreement.

René Castro Salazar, a national of Costa Rica, holds a Doctorate in design with emphasis in Natural Resources, Policy and Environmental Economics, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration, both awarded by Harvard University. In addition, he has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad de Costa Rica. He was a Professor in the fields of Natural Resources, Environmental Economics and Policy at the post-graduate INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. He also lectured at the Harvard Institute for International Development and was a Fellow of the Mossavar-Rahmani Centre for Business and Government, Harvard University.

He also lectured in prestigious universities such Harvard, Tokyo, Yale, Zurich Tech, LSE, INCAE and several Latin American Universities. He was a Fellow of the Mossavar-Rahmani Centre for Business and Government, Harvard University.

Mr Castro-Salazar has held ministerial positions in Costa Rica as Minister of National Resources, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications between 1994 and 2014. In February 2016, Mr Castro-Salazar was appointed Assistant Director-General of the the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Forestry Department (FO).

By decision of the Council 164th FAO works now with a modular and flexible structure aiming to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and cross-sectoral collaboration. Mr Castro-Salazar is currently leading policy and strategy related to climate change, biodiversity and environment.

Sandeep Sengupta is the Global Coordinator for Climate Change at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), where he leads the organization’s engagement on the topic. Sandeep previously worked on a wide range of environmental and developmental issues, both within and outside the government in India, and in international organizations abroad.

Sandeep holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Oxford and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics.

He has four decades of work experience in the areas of energy, environment, climate change, and sustainable development. Before taking up his current assignment he was UN Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Change in New York under Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Earlier, he was Acting Executive Director for Conservation (2014), and Policy and Science Director (2012-2014), at WWF International. He directed the UNSG’s Climate Change Support Team (2008-2010) and later was Executive Secretary of the UNSG’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (2010-2012). In 2007 he directed the Geneva-based UN Environment Management Group (EMG). During 1993-2006 he worked and over time held many responsibilities at the Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC), initially in Geneva and later in Bonn.

His other assignments included: the Secretariat of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit ’92); Stockholm Environment Institute; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Secretariat of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission); the Beijer Institute; and the World Council of Churches.

He has BSc and MSc degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).