Speaker bios

Webinar on Planning with net-zero scenarios: moving from political ambition to country-level pathways Thursday, December 17, 2020 – 15:00 – 17:30 CET

*The list of speakers is sorted in the order of appearance in the programme.

Francesco La Camera

Director-General, IRENA

Francesco La Camera is the Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). He has more than thirty years of experience in the fields of climate, sustainability, and international co-operation. He formerly served as Director-General of Sustainable Development, Environmental Damage, EU and International Affairs at the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land & Sea. In this capacity, he developed co-operation and partnerships agreements with a wide range of countries, particularly developing countries.

Patricia Espinosa

Executive Secretary, UNFCCC

Patricia Espinosa is the Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Change since 2016. Ambassador of to since 2012 and from 2001 to 2002, Ms Espinosa was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico from 2006 to 2012, bringing more than 30 years of experience at highest levels in international relations, specialised in climate change, global governance, sustainable development, gender equality and protection of human rights.

1 Teresa Ribera

Deputy Prime Minister for Ecological Transition, Spain

Teresa Ribera is the Prime Minister for Ecological Transition. Prior to that, Ms Ribera was Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) from 2014 to 2018, and enabled the Institute to play a key role in the negotiation of the Paris Climate Agreement and the transition towards sustainable development. She served as the Spanish Secretary of State for Climate Change and Biodiversity from 2008 to 2011, responsible for environmental and climate policies, as well as the National Meteorological Agency.

Priyadarshi R. Shukla

Co-Chair, IPCC Working Group III (Mitigation)

Priyadarshi R. Shukla currently holds the position of Co-Chair, IPCC Working Group III (Mitigation) and is a distinguished professor and chair of Global Centre for Environment and Energy at Ahmedabad University, India. He holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University. He had been a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad for over three decades. He received a Certificate for the 'CONTRIBUTION TO THE AWARD OF NOBEL PEACE PRIZE' FOR 2007 TO THE IPCC' and a Certificate for Contribution to Climate Change Research, by the Hon'able Prime Minister, Government of India in 2007. He is a leading researcher working on scenarios building and modelling of socio-economic development, climate change, energy and environment.

Dolf Gielen Director, Innovation and Technology Centre, IRENA

As director of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Innovation and Technology Centre in Bonn since 2011, Dolf Gielen oversees the Agency's work on advising member countries on energy scenarios and planning, power sector transformation, cost and markets, technology status and innovation outlooks, and project development guidelines. Before joining IRENA, Dolf Gielen worked for the Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Energy Agency. He has a PhD from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

2 Hans van Steen

Acting Director, Directorate General for Energy in the European Commission Hans van Steen is the Acting Director on Renewables, Research, Innovation and Energy Efficiency in the Directorate General for Energy in the European Commission. Following several assignments in the fields of energy and transport, he became Deputy Head of Unit for Inter-institutional Affairs (2001 - 2006), Head of Unit for Renewable Energy (2006 - 2013), Head of Unit for and International Energy Relations and Enlargement (2013 - 2017) and Adviser on Renewables, Research and Innovation and Energy Efficiency (2017 - present). He became Acting Director on October 1, 2018. Mr van Steen holds a master's degree in Political Science from the University of Århus, Denmark.

Julian Critchlow

Director General, Energy Transformation and Clean Growth, BEIS UK

Julian is Director General, Energy Transformation and Clean Growth at the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. He leads implementation of the UK's Net Zero by 2050 carbon commitment, including the Green Finance Strategy, promotion of energy efficiency and clean heat, and the decarbonisation of industrial energy. He also leads work on UK's UNFCCC negotiations and international climate finance. Previously Julian Critchlow was a Director in the London office of Bain & Company. As head of Bain's Global Utilities & Alternative Energy Practice. energy sector, especially in the relationship between environmental commitments and the development of energy in the country. Mr Barria has over 16 years of experience in the energy sector. Since June 2019, Barría has been in charge of various initiatives in the Ministry of Energy, such as carrying out the process of updating the energy policy, long-term energy planning, promoting carbon neutrality in the sector and developing a green hydrogen strategy in the country.

Elizabeth Press

Director, Planning and Programme Support, IRENA

Elizabeth Press is the Director of Planning and Programme Support at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). As part of her portfolio, Ms Press leads the development of IRENA's Work Programme and strategic documents, and programmatic reporting to governing bodies. She represents IRENA in climate-related entities and initiatives and leads several special projects including on the geopolitics of energy transitions. Ms Press has served with IRENA since its inception in 2011. Before joining the Agency, she worked in the fields of development and peace and security, predominately with the United Nations. Ms Press

3 worked in Africa, Europe, Middle East, North America, and South-East Asia. She has an MA in Public Administration

James Grabert

Director, Mitigation Division, UNFCCC

James Grabert is the Director, Mitigation Division of the UNFCCC, leading the work on market-based approaches to climate change mitigation. In addition, he also currently leads the secretariat's Communication and Engagement Division. Mr Grabert has worked for the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) for more than 20 years. Prior to 2006 he served as a greenhouse gas emissions specialist and worked in numerous expert groups of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Before joining the United Nations, he was an industry and regional analyst for the World Economic Forum in , . Mr Grabert holds a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Wheaton College, Master of International Economics from the Institut de Hautes Études Internationales in Geneva and has undertaken post-graduate studies in Management at Stanford University, University of Navarra (IESE) and London Business School, and in Development at Harvard University.

Kelly Levin

Senior Associate - Director Of Tracking And Strengthening Climate Action, World Resource Institute

Kelly Levin is a senior associate with WRI's global climate program. She focuses her work on supporting countries in the design and tracking of climate commitments, as well as planning for long-term transitions associated with decarbonisation. Kelly closely follows the negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and analyses related emissions reduction commitments. Kelly also plays a leading role in WRI on communicating climate science developments. Kelly holds a PhD and Master of Environmental Management from Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale College. She has been awarded the Google Climate Science Communication Fellowship and the Academic Council on the United Nations System Dissertation Award, and is a Switzer Fellow, Teresa Heinz Scholar, and Udall Scholar.

4 Richard Baron

Executive Director, 2050 Pathways Platform

Richard Baron is executive director of the 2050 Pathways Platform – a multi-stakeholder initiative of countries, international financial institutions, think-tanks and organisations with an interest in developing the Paris Agreement's long-term low-emission development strategies. Since 2017, the Platform has been active in more than 40 countries, mostly outside OECD. Prior to this position, Richard held positions on climate policy at the OECD, IEA, IDDRI, and research institutes in France (CIRED) and the USA (PNNL). His work areas include international negotiations, trade and competitiveness, market mechanisms, industry and public procurement, and the broad alignment of public policymaking with the climate imperative.

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