Accelerating our sustainable futures through digital innovation

Marco LOPRIENO is Principal Administrator, DG CLIMA, European Commission, Brussels. He joined the Commission 26 years ago. He is responsible for exploring the potential use of blockchain technologies to support EU Climate Policy development and implementation. He has 18 years climate policy working experience, out of which he has been responsible for 16 years for developing legislation and technical implementation related to the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of greenhouse gases emissions, first in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) (2005-12) and then, (2012-2021), as member of the International Carbon Markets team in DG CLIMA.

Dennis Pamlin is an entrepreneur and founder of 21st Century Frontiers. His background is in engineering, industrial economy and marketing. Pamlin is a senior advisor at RISE, senior associate at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, visiting research fellow at the Research Center of Journalism and Social Development at Renmin university, advisor to Centre for Sustainable Development at Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Advisor to the EIT Climate KIC, and and is a founding partner of UNFCCC’s “International Innovation Hub” that launched at COP26. Pamlin is currently the director of Mission Innovation Net-Zero Compatibility Initiative https://www.misolutionframework.net/ and Head of Strategy at Digital with Purpose, https://digitalwithpurpose.org/ Recent publications include a UNEP-FI report about the next generation of leadership in the finance sector, a joint MI/BCG report about opportunity driven climate innovation, and a framework to assess 1.5C compatible companies and innovations . More publications and updates available at: https://www.pamlin.net/

Annika Linck is EU Policy Director at European DIGITAL SME Alliance responsible for managing the alliance’s work on policy and advocacy towards the EU institutions. As coordinator of DIGITAL SME’s Focus Groups AI, ICT Sustainability and Task Force Data, she oversees the development of policy positions. Her interests revolve around the competitiveness of the EU in digital, the data economy, the impact of digital technologies on society, and EU-China relations.

Massamba Thioye is leading in the Mitigation division of the UNFCCC secretariat the development of (i) regulations pertaining to the measurement of climate action impact, (ii) incentive mechanisms for climate and sustainability action and (iii) framework enhancing the use of innovation to support climate and sustainability actions. He recently initiated the UN Climate Change Global Innovation Hub and is leading its development as executive. He is also overseeing the support to enhanced climate action by the financial sector as well as increased access to low cost finance for clean investment in developing countries. As co-Chair of the Climate Chain Coalition, a coalition of more than 300 organizations and as a member of the Advisory Board of INATBA (International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications supported by the European Commission), he is working on Distributed Ledger Technologies use cases of for climate and sustainability action. He also co-chaired the development of ISO 14097 “Framework and principles for assessing and reporting investments and financing activities related to climate change”. Massamba Thioye has published several breakthrough technical papers in technical peer-reviewed journals. The most recent include (i) an article on a reformed green bond framework that can scale up the green bond market while addressing green washing https://bit.ly/3v2feaT (ii) as well as an article on a New advanced GHG accounting system for cities enabled by Distributed Ledger Technologies which is a chapter of the book Planning Climate Smart and Wise Cities he co-edited. Massamba graduated process engineer and has a Ph.D. on energy systems. He was awarded “Best scientist in Senegal” by the Senegalese President in 1997.

Ilias Iakovidis PhD, Adviser, Digital aspect of green transition, European Commission, DG CONNECT Ilias works on EU wide measures and initiatives that aim to improve the energy and material efficiency of ICT. He is also focused on digitalisation for circular economy, in particular, on the digital product passport that aims to accelerate the transition to circular economy. In cooperation with several Commission services and external stakeholders, Ilias works on maximising the benefits of green digital transformation. He has supported the establishment of the European Green Digital Coalition and manages the European Parliament Pilot project supporting this Coalition that is working on science-based methods to estimate the net environmental impact of digital solutions. In cooperation with stakeholders the Pilot project will also develop guidelines for green digital transformation in sectors such as energy, transport, construction, agriculture and others. Before 2017 Ilias was leading the eHealth and ICT for Active and Healthy Ageing units and contributed to the EU Agenda in eHealth for over 20 years. Areas he pioneered include digitally supported Integrated Care; 'Virtual Physiological Human' (digital patient); Personal Health Systems and Electronic Health Records.

Phoebe Koundouri, Professor School of Economics and Director of ReSEES Research Laboratory, Athens University of Economics and Business; Director of Sustainable Development Unit, Athena RC; President of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists; Co-chair SDSN Europe. Personal website: www.phoebekoundouri.org .

Michael Kuhndt is the Founder and Executive Director of the CSCP with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of international co-operation, development and sustainability. He has managed impact driven programmes for numerous multinational companies, ministries, European and UN organisations in the fields of strategy development for sustainable supply chains and circular economy, sustainable lifestyles, upscaling of sustainable business models and triple bottom line innovations. He has worked with organisations such as UNEP, UNIDO, Worldbank, ILO, the European Commission, European Environment Agency, World Economic Forum, World Business Council on Sustainable Development, the CCICD, GIZ, the Global Reporting Initiative, the Global eSustainability Initiative, the Wuppertal Institute, triple innova, the European Circular Economy Platform and various other national and international initiatives and networks. In addition, he implemented programmes for numerous multinational companies including the European Aluminium Association, Rewe Group, Metro Group, REAL, PUMA, Henkel, Clariant, Nestlé, Canon, EMI, Hewlett Packard, Nokia, Matsushita, Motorola and Deutsche Telekom. He is member of various international boards and expert groups and has published a range of interviews and articles. Michael Kuhndt studied chemical engineering and environmental management and policy in Germany, Sweden and the USA. Michael Kuhndt is a German national.