Clare Shakya
The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
Clare is the Global Managing Director, Tackling Climate at The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Her work focuses on maximising, nature's ability to store carbon, promoting smart, clean energy policies and bolstering resilience for habitats and communities. Before this, she was Climate Change Group Director at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). There she worked on improving access to climate finance as well as on its quality and quantity. She supports the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group leadership on their LDC Initiative For Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR) – developing vertically integrated delivery mechanisms that can channel resources and authority for climate action to local actors country wide.
Shashi Buluswar
Global Health Labs
Dr. Buluswar is the founder of the Institute for Transformative Technologies (ITT), where he also served as CEO. He was the chief architect of the largest electrification and natural sanitation initiatives in the world, in India. He is also the principal author of the “50 Breakthroughs” study, which examines technologies across nine categories—including global health, agricultural development, and digital inclusion—needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Shashi has since joined GH Labs as the CEO.
Sheila Oparaocha
ENERGIA
Sheila Oparaocha holds a master’s degree in Gender and Development Planning and has over twenty one years of experience working at the intersectionality of gender equality, women empowerment and energy access. The 2021 recipient of the Carnot Prize, Sheila is a renowned leader in the gender and sustainable energy sector, as the Director of the ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy since 1999. She initiated, developed, and led numerous programs on the institutionalizing of gender transformative approaches in the energy sector in developing countries, specifically in the areas of women entrepreneurship development, gender mainstreaming in energy access projects and (sub) national energy policies, international policy advocacy, research and evidence development, network building and knowledge management.
Geoff Manley
British International Investment (BII)
Geoffrey is an Investment Director and Head of the Energy Access and Efficiency team at British International Investment, providing debt financing solutions for decentralised energy and resource efficiency. In addition to providing catalytic finance to companies, Geoffrey is engaged in cross-cutting initiatives to promote the sustainable development of the energy access sector.
Professor Jim Watson
University College London
Jim has been Professor of Energy Policy at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources since 2018, and was Research Director and then Director of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) from 2013 to 2019. He is currently the Research Director for ISR and Research Director of the Climate Compatible Growth Programme funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Joel Abraham
Asia Pacific Regulatory Centre
Mr. Abraham has extensive business and public sector experience. Immediately prior to his appointment to the FCCC, he was a Regulatory, Compliance, Finance and Business Advisor in various capacities in Australia, Fiji and Tonga both in the public and private sector. Mr. Abraham was also a Deputy CEO, Manager Compliance, Senior Research Fellow at the former Fiji Commerce Commission / Prices and Incomes Board. Prior to this he was with Price Waterhouse Coopers. Mr. Abraham holds two Masters and three Post graduate qualifications along with his initial Degree in Commerce. His expertise range from Accounting, Economics, Finance, Financial management, Public Law, International Relations to Climate change. He also is a member of CPA Australia, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Chartered Accountant.