Bringing over 20 years of industry and social enterprise experience, Claire Downey is responsible for leading the Rediscovery Centre’s research team in providing an evidence base for policy development and supporting circular living models. She has delivered multiple national and international projects including research related to circular metrics and targets, circular textiles, reuse quality marks, citizen and community engagement. Claire also leads the education team in delivering excellence in circular economy education and driving curriculum change. Claire is an active member of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform’s leadership group on circular behaviour, the RREUSE network, the Irish National Waste Advisory Group, the Irish National Textiles Advisory Group, the Irish EPA’s National Reuse and Repair Network and is a fellow with the Chartered Institute of Waste Management. She is also a board member of Green Foundation Ireland.
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Xiaojun Huang
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Veolia China
Xiaojun Huang joined Veolia Water in 1999. In 2004, he began presiding over external relations as vice president of Veolia Water China, and in 2010 he became vice president of Veolia China. Previously he worked as a diplomat for over 10 years with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Huang has leadership roles in many organisations, including executive president of China Environment Service Industry, vice president of China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, vice president of China Association of Circular Economy and board member of China Business Council for Sustainable Development. Among other roles, he is an expert at Jilin Think Tanks and invited professor at the UN University for Peace. He graduated from the University of International Relations in 1986 and later had further studies at the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University. He holds an MBA from Peking University.
Susanne van Berkum’s background is in chemistry. She has experience in chemical recycling of PET as well as working for a producer responsibility organisation responsible for the recycling of end-of-life vehicles. Currently Susanne is working for TNO in the field of circular value chains for critical raw materials, using practical experience to bridge the gap between knowing where to find these materials and recovering them from different waste streams to get the most out of them.
Francesca is a public policy professional with 25 years’ experience in building partnerships between the public and private sectors. Prior to joining GS1, she worked at the European Commission and European Parliament, as well as for Ferrero as advocacy and sustainability lead. Among her biggest achievements are: the corporate social responsibility programme launched and developed to the highest public recognition for Ferrero, the convergence of environmental protection and chemical impacts in the framework of the EU chemical reform, and the fight against illicit trade through open non-proprietary standards for GS1. Francesca studied corporate social responsibility at the Harvard Business School and she holds a master’s in European law.
In an almost two decade-long career, Sarah Negro worked across Europe and Asia as a diplomat. She has successfully developed public affairs strategies, advocated for legislation changes and engaged with both public and private actors. In 2018 Sarah moved back into the corporate world and joined H&M Group. In her current role, she leads public affairs teams in production countries by advocating for policy developments needed for the most impactful ecosystem and meaningful business growth.
Dochul Choi is currently in charge of Samsung Electronics’ global business and technology strategy. He oversees the business opportunities and product development for main business segments such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, cooking ranges and vacuum cleaners. He also leads various exploration activities to achieve quantum business growth through innovations and new technologies. Dr Choi also oversees all foreign government affairs, global standardszation and regulatory activities, as well as trade association activities for the business division. On top of being part of the management board at APPLiA, the European home appliance trade association, he is also vice president of the corresponding US association, AHAM.
Marc leads the Amsterdam-based impact consulting firm Circle Economy Consulting. He is a seasoned consultant with more than 15 years’ experience helping clients implement circular solutions. Marc is a recognised thought-leader on the circular economy. He is regularly invited to speak at global fora and is featured in media. He holds several external advisory roles including at WEF and the UN. He initiated the Circularity Gap Report, a global scorecard for circularity launched yearly at Davos. Marc holds a PhD in sustainable resource use.
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Jonas Dreger
Senior Manager, Environmental Initiatives, EMEIA
Apple
Jonas has been managing environmental regulatory compliance and sustainability programmes and facilitating stakeholder conversations across Europe, Middle East, India and Africa at Apple’s environmental initiatives team since 2014. He has a background in European environmental policy and a focus on the circular economy, having previously represented Siemens on these topics in Brussels. Jonas holds a PhD on European climate and energy policy.
Slendy Díaz Mendez is a circular economy expert. She is a speaker and consultant, holding a background in civil engineering, with extensive experience in project management, the energy sector and circular business models in both the public and private sectors.
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Emily Barran
Green Industrialisation Lead
Climate Action Platform Africa (CAP-A)
Emily leads the green industrialisation team at CAP-A. Her work focuses on creating an enabling environment for “climate competitiveness” in specific sectors across Africa. This means engaging with public and private sectors and investors to identify and unlock barriers of hard and soft infrastructure, both in specific countries and regionally. She is deeply engaged in industrial policy and strategies for several countries, including proactive and reactive approaches to evolving geopolitics of the energy transition. Emily holds a BA Hons from University of Leeds and an MBA from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
