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.
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Martin Seychell
Deputy Director-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA)
European Commission
Martin Seychell is a graduate in chemistry and pharmaceutical technology. He occupied the post of head of directorate for foodstuffs and chemicals at the Malta Standards Authority between 2001 and 2006, and that of director of environment protection at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority between 2006 and 2011. He was appointed deputy director general for health and consumers at the European Commission in March 2011. Between 2014 and 2020 he was deputy director-general for health in the Health and Food Safety Directorate-General (SANTE), responsible for directorates dealing with public health and health systems and products. These covered a number of policy areas including health security, health systems, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, tobacco control and digital health. He also represented the Commission on the management board of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) between 2011 and 2020. He was appointed deputy director general responsible for human development, migration, governance and peace, and resources in DG INTPA in June 2020.
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.
Ambroise Fayolle was appointed to his current position in February 2015. He is responsible for climate action and environment, development policy and the European Guarantee Fund. He is also a board member of the European Investment Fund. He oversees EIB’s activities in France, Germany and many countries in Africa and the Pacific. A graduate of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, he spent most of his career in various positions at the French Treasury Department and in the IMF and the World Bank, including as a board member of the two latter institutions for 8 years.
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Françoise Bonnet
Secretary General
Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+)
Françoise Bonnet joined ACR+ in 2013. She holds a degree in law from Liège University, complemented by a diploma in European law from the College of Europe and in specialised studies in environmental law from Brussels University. She has more than 25 years’ experience in legislative issues and in material resource management and policy, regularly offering policy advice, technical assistance and capacity development. During her professional life, she has worked for public authorities such as Brussels Region Administration, the UN and the European Commission, as well as for private companies. Thanks to this, she is familiar with local administration systems and North-South cooperation with the countries in the Mediterranean region.
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.
Thomas Van Oppens is Leuven's deputy mayor for waste management or, as he prefers to call it, material management. Leuven is one of the 100 European cities on a mission to become climate neutral. But what about all the materials that are needed to accomplish that? And what about the materials that are already in the city? How can we connect the dots? Thomas takes you from the high-level plans and translates them into local policies and realisations.
As a youth nature delegate for Finland, Sara makes sure Finnish youth perspectives are heard at international arenas and negotiations. With a background in international sustainability and development topics, she aims to highlight global solidarity and justice as a basis for inspiring and ambitious action for nature.
Loredana Capone was born on 14 February 1964, in Lecce, where she still lives. She has a law degree and has worked in administrative law, education and regional government. In 2020, she was re-elected as regional councillor of Puglia, where she has led tourism, culture, energy, industry, innovation and material management endeavours. Previously she was on the management board of Nereus, the network of European regions that use space technologies. In the province of Lecce, Capone has been responsible for economic planning, technological innovation, institutional communication, general affairs, educational policies, social security and equal opportunities.
