Vivianne Heijnen was appointed minister for the environment in January 2022. In 2018 she became a member of the Maastricht municipal executive with responsibility for the economy, housing, regional policy and social innovation. Between 2009 and 2018 she was head of the Maastricht University Campus in Brussels. When asked about what motivates her as a minister, her response is as follows: “I want the Netherlands to be a country that is liveable and accessible for everyone and where we reuse more. I’m committed to reducing travel time in a sustainable way, with a particular focus on border regions, cities and our neighbouring countries.” Heijnen was born on 8 October 1982 in Spaubeek.
Milagros Rivas Saiz joined IDB Invest in 2021, where she is responsible for leading the climate change, gender and inclusion, SME development, digitalisation and public-private partnerships areas. Before joining the IDB Group, Milagros worked for the International Finance Corporation as global head of strategy director and global head of advisory services, a position in which she helped develop highly sustainable projects and open markets to private investment. Previously, she was an Executive Committee member of Acciona Energía and a consultant with McKinsey & Co. She earned a master’s in civil engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s network of experts on climate and energy transition.
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Carolina Montano Owen
Circularity Accelerator Programme Coordinator
World Green Building Council (WorldGBC)
Carolina Montano Owen promotes strategies to accelerate the transition to a sustainable built environment, by leading initiatives such as the Circular Buildings Coalition and the WorldGBC global circularity accelerator programme. She has a background in civil engineering and a doctorate from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. Carolina has supported the development of the technical screening criteria for the EU’s green taxonomy as a member of the WorldGBC team for the EU Platform on sustainable finance, as well as decarbonisation road maps as part of the #BuildingLife project.
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Casper Nicholas Edmonds
Head of Unit, Extractives, Energy & Manufacturing
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Casper N. Edmonds has for more than 24 years worked for the World Bank Group and the ILO. He is currently working in the ILO’s Sectoral Policies Department where he coordinates their support to governments, employers and workers in addressing labour challenges and opportunities in extractives, energy and manufacturing. He is also coordinating the department's work on a just and job-rich transition to the circular economy.
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Esther Goodwin Brown
Lead of the Circular Jobs Initiative
Circle Economy
Esther Goodwin Brown’s work focuses on climate justice and how the circular economy can be a means for inclusive, sustainable development around the world. She leads a programme focused on creating the tools to ensure the circular economy is positive for work and workers. Her work aims to ensure steps taken by governments and other public agencies to tackle environmental issues are approached fairly and with people in mind. This involves collaborating across sectors and agendas, including the circular economy, climate, just transition, education and economic development.
Piotr is a Belgian/Polish national with over 11 years’ experience in circular economy policy development. Currently he works for the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN) Foundation and is a council member of the European Environmental Bureau.
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Anjali Taneja
Senior Policy Specialist & Group Head (Sustainability)
Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP)
Anjali Taneja is an economist and a seasoned sustainability expert. Over the last 15+ years she has spearheaded several sustainability initiatives involving evidence-based research, thought-leadership and policy enrichment with the Government of India (GoI), UNDP, Ashoka University, FICCI and CII. At CSTEP, she leads the Sustainability Vertical, focusing on the circular economy spanning energy, telecom, e-waste, the bioeconomy and lithium-ion batteries, among others. As a principal investigator, Dr Taneja has designed a PAN-India framework for solar photovoltaic waste recycling. She is also serving as a member of the GoI’s Apex Committee on circular economy in telecom and on ICCE’s board as an honorary advisor. Her research has been published widely in India and overseas.
Colette van der Ven is an international lawyer with expertise in trade and sustainable development. She is a member of the New York bar. Colette advises public sector stakeholders on how to leverage regulatory frameworks and trade agreements to promote inclusive and sustainable development. Advancing a circular economy transition is a key focus of her work. She is also a lecturer in international economic law at the Graduate Institute. Colette holds a Juris Doctor from the Harvard Law School and a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
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Shalini Bhalla
Managing Director
International Council for Circular Economy
Shalini Goyal Bhalla is a leading expert in the field of circular economy and sustainability. She is the Founder and MD of International Council for Circular Economy (ICCE), a leading Indian think tank that promotes adoption of circular economy practices both nationally and globally. She is the editor of India’s first journal on the circular economy and wrote India’s first book on the topic. At WCEF, she leads the Global South and North collaboration discussions, representing a cooperation of eight countries.
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Cynthia Córdoba
Coordinator of Environmental Economics
Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica
Cynthia Córdoba is an expert in environmental economics and the circular economy. She has led public sector work in Costa Rica as well as regionally in Latin America and the Caribbean. Córdoba has helped cross-sectoral cooperation in government and led the implementation of the OECD road map on circular economy recommendations. She holds a master’s in economic policy with a major in ecological economics and sustainable development from the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica.