Material demand and solutions for the energy transition

Djaheezah Subratty has 30 years’ experience in the private sector, national government and the UN system in mainstreaming sustainability into sector policies and strategies, public sector investment programmes and regional or international policy agendas. She works for the industry and economy division at UNEP. Since joining UNEP in 2010, Djaheezah has held several positions, including in energy and climate policy, UNEP corporate programme performance monitoring and reporting, and global subprogramme coordinator for resource efficiency, finance and economic transformations. Prior to joining UNEP, she worked for three years in environmental consulting in the private sector and for fifteen years in the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Mauritius. Djaheezah has a multidisciplinary background, with degrees in chemistry and environmental studies, in international trade and economic diplomacy and post-graduate diplomas in environmental technology and in environmental management, specialising in solid waste management.

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Janez Potočnik (1958) is an economist graduated from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He served as director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development in Ljubljana. He was appointed head of the negotiating team for the accession of Slovenia to the EU and served as minister responsible for European Affairs. In 2004 he joined the European Commission as Commissioner responsible for science and research. In 2010 he became Commissioner for environment. After the mandate he was appointed as a co-chair of UNEP IRP. Dr Potočnik is also partner at SYSTEMIQ.

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Paul Ekins has a PhD in economics from the University of London and is professor at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources. In 2011 he was appointed vice-chairman of the DG Environment Commissioner’s High-Level Economists Expert Group on Resource Efficiency, and in 2012 a member of the European Commission’s European Resource Efficiency Platform. In 2013 he was appointed to UNEP’s International Resource Panel (IRP), for whom he was lead author of a major report on resource efficiency at the request of the German Government at the G7 Summit in 2015. He is now lead coordinating author for a forthcoming IRP report on critical minerals. He was one of two co-chairs of UNEP’s sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6), published in March 2019. In 1994 Paul received UNEP’s Global 500 Award for outstanding environmental achievement and in 2015 an OBE for services to environmental policy.

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Bryony joined ICMM in February 2021 and currently leads their work on the circular economy, climate change, health and safety, and tailings reduction. Before taking on her current role, she was project lead for standards and for the circular economy at ICMM. Prior to joining ICMM, she worked in business ethics, procurement and responsible sourcing at energy services company Centrica and at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. She is a fellow of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. Bryony holds a BA in geography from the University of Oxford.

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Christian drives sustainability and financial growth while fostering circular business models. He is responsible for developing and implementing Vale Base Metals’ circularity strategy, including setting policies, defining performance goals and integrating the strategy across the whole business. Chris has over 20 years’ experience and expertise, having started his career in Peru and Latin America in the forestry and energy sectors, before moving first into renewables and power and then to the mining and metals industry. Previously, he was director of innovation at the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), where he was responsible for all aspects related to the future of mining, including climate change, tailings innovation and the circular economy. Prior to joining the ICMM, Chris held sustainability and clean energy-related roles at organisations such as Systemiq, the World Economic Forum, Anglo American, KPMG, the United Nations, Globeleq, Bozovich Timber Group and Citibank.

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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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Djaheezah Subratty has 30 years’ experience in the private sector, national government and the UN system in mainstreaming sustainability into sector policies and strategies, public sector investment programmes and regional or international policy agendas. She works for the industry and economy division at UNEP. Since joining UNEP in 2010, Djaheezah has held several positions, including in energy and climate policy, UNEP corporate programme performance monitoring and reporting, and global subprogramme coordinator for resource efficiency, finance and economic transformations. Prior to joining UNEP, she worked for three years in environmental consulting in the private sector and for fifteen years in the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Mauritius. Djaheezah has a multidisciplinary background, with degrees in chemistry and environmental studies, in international trade and economic diplomacy and post-graduate diplomas in environmental technology and in environmental management, specialising in solid waste management.

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Djaheezah Subratty has 30 years’ experience in the private sector, national government and the UN system in mainstreaming sustainability into sector policies and strategies, public sector investment programmes and regional or international policy agendas. She works for the industry and economy division at UNEP. Since joining UNEP in 2010, Djaheezah has held several positions, including in energy and climate policy, UNEP corporate programme performance monitoring and reporting, and global subprogramme coordinator for resource efficiency, finance and economic transformations. Prior to joining UNEP, she worked for three years in environmental consulting in the private sector and for fifteen years in the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Mauritius. Djaheezah has a multidisciplinary background, with degrees in chemistry and environmental studies, in international trade and economic diplomacy and post-graduate diplomas in environmental technology and in environmental management, specialising in solid waste management.

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