Speakers

H.E Mr. Siim Kiisler
Minister of the Environment of Estonia and the President of UNEA-4











Ms. Joyce Msuya
Joyce Msuya is UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN Environment. Prior to joining UN Environment, Ms. Msuya served as Adviser to the World Bank Vice President, East Asia and Pacific Region in Washington, D.C. She brought to the position more than 20 years of extensive experience in international development spanning corporate, strategy, operations, knowledge management, and partnerships, with diverse assignments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Before joining the WBG, Ms. Msuya worked on various public and private sector assignments at the University of British Columbia in Canada and in her native country of Tanzania.






Ms. Sascha Gabizon
Executive Director of Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF) representing the Major Groups and Stakeholders



Dr. Jian Liu
Dr. Jian Liu is Chief Scientist of the UN Environment and Acting Director of Science Division with over 30 years of experience in the domains of science and policy. Dr. Liu has contributed to research and international assessments that covered ecosystems management, agriculture, environment and climate change at national, regional and global levels, in particularly in developing countries. He holds a doctorate degree in Physical Geography from the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.







Mr. Jorge Laguna-Celis
Mr. Jorge Laguna-Celis is Director for Governance Affairs of UN Environment with over 15 years of experience in intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder processes, global sustainable development policies and sustainable development - related governance.

From 2010 to 2013, Jorge was a lead negotiator during the Rio+20 Conference and senior delegate for Mexico to the Second Committee of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In 2005, Jorge joined the Mexican Foreign Service where he first worked on international migration and development and later served, from 2006 to 2010, as Deputy Chief of the Mexican Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, and Deputy Permanent Representative to UN Environment. During that period, he was also appointed member of the High-Level Advisory Panel of the Fifth Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-5).


Mr. Daniel Calleja Crespo
Director-General of DG Environment, European Commission


Mr. Jacques Denis Tsanga
Vice President and Minister of Waters, Forest, in charge of Environment and Sustainable Development Goals of The Republic of Gabon (Tbc)


Dr. Naser Moghaddasi
Deputy Head of the Department of Environment and Chief of International Affairs and Convention Centre of Islamic Republic of Iran (Tbc)


Mr. Felix Wertli
Head of Section Global Affairs, Federal Office of the Environment of Switzerland and Vice President of the UN Environment Assembly


Mr. Dina Mufti Sid
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ethiopia and Chair of the Group of 77 in Nairobi


H.E Ms. Marta E. Juarez Ruiz
Ms. Marta Eugenia Juarez Ruiz is the Ambassador of Costa Rica in Kenya and Costa Rican Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme and UN-Habitat in Nairobi. During 2016-2017 she was Ambassador on Special Mission in Nairobi representing the President of the Third Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, the Costa Rican Minister of Environment. In this role she worked intensively to help ensure the success of the Third Assembly. Marta has lived and worked in Latin America, Europe and Africa.

As a socio-economic planner by training (Costa Rican National University and University of Amsterdam) she has conducted socio-economic research and published widely in Spanish and English on rural mountain community livelihoods and sustainability in Central America. Her focus centers around citizen participation, inclusiveness, human rights and gender equality.


Mr. Marek Rohr-Garztecki
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Poland (Tbc)



Mr. Naysán Sahba
Mr. Naysán Sahba is Director of the Communication Division of UN Environment. Throughout his career, he carried out assignments with WHO and UNICEF in Africa and Asia. Mr. Sahba has been engaged in significant communication, advocacy, partnership and participation programmes in a wide range of domains related to sustainable development, such as health, education, climate change and disaster risk reduction.









Mr. Atle Hamar
State Secretary, Ministry of Climate and Environment of Norway











Ms. Inger Andersen
Ms. Inger Andersen is, Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). She was formerly Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank and boasts an extensive background in environment and sustainable development.

Ms. Andersen is an expert on desertification and dry land issues, Middle East affairs, water Sustainable Development.







Ms. Nina Ekelund
Ms. Nina Ekelund is Executive Director of The Haga Initiative and is Chair of the board and partner at 2050 Consulting. Originally a politician, she served as an executive board member of the Christian Democrats and worked at the Prime Minister’s Office in Sweden and Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Administration in Stockholm and Stockholm Resilience Centre. During 2015 and 2016 Nina was an expert Cross-Party Committee on Environmental Objectives (Miljömålsberedningen), responsible for setting new climate targets for Sweden.







Mr. Timothy Nixon
Mr. Timothy Nixon is, Chief Sustainability and Thought Leadership at Thomson Reuters also Steering Committee Member of the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment. He leads ongoing engagements with senior leaders from government and the private sector on the increasing role of sustainability in the global economy and specific business models.

Tim has contributed at many global policy-making events, including those hosted by the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Economist among others. He is a frequent author of series of authoritative reports on the top emitters of GHG, with a focus on the increasing connections between decarbonisation and competitive advantage. Tim is a Graduate of Boston University School of Law.





H.E Mr. Kimmo Tiilikainen
Mr. Kimmo Tiilikainen, is Minister of Housing, Energy and the Environment, Finland. Before that he served as Minister of Agriculture and the Environment since May 2015.

Mr. Tiilikainen has been a Member of the Parliament since 2003 and previously served as the Minister of the Environment from 2007 to 2008. Mr. Tiilikainen was born and raised in the small town of Ruokolahti in Eastern Finland and has been a Member of the Ruokolahti Local Council since 2001.

Mr. Tiilikainen was also a Member of the Stakeholder Advisory Board of Nestle Oil and Supervisory Board of the World Economic Forum from 2011 until 2015. He holds a Master of Science in Agriculture and Forestry. He is also an organic farmer and forester and has a long-standing personal interest in finding solutions to the challenges of the global climate change.



Mr. Harry Verhaar
Harry Verhaar, Head of Global and Public Affairs, Philips Lighting, also Steering Committee Member of the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment, has over 20 years of experience in the lighting and sustainability sectors. He is responsible for the strategy, outreach and stakeholder management on energy & climate change, resource efficiency and sustainable development, with a key focus on the role of the LED lighting revolution. He has, since the end of 2003 been the architect of the lighting strategy on energy and climate change, which has resulted in a global momentum on phasing out old lighting technologies.

He is chairman of the European Alliance to Save Energy and is president of the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association. Harry is a recipient of the 2011 UN Leader of Change Award and has received the Carbon War Room’s Gigaton award on behalf of Philips at COP17 in Durban. In May 2015 he received the Energy Efficiency Visionary Award from the Alliance to Save Energy in Washington DC. He holds a MSc in Solid State Luminescence from the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.



Ms. Bettina Kamuk
Ms. Bettina Kamuk, is Business Development Director at renowned global environmental engineering consultancy firm, Ramboll. She has led Waste to Energy Projects Worldwide most recently in South East Asia and the Middle East where Bettina has been responsible for Ramboll’s projects in UAE and Oman.

Currently she is Technical Advisor for National Environmental Agency (NEA) in Singapore during the development of the integrated waste management facility in Singapore planned for a yearly capacity of 2 mill tonnes of waste to energy recovery and more than 200,000 tonnes of bio-waste and recyclables for sorting.

In addition to the daily work Bettina has acted as ISWA Board Member and Chair of the Scientific and Technical Committee and has for eight years been chair of ISWA’s Working Group on Energy Recovery and previously also chair for ISWA’s Working Group on Hazardous Waste.



Mr. Alar Võrk
Alar Võrk is a visionary entrepreneur with passion to technology which could make the world a better place to live. He is a CEO and Co-Founder of Cityntel, an Estonian based technology startup developing energy saving Smart City solutions based on next generation flat wireless mesh networking technology and Mist computing.









Mr. Jan-Gustav Strandenaes
Mr. Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, Senior Adviser at the UN and member of the Stakeholder Forum UK and Pure Consulting.
Jan-Gustav began working with the UN and the environment and governance in the 1970s and has stayed with this arena ever since. A first assignments for the UN brought him to Latin America in the 70’s, he has worked and lived in Botswana and Uganda, the US and Sweden in addition to Norway.

Mr. Strandenaes has contributed to papers commissioned by the UN (UNDESA and UNEP) on stakeholder engagement, UN organisations and its governance structure and on sustainable development. On an assignment from UNDESA, he helped coordinate civil society and its work with the Rio+20 process and subsequently continued working with developing the Sustainable Development Goals (2010 – 2015).

In 2017 he was appointed by the German government to sit on a peer review group to analyse and assess Germany’s national sustainable development strategy including the SDGs. 



Ms. Shereen Zorba
Shereen Zorba is co-founder and Head of the Secretariat of the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment. She is also Chief of Science-Policy-Business Interface at UN Environment. Shereen is an expert in political communications and international relations whose work with the UN spans over 18 years. She has been credited for leading diverse, high-impact programmes across UN Environment and Peacekeeping operations. Her recent work focuses on strengthening the interface between science, policy and diverse markets to achieve environmental sustainability. She is co-founder and Head of the acclaimed UN Science Policy Business Forum on the Environment.

Previously, Shereen established and headed UN Environment’s News and Media unit, bringing focus and coherence to UN Environment’s global media operation. Her work was instrumental to building influential brands, such as the Emissions Gap Report and other flagships. She also established UN Environment’s Reporting Green initiative which focused on capacity development for journalists. She was spokesperson and Head of Press Outreach at the AU-UN Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), supporting the political negotiations process. She also headed West Asia’s outreach and major groups programme earlier in her career.

Shereen is an expert global environmental, economic and sustainable development issues. She has also worked extensively on peace and security and human rights. She has an extensive network of partners across influential media, intergovernmental organizations, the business sector and civil society. She holds a post graduate degree in International Relations and Masters in Political Communication from the University of London.



Mr. Mark Copeland
Mark Copeland, Blockchain expert at the Smartminds Enterprise, has been traveling the world for over 20 years and working across more than 10 different industries. As an early mover in the blockchain space, Mark has been involved in digital assets, technology and D.A.O. (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) business structures. This experience has inspired him to build an education platform, helping organizations and individuals understand the implications of a decentralized model on global culture.

Since joining forces with the Barrett Values Centre, Mark has become a certified consultant and has designed a framework for innovating Next Generation Business Culture through training on Mindset & Values.





Ms. Edan Dionne
Edan Dionne is Director Environmental, Energy & Chemical Management Programs at IBM (Also Member of the Steering Committee of the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment). She leads a team that is charged with defining IBM’s strategy, establishing and maintaining its global environmental management system, and setting requirements and goals for environmental, energy and chemical management.

She and her team advise, and are responsible for driving environmental leadership performance across IBM's business operations including research, product development, manufacturing, real estate management, procurement, logistics, services, and solutions. The company’s requirements comprehensively address its activities intersecting the environment including, product stewardship and design-for-environment, chemical management, resource conservation and pollution prevention, energy efficiency, as well as requirements for the supply chain.



Mr. Paolo Falcioni
Director General, APPLiA












Mr. Rainer Nõlvak
Entrepreneur and Founder of the Let’s Do It Foundation












Mr. David Jensen
David Jensen is Project leader of MapX, a UN based platform that helps stakeholders map and monitor the sustainable use of natural resources using best available data. MapX is currently being used to power a number of partnerships including the UN Biodiversity Lab.

The focus of his work is to address conflict risks and peacebuilding opportunities from renewable and non-renewable natural resources. In particular, to improve access to information, benefit sharing and risk mitigation during the lifecycle of major natural resource investments.






Mr. Guo Huadong
Professor Guo Huadong is Professor at the Institute of Digital Earth and Remote Sensing, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He is also Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, and a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences.
He presently serves as President of the International Society for Digital Earth, Chairman of the International Committee on Remote Sensing of Environment, Director of the International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage under the Auspices of UNESCO, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Digital Earth and Big Earth Data published by Taylor & Francis.

He served as Deputy Secretary-General of CAS, Director-General of CAS Bureau of International Cooperation, Director-General of CAS Institute of Remote Sensing Applications, and Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, and President of ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology. He specializes in Earth observation, and has a series of achievements in remote sensing information mechanisms, radar for Earth observation, and Digital Earth science. He has published more than 600 papers and sixteen books, and is the principal awardee of sixteen domestic and international prizes.



Mr. Maurice Borgeaud
Mr. Maurice Borgeaud is Head of Earth Observations, European Space Agency, dealing with science, applications, and climate in the Earth Observation (EO) Directorate since 2011. His main tasks are to interact with both the scientific community and industry in order to propose new and innovative spaceborne missions.

He also participated in the definition of the long-term EO exploitation strategy to be realized via a coherent programmatic framework that addresses the full spectrum of EO user communities, including science, applications and services development. Borgeaud is also managing the ESA effort on climate change including the development of essential climate variables, promotes the use of EO data to reach he UN SDG’s, represents ESA in the Board of the International the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, and co-chairs the Arctic ESA internal task force.
Mr. Borgeaud earned his Engineering Degree from EPFL, Lausanne, and a Ph.D. (1987) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked for the German Aerospace Agency (DLR) in 1988 and the European Space Agency (ESA) at ESTEC during 1989-2002, spent a year at NASA-JPL, was affiliated with the Swiss Space Office, and was Director of the Space Canter at EPFL in Lausanne during 2004-2010. He also was appointed Chairman of the ESA Programme Board on Earth Observation (PB-EO) during the period 2008-2010.



Mr. Andrew Zolli
Andrew Zolli is Vice President of Global Impact Initiatives, Planet.com, a breakthrough space and AI organization which has deployed the largest constellation of Earth-observing satellites in history. These satellites image our whole planet every day in high resolution, and my team makes sure this data is used to its highest and best purposes to monitor the world’s ecosystems, improve humanitarian action and disaster response, transform sustainable development, and advance scientific discovery and artistic expression.

Andrew is also the author of Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back, and writes and speaks widely on issues of resilience, complexity and systems-leadership and transformation. He is the former Curator and Executive Director of PopTech, and advises a range of social enterprises, companies, governments and institutions. He is a Board member of several leading enterprises, including the Garrison Institute, (https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/) which explores the intersection between contemplative practice and engaged social change.



Mr. Laurent Durieux
Dr. Laurent Durieux is a renowned Space and Earth Observations Expert at the Institute for Research and Development, France, also Steering Committee Member of the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment. Dr. Durieux is a Geographer specializing in GEO-Technologies and in tropical environment monitoring and modelling. He is currently a researcher at the Institute of Research for Development inside the Espace-Dev Research Unit based in Montpel-lier, France. During his career Dr. Durieux has had several high-level research coordination responsibilities for the IRD Presidency and the IRD’s General Mission of Geostrategy and Partnership such as the management of large satellite reception and processing infrastructures in France, Gabon and Haïti; the coordination of the French GEODEV (GEOtechnologies for DEVlopment) international initiative whose objective was to structure an international network of observatories of the environment and global changes from space.

Laurent has been the Head of the Spatial Observation of the Environment scientific team within the UMR ESPACE-DEV (60 members). He was Vice-President and then President of the South-American Association of Remote Sensing (SELPER International) between 2010 and 2016. His research interest focuses on monitoring tropical land surface processes using data from Earth Observing satellites. To achieve these objectives, he has developed more specifically advanced global methods of monitoring the environment by satellite that take advantage of the dozens of Earth observation satellites that fly over us each day associated with the new big data capabilities.



Dr. Selma Cherchali
Dr. Selma Cherchali is Program Director Space Climate Observatory (SCO) focusing on the impacts of Climate Change, a commitment of the One Planet Summit in Paris. She is also SWOT Program manager leading and coordinating the SWOT preparatory program which aims to prepare the scientific and user’s community (applications) to use SWOT and all space missions’ data dealing with hydrology and ocean and coastal objectives.

In January 2016, she joined the Science, Applications and Innovation Directorate within Earth Observation team where she was the Land and Hydrology program manager.
From 2009 to December 2015, she was the program manager of Land and Hydrology Programs within the Directorate for Strategy, Programs and International Relations of CNES.
With over 25 years of experience in applying remote sensing data to earth application issues, Dr. Cherchali managed over 50 projects. She serves on GEO and CEOS programs as a co-chair of GEOGLAM, Water, SDG Working Groups, and is a member of GEOGLOWS Steering Committee.

She received her PhD degree in Physics and Remote Sensing from University Paul Sabatier of Toulouse at CESBIO (“Centre d’Etudes Spatiales de la BIOsphère”), France in 1994.



Mr. Eric McGuire
Eric McGuire is ARENA Concept representative at Advanced Sports Installations Europe AS. He has been engaging in the turf industry (artificial and hybrid) for over 17 years with extensive experience in turf extrusion, tufting, field design, construction and implementation of artificial and hybrid systems for sports stadiums worldwide. Eric has taken part in trade missions for the Netherlands and Belgium representing international companies and their local affiliations. He has introduced, implemented and managed hybrid systems into the Euro 2012 and the Rugby World Cup 2012. He is a welcomed speaker for artificial, hybrid and turf management events worldwide.

McGuire currently serves as the ARENA Concept representative in Benelux countries Advanced Sports Installations Europe AS, Tallinn. Between 2016-2017, he was responsible for new client acquisitions, sales, business development, product applications and projects in East Europe at
Edel Grass – Netherlands. McGuire also worked as a Product Manager of Hybrid systems at GreenFields – Netherlands between 2013-2016 developing and implementing sales strategies.




Ms. Cassandra Delage
Ms. Cassandra Delage is Founder and CEO, Plast’if – US / France. She is a young and progressive entrepreneur based in Paris, France. Currently, she serves as the Founder and CEO of Plast’if, a hyper-local recycling machine that takes on the problem of plastic waste in office and professional environments. Plast’if collects and sorts plastic items like water bottles, plates, and bottle caps, melts them down, and lets users 3D print practical items from the recycled material. With this empowering initiative, she aims to change perspectives about recycling, demonstrate that plastic waste is actually a resource, and make a positive impact on the environment. Moreover, she holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Global Strategic Management from McGill University and a Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship from HEC Paris.

Cassandra became interested in entrepreneurship early on and launched her first company at the age of 16. She is originally from Montreal, Canada and accredits her mother to encouraging her to try new things and make confident decisions. These qualities have served her well in her business life thus far and will continue to do so. Above all, she is authentic, driven, and caring in all her worldly dealings and never loses sight of the planetary scale of what she does.

Outside of work, Cassandra enjoys traveling to new and exciting places and doing spinning classes. Cassandra Delage is a fine example of a modern business person who is building a successful life for herself by doing work that ultimately benefits everyone on Earth.



Mr. Ullas Samrat
Mr. Ullas Samrat, Marketing Director of Triton Foodworks is an Economics graduate with a PGD in Radio & TV Journalism, Ullas Samrat started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 20, when he started and subsequently sold a content management company, while studying in college. He went on to start Triton Foodworks, a company that uses a unique mix of Hydroponics and Ayurveda to grow pesticide free fruits and vegetables.

He currently lives in Mumbai, where he is taking baby steps towards fulfilling his dream of being an actor. He believes that the future can only be shaped by working on it today. He is passionate about Technology, Food and Movies and dreams of someday combining the 3 into a viable idea.





Mr. Andreas Spiess
Mr. Andreas Spiess is CEO of SolarKiosk based in Berlin with outlets in Kenya and cities around Africa. In 2008, Andreas Spiess and his Ethiopian partners established Solar23 dev plc, based in Addis Ababa, which now is one of the biggest solar system integrators in Ethiopia. He also invested in a solar lighting product manufacturing plant in 2010.

In 2011, Andreas Spiess, together with Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz and Thomas Willemeit, (founders of GRAFT architects, www.graftlab.com), along with 2 further investors from the field of renewable energy and software design, founded SOLARKIOSK AG which develops, manufactures, implements and operates a solar powered business hub, the “E-HUBB”, especially designed for off-grid areas worldwide. Since 2012 SOLARKIOSK has established six affiliate companies throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and deployed several kiosks in remote rural and semi-urban areas throughout 3 continents. All kiosks run profitably. SOLARKIOSK is an award-winning design and business model.



Mr. Shutong Jiang
Mr. Shutong Jiang is founder and CEO of innovative Start-up Soarability. He has more than 7 years of experience developing payload systems for unmanned vehicles. In 2016, he founded Soarability Technologies, a company which provides aerial/ground vehicle-based 3D air pollutant mapping solutions. He focuses on product design and leading the company's mission to enable individuals and organizations to better understand the environment. Steven holds Bachelor and Master of Engineering with First Class Honors from University of Auckland.







Mr. Rob Wylie
Dr. Rob Wylie, Serial Entrepreneur, Founder WHEB Impact Investment and Chairman, Project X
Rob is the co-founder and Chairman of WHEB, a sustainability focused multi-asset class investment firm, Chairman of Five Seasons VC, French based VC fund focused on foodtech, Chairman of Cambridge Agritech, a syndicate of private investors investing in UK innovative Agritech companies, Chairman of Weedingtech and Exosect, both promoting reduced chemical use in municipal and agriculture markets, Chairman of Project X, organisation which accelerates the uptake of innovation by large corporates and director of two other VC backed companies.  Rob has focused on resource efficiency and Agritech investments for over 25 years. He is also founder trustee of the Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation which helps disadvantaged children and homeless teenagers achieve their self-worth and aspirations.

A chemist with an MA and PhD from Cambridge, Rob spent ten years in Shell’s agrochemical business before working in the 1980s with Rothschild’s Bioscience unit investigating environmental investment opportunities. He then joined KPMG where he worked on numerous M&A and privatisation transactions as well as on the development of environmental funds in Central and Eastern Europe.



Mr. Navi Radjou
Mr. Navi Radjou, Innovation Strategist, Author, Fellow at Cambridge University, Harvard Business Review Contributor — Navi Radjou is an innovation and leadership scholar based in Silicon Valley. A Fellow at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, he has served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship. In 2013, Navi received the prestigious Thinkers50 Innovation Award—given to a management thinker reshaping the way we think about and practice innovation. He is ranked as one of the 50 most influential people shaping innovation in France. His TED talk on frugal innovation has received over 1.6 million views. He writes regularly for Harvard Business Review.

Navi is co-author of the global bestseller Jugaad Innovation (over 100,000 copies sold worldwide) as well as From Smart To Wise: Acting and Leading With Wisdom and Frugal Innovation: How To Do More With Less, published by The Economist in 2015, with a foreword by Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever. His next book, Conscious Society: Redefining Who We Are and Reinventing How We Consume, Work, Relate, and Live, will be published in 2019.

Navi is curator of WAVE: How Collective Ingenuity Is Changing the World—a major exhibition on grassroots innovation and entrepreneurship produced by BNP Paribas that has travelled to major cities around the world—including Paris, San Francisco, Istanbul, and Mumbai—since 2014.

Between 2009 and 2011, he served as Executive Director of Centre for India & Global Business (CIGB) at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. The CIGB acts as a platform for research and engagement with key partners in industry, academia and policy in India, the UK and across the world.



Mr. Erik Solheim
Mr. Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment
Erik Solheim was elected to become Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme on 13 May 2016.

Prior to joining UNEP, Solheim was the chair of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). As head of the DAC, which is the main body of the world’s development donors, Solheim emphasized the role of private sector and tax in development finance, spearheading the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership and the Addis Tax Initiative. Solheim also focused on the need to channel more aid to least-developed countries and bring new members and partners to the DAC.

From 2007 to 2012, Solheim held the combined portfolio of Norway’s Minister of the Environment and International Development, and from 2005 to 2007 served as Minister of International Development. This unique portfolio mixture allowed him to bring a coherent approach to development and the environment.
Solheim holds a degree in history and social studies from the University of Oslo.