Luiz is a geologist with a master’s in environmental analysis and a PhD in geography. He was a researcher and teacher of resource economics for more than 10 years in southern Brazil. Luiz has 12 years’ experience in Brazilian public environmental management, from local to national level. He was coordinator of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for Brazil and senior adviser in climate change and biodiversity of the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden. At the UN since 2016, he has been coordinating international cooperation activities in many countries on a circular and low carbon economy and nature-based solutions.
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Tuuli Hietaniemi
Senior Lead, Programmes
Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund
Tuuli helps Finnish society to find solutions to the most difficult problems of our time. She has more than 15 years’ experience in making societal change happen. At Sitra, Tuuli has worked in different positions related to promoting ecological sustainability. She holds a master’s in social sciences and is infinitely interested in how societies can flourish within the limits of nature’s carrying capacity.
Katharina leads ACEN’s strategic programmes and operations and has a key role in further operationalising ACEN to grow the success of the network. She is a circular economy consultant working across sectors to accelerate the circular transition in Africa. A specialist in multi-sector collaboration, convening stakeholders and project management, her work with ACEN is aimed at activating collective intelligence in the circular economy. Working with national governments, diplomatic missions, NGOs and the private sector, she is a vocal advocate for the role of a just circular economy transition in Africa.
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Victoria Flores
Minister of Environment and Circular Economy
Province of Córdoba
Victoria Flores, a lawyer with a degree from the National University of Córdoba and a master's in administrative law, served as a councilor for the City of Córdoba (2015-2019). In 2019, she took office as president of the Córdoba Works and Services (COyS) agency where she initiated the city’s circular economy work on recycling and the use of waste as raw material. Since December 2023, she has served in her current post, expanding the circular economy and sustainable development model throughout the province, including the strategies for the care of the 30 protected natural areas and the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.
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Josué Christiano Gomes da Silva
President
Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP)
In addition to his position at FIESP, Josué Gomes is also the president of Coteminas, a leading bed and bath company with industrial units in several countries through the American continents. In addition, he is the 1st vice-president of the Center of Industries of the State of São Paulo (CIESP) and chairman emeritus of the Brazilian Textile Industries Association (ABIT). Beyond his industrial activities he is a member of the Owen School Corporate Council of Vanderbilt University and of the board of the Child Cancer Treatment Institute of São Paulo (ITACI).
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Rafael Cervone Netto
President
Center of Industries of the State of São Paulo (CIESP)
Rafael Cervone is a textile engineer and 1st vice president of the Federation of the Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP). Working with the textile sector since 1990, he is a board member of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), President Emeritus of Sinditêxtil-SP and ABIT (Brazilian Association of Textile and Apparel Industry). He was a member of the Global Business Forum for the G20, B20, and contributed to “Industrial Transformation & Innovation”, “Future of Work” and “Future of Industry and Digital Transformation”, and the ILO Group – “Dialogues on the Future of Work and Combating Slave Labor”.
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Davinah Milenge Uwella
Chief Programme Coordinator
African Development Bank (AfDB)
Davinah coordinates several special initiatives within the Climate Change and Green Growth Department of AfDB. These include the Africa Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Hub, a platform hosted at AfDB to support African countries implement their Paris Agreement climate commitments; the Secretariat of the African Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC), an initiative launched by the African Development Bank to mobilise, catalyze and leverage domestic climate finance; and the Africa Circular Economy Facility (ACEF).
Gabriel Azevedo has led international projects in more than 40 countries in infrastructure, natural resource management, agribusiness, manufacturing and environmental management. He has worked at the World Bank, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Construtora Norberto Odebrecht, and was a board member for the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (FUNBIO) and the Brazilian Association of Water Resources (ABRHIdro). He is a board observer at the International Hydropower Association (IHA) and is IDB Invest representative at the Sustainability Committee to the Board of Hospital Einstein in Brazil. Azevedo has degrees in civil engineering, including an MSc and a PhD from Colorado State University.
Celso Tacla is an executive and board member with extensive international experience in sustainability, innovation and industrial transformation. He has led major Latin American operations for global companies like Valmet and Metso, driving circular economy strategies and digitalisation in the pulp and paper and capital goods sectors. Celso sits on several boards and sustainability committees and is a frequent speaker at global forums on the bioeconomy and innovation. He holds degrees in chemical engineering and business management, with executive education from IMD and Wharton. He was awarded the Order of the White Rose by the president of Finland.
Christian Spano is a strategy, innovation and sustainability executive with more than 20 years’ international experience in the resource and energy industries. He has worked for organisations such as Anglo American, the World Economic Forum (WEF), Systemiq and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). Christian holds postgraduate degrees from the London School of Economics (LSE) and Oxford University and an undergraduate degree in economics. He enjoys cycling and spending time with his two kids and wife in London.
