Business

Davi Bontempo is an economist with a master's in public administration from the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration of the Fundação Getulio Vargas (EBAPE/FGV-RJ) and specialisation in environment and sustainability (FGV). He is currently leading the agendas of ESG, energy transition, carbon market, the circular economy and bioeconomy, as well as forest conservation, among others. He is a professional in institutional and governmental relations with expertise in advocacy strategy and stakeholder engagement. He is executive secretary of the CNI's environment and sustainability thematic council and represents the industrial sector in several national and international forums.

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Melissa has over 20 years’ experience in environmental and sustainability management across industries such as chemicals, metals, oil and gas, and consumer goods. For the past two years, she has led the programme in the Santa Cruz industrial district, representing AEDIN in partnership with the State Government of Rio de Janeiro and Kalundborg Symbiosis (Denmark). She is also the head of environment, health and safety at Cladtek Brazil. Melissa holds degrees in chemical engineering, occupational safety engineering, an MBA from the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), and a master’s in environmental engineering from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).

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Daniel Motta is responsible for leveraging technology, innovation and entrepreneurship to increase industry competitiveness. He leads the implementation of the SENAI-SP Technology District, a collaborative ecosystem that aims to develop new industrial technologies, increase the innovation rates in industry and support industrial entrepreneurship. He operates strategic programmes promoting increased adoption of digital technologies, productivity, energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Daniel has a PhD in computer modelling and industrial technology, master’s in mechanical engineering and bachelor’s in mechanical engineering.

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Kristo Lehtonen leads Sitra's international programme portfolio including the global circular economy, future well-being solutions and the Data Spaces Support Centre (DSSC). Previously, he was in charge of Sitra's work on the fair data economy. He was co-founder and CEO of 3DBear, an edtech company which combines virtual reality with world-class pedagogy. It has users in over 150 countries and was shortlisted in TIME Magazine as one of the world’s top 50 edtech companies in 2024. He also worked as special adviser to the minister of transport and communications in Finland, after more than 10 years at Nokia.

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Diane B. Holdorf is a member of the leadership team at WBCSD, based in Geneva. Since joining the council in 2018, she has led transformative efforts across food, nature and water systems, and now spearheads the pathways work to drive sustainable value chain transformation. Prior to WBCSD, Diane was chief sustainability officer at Kellogg and held leadership roles at Delta Consultants. She holds degrees in public communications and German from Syracuse University and an executive MBA from the University of St. Thomas. Diane serves on several advisory boards and international initiatives.

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Before taking his current role in late 2023, José Carlos da Fonseca Júnior was a career diplomat for 40 years, having held posts in India, the U.S., Canada, Mozambique, the UAE, Chile and the Philippines. He also served as ambassador to Myanmar and held governmental roles at both the federal level and in the state of Espírito Santo. He is chair of the FAO Advisory Committee on Sustainable Forest-based Industry and vice-chair of the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations. Fonseca also holds a role at Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá) as executive director, leading advocacy and international efforts.

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Daniel is a diplomat and part of the team that led the G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy (GIB). He was the negotiator for Brazil at the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, the European Biomass Conference, and the Latin American and Caribbean Forum on Sustainable Development. He is a member of the advisory board of the World Bioeconomy Forum and an alternate board member of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (10YFP). Daniel has education in economics and diplomacy.

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Luis Meyer assumed his current role in 2022 and has held key positions in procurement. Luis holds a degree in production engineering and a postgraduate degree in finance, investments and banking, both from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS). He also holds an MBA from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) and a master’s in business administration and management, completed jointly at Universidade Positivo in Brazil and Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE) in Portugal. In addition, he has earned ESG certifications from Insper and the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School in the United Kingdom.

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Smail Alhilali leads UNIDO’s programmes on the circular economy and green industry to tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and chemical pollution. He joined UNIDO headquarters in Vienna, Austria in 2007 where he served in different positions. Smail was the director of the Morocco National Cleaner Production Centre (from 2003 to 2007) and worked in different positions within the national centre for nuclear energy, sciences and technology (CNESTEN) in Morocco (from 1994 to 2003).

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Mika Sulkinoja plays a strategic leadership role in the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF). With around 25 years’ hands-on experience in advancing the global sustainability agenda, Mika has worked across sectors—from the United Nations and the Finnish Government’s climate negotiation team to the private sector. His focus has been on market-based policy instruments, climate finance and international cooperation. At Sitra, he leads collaboration on the WCEF and contributes to the European Union Circular Economy Resource Centre, helping shape initiatives and partnerships that accelerate the global shift towards a sustainable, circular future.

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