Global

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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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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Loa is committed to helping humanity thrive within planetary boundaries by building bridges between environmental ambition and economic reality. With a career spanning the non-profit and for-profit sectors, she focuses on cross-sector collaboration to drive systemic change. As director of FSC Denmark, she expanded the organisation’s membership and significantly increased public awareness of sustainable forestry. Loa also helped lead FSC’s digital transformation to enable data-driven solutions. Today, she’s working at FSC International with over 70,000 companies to accelerate the transition toward circular, regenerative business models that can shape a more resilient and sustainable future.

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Izabella Teixeira was minister of the environment of Brazil (2010-2016). She is member of the High-Level Advisory Board of UN-DESA and of the administrative council of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES). Izabella won the UN Environment's "Champions of the Earth" in 2013 for her contribution to reducing deforestation in the Amazon. She also serves on the boards of international and national institutions, including as senior fellow of Arapyaú Institute, board member of the iFHC and member of the International Advisory Board at CEBRI.

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Janez Potočnik (born 1958) is an economist graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He was appointed head of the negotiating team for the accession of Slovenia to the EU and served as minister responsible for European Affairs. Between 2004 and 2014, he served in the European Commission, first as Commissioner responsible for science and research and then for environment. After the mandate he was appointed as a co-chair of UNEP IRP. Dr Potočnik is also a partner at SYSTEMIQ.

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A Mexican national, Mauricio Mireles has served at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean since 2019. He previously worked with FAO as an international consultant in Italy, Ghana, Mozambique and Brazil. A sociologist and anthropologist by profession, he holds a master's in environmental security from the UN University for Peace, and a master's in peace, development, security and international conflict transformation from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Mireles has extensive experience in issues related to the social inclusion of Indigenous peoples and traditional communities, having coordinated diverse projects and initiatives related to South-South cooperation, social protection, school meals, family farming and the Amazonian bioeconomy.

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