Career diplomat at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Liisa is passionate about sustainable development. Currently, she focuses on sustainable trade, the circular economy, dispute settlement, trade rules and trade in goods at the WTO. Her previous positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland include deputy head of mission at the Embassy of Finland in Vietnam and regional manager for Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Earlier, she worked at UNICEF Brazil, UN Women Brazil and Southern Cone, and Akava, the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland.
Giuliana Morrone combines journalism with business expertise and doesn't treat ESG as merely the sum of the environmental, human and governance practices adopted by companies. She has a long history of interacting with leaders from all sectors in Brazil and abroad, covering the most varied topics including presidential elections, corruption scandals, environmental tragedies and social movements. Her experience, broad outlook and ability to connect the dots between different fields are essential for approaching the subject from a systemic perspective. With an MBA in ESG from PUC Rio, Giuliana has rewritten her own professional journey and authored the book ‘Myths and Truths about ESG’.
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U. Müge Dolun
Programme Manager
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Müge Dolun is a development practitioner with expertise on trade, gender and the environment, with experience in strategic research, technical assistance projects and programme evaluation. She manages a large portfolio of UNIDO projects on the circular economy and resource efficiency. Previously Müge served as UNIDO’s gender coordinator. She has managed technical assistance projects in trade and standards as well as agri-business development, mostly in Africa. She is a development economist by training, with a master’s in public administration in international development from Harvard Kennedy School and a BA in environmental studies.
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Soumyajit (Jeet) Kar
Lead, Policy and Sustainable Trade
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Jeet Kar leads sustainable trade and global plastics policy at the World Economic Forum, also coordinating the WEF's role as an observer to the discussions around an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. He has previously held positions at the United Nations and the OECD, working on sustainable trade policies and development cooperation. Jeet holds a master's in economics from Sciences Po Paris, and speaks English, French and Spanish.
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Kari Herlevi
Programme Director, Circular Economy
Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund
Kari leads a team of circular economy experts responsible for Sitra’s internationally funded projects such as EU CERC, PSLifestyles and WCEF. His team aims to launch new impactful international initiatives in the circular economy also in the future. Prior to joining Sitra in 2015, Kari led Business Finland’s green growth programme related to the circular economy, with a funding volume of over 100 million euros. He has also worked on cleantech in Silicon Valley, California, and his long experience on sustainability issues also covers topics related to business strategies and internationalisation. Kari is keen to hear more about new collaboration opportunities internationally.
Sonia Dias has a PhD in political science and a specialisation in solid waste management (JICA fellow). In addition to her current position, she is also engaged in national and local work in Brazil. Her past work includes policy officer for the cleaning agency of Belo Horizonte city and consultant for several international agencies. She sits on advisory boards for organisations such as Pimp my Carroça NGO, End Plastic Pollution International Collaborative (EPPIC) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). She is an Eisenhower Fellow and the coordinator of the Circular Economy Thematic Chamber of the Brazilian Climate Change Forum.
Marcela is an investment officer for climate change on the climate and enviroment team at IDB Invest, which she joined in 2021. She is responsible for supporting the development of climate change operations and since 2025 is leading the circular economy agenda for IDB Invest. Marcela holds a master’s in urban and regional planning from the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) and an industrial engineering degree from Universidad Militar Nueva Granada (Colombia).
Prior to her election as president of Finland, Tarja Halonen served as Minister of Social Affairs and Health, Minister of Justice and Minister for Foreign Affairs. During her career, she has paid close attention to issues of human rights, democracy, civil society, gender equality and sustainable development. Among other duties, she is currently a member of the UN’s Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation and UNCCD Land Ambassador, as well asa member of the Board of Directors of the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra.
Luis Tejado was born in 1969 in Mexico, is an industrial engineer from Universidad Panamericana and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. His career spans finance and strategy at P&G, BCG and Time Warner before shifting to sustainable agriculture. He has led large-scale forestry (Proteak), palm oil (Prolade), organic bananas and coconut operations (Tabascoco). Passionate about circular economy solutions, he specialises in biochar, regenerative agriculture, alternative energies and irrigation efficiency. A strong advocate for waste circularity, he integrates sustainability into agribusiness models, enhancing productivity while reducing environmental impact.
Pavan works for a global leader in impact data and analytics, harnessing the power of impact economics, technology and AI to uncover a business's full value contribution to the world. A scientist by education, a banker by profession and an environmental economist by passion, he previously led the UN’s Green Economy Initiative and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study. His groundbreaking work has been recognised through several awards including the Blue Planet Prize (2016), the Tyler Prize (2020) and the EAERE European Practitioner Achievement Award in Applying Environmental Economics (2024).
