Jamie is responsible for IFC’s climate strategy and policies, targetting to make all investments Paris-aligned and 45% of its investments climate positive. Jamie joined the corporation in 2005 and has led and contributed to innovation and new business growth across IFC’s investment, advisory and support operations. Prior roles include chief investment officer leading IFC’s global renewable energy investment practice, director of environmental and social risk and policy, and director of strategic business development. Jamie has a BA and MA in zoology from Cambridge University, UK, and an MBA and a master’s in environmental economics and policy from Yale University, USA.
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Bernard Crabbé
Head of Sector Environment & Circular economy
European Commission
Bernard Crabbé leads the work on circular economy, environment mainstreaming and natural resources at the Directorate General for International Partnerships. A bio-engineer by training, with a specialisation in tropical agronomy and environment, Bernard has worked for more than 25 years on international cooperation, including 17 years as project manager in Mali, Laos, Madagascar, Ecuador and Uganda. He has worked successively for the United Nations, as an adviser for the Belgian secretary of state for development cooperation, as counsellor for the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, since 2008, for the European Commission.
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Manisha Anantharaman
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Centre for the Sociology of Organisations (Sciences Po)
Manisha Anantharaman is an associate fellow at Chatham House’s Environment and Society Centre. Her critical and interdisciplinary research explores inequality and justice in sustainable transitions. She has published two books connecting environmental justice, sustainability and development, “Recycling Class: The contradictions of inclusion in urban sustainability” (MIT Press, 2024) and a co-edited the volume “The Circular Economy and the Global South” (Routledge, UK, 2019). Manisha holds a PhD from the University of California Berkeley’s department of environmental science policy and management.
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Anis Nassar
Lead, Resource Circularity
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Anis is an economist with a specialisation in resource economics and behavioural economics. He leads the portfolio of activities on the circular economy of the World Economic Forum.
Sonja Birdwell works for a waste picker organisation in Portland, Oregon in the United States. For the past 3½ years she has been a waste picker, with a limited income only covering basic expenses like rent and utilities. She has collected bottles and cans for income and discovered a resourceful way to furnish her home by collecting discarded furniture from streets and dumpsters. In her spare time she loves to spend time with her dog Wanda taking walks at Portland's beautiful waterfront park.
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Chris Whyte
Business Development Advisor
African Circular Economy Network (ACEN)
Chris’ vision is to drive a just transition to a circular economy for Africa, addressing sustainable impacts and outcomes in energy, water, agriculture, infrastructure, mining, manufacturing and tourism that result in positive benefits for the environment and social upliftment. He founded USE-IT (2009-2020), resulting in thousands of jobs created and 18 national and global awards. Chris was previously executive director of ACEN and is co-founder of the ACEN Foundation (rebranded to Africa Circular) based in Europe. He is also a director of several commercial companies across Africa developing profitable circular economy projects.
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Vong Sok
Assistant Director and Head of Environment Division
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat
Vong Sok is a passionate and dedicated environmental professional with over 20 years’ environmental compliance and governance experience, including in-depth knowledge of strategic environmental planning, diplomacy and management systems. At ASEAN’s sustainable development directorate’s socio-cultural community department, he works extensively on environmental management in Southeast Asia, in close collaboration with government agencies, international organisations, development partners, civil society organisations (CSOs) and communities. This has empowered him with the necessary resources to oversee strategic initiatives, resulting in significant impacts and contributions to this region and beyond.
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Luiz Fernando Krieger Merico
Economic Affairs Officer
UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
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.
