Speakers biographies - Green Cross International

General Assembly Opening Ceremony Speaker Biographies September 2, 2013 Dr. Jan Kulczyk Chairman, Green Cross International Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kulczyk Investments The only Polish entrepreneur to operate globally in over thirty countries on four continents in the sectors of oil and gas, energy, mineral resources, infrastructure and real estate. Jan Kulczyk has played an active role in the transformation of the Polish economy. He participated in some of the largest privatization deals and shareholding restructurings as well as successfully completed major PPP projects. Philanthropist. Jan Kulczyk read Law at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań and International Trade at the Poznan University of Economics. He has a PhD in International Law. Philippe Matthey Secretary General, Department of the Interior, Mobility and Environment (DIME) M. Philippe Matthey, 51 ans, est Secrétaire général du département de l'intérieur, de la mobilité et de l'environnement (DIME) de la République et canton de Genève -­‐ Suisse. Titulaire d'un mastère de l’Institut des hautes études en administration publique de Lausanne (IDHEAP), il dirige le DIME sous l'autorité politique de la Conseillère d'Etat. Le DIME contribue de façon déterminante à la mise en œuvre de la politique publique lié au territoire, ayant en particulier la charge des composantes du Cadastre, de la mobilité, de la protection de l'air et de lutte contre le bruit, de la gestion des déchets, de la nature et des paysages, de l'agriculture ainsi que de l'eau, dont la géologie. Philippe Matthey est aussi Président de la Commission d'exploitation de la Nappe phréatique du Genevois, gisement d'importance en eau potable de grande qualité, située à cheval sur la frontière franco-­‐suisse et réalimentée artificiellement régulièrement par les eaux de l'Arve. La gestion institutionnelle de la Nappe repose sur un accord franco-­‐genevois. Les actions déployées visent, outre son exploitation ordinaire avec un souci constant de préservation, d'en faire bon usage également en situation critique. La gestion de la Nappe du Genevois a été citée à de nombreuses reprises comme référence en ce qui concerne aussi bien la gestion de son système de réalimentation artificielle, en fonction depuis plus de 30 ans, que sa gestion transfrontalière politico-­‐
administrative. En effet, ce système franco-­‐genevois est considéré par les organisations internationales (l'Unesco ou l'AIH -­‐ association internationale des hydrogéologues -­‐), comme un exemple mondial de gestion transfrontalière des ressources en eau souterraine. Ainsi de nombreux travaux internationaux (symposium) ou ouvrages sur le thème de la coopération dans les aspects législatifs des ressources en eau transfrontalières, citent la gestion de la Nappe du Genevois en tant que modèle. Sandrine Salerno Mayor, Geneva Membre du parti socialiste genevois, Sandrine Salerno (1971) a été Conseillère municipale de la Ville de Genève entre 1999 et 2007. Le 29 avril 2007, elle est élue au Conseil administratif de la Ville de Genève et prend la tête du Département des finances et du logement (DFL). Elle s’engage à améliorer concrètement le quotidien des citoyennes et des citoyens genevois en faisant de la lutte contre le chômage, de la promotion de l’économie locale, de la défense de l’égalité ou encore de la promotion du logement social des axes prioritaires de son action. Elle consacre également une partie de son mandat à refondre le règlement de la Gérance immobilière municipale et à piloter la réforme du Statut du personnel. A la tête des finances de la Ville, Sandrine Salerno démontre aussi qu’il est possible d’être socialement et financièrement responsable, en réduisant la dette publique de er
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450 millions de francs entre 2007 et 2010. Elue maire de Genève le 1 juin 2010, Sandrine Salerno est la 4 femme à avoir occupé ce poste depuis 1842. Le 17 avril 2011, Sandrine Salerno est réélue au Conseil administratif de la Ville pour un nouveau mandat de quatre ans, durant lequel elle poursuit son travail en faveur de Genève. Réaffirmant le rôle d’employeur responsable de la Ville de Genève, elle lance un appel d’offres pour le nettoyage des locaux municipaux afin de garantir un salaire décent pour le personnel externe. Elle s’engage aussi en faveur de la solidarité internationale en soutenant la professionnalisation de la Délégation Genève Ville Solidaire et est à l’origine de la création du premier poste consacré à la question des droits des personnes LGBT au sein d’une administration municipale suisse. er
Depuis le 1 juin 2013, Sandrine Salerno est pour la seconde fois maire de la Ville de Genève. Mikhail Gorbachev Founding President, Green Cross International Mikhail Gorbachev -­‐ Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former President of the USSR -­‐ is the Founding President of Green Cross International, which he established in 1993 in response to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit call to create a “Red Cross for the environment”. Gorbachev initiated the process of change in the Soviet Union -­‐ what was later called perestroika, the fundamental transformation of the nation and society. Glasnost became perestroika's driving force. A sweeping process of the nation's democratization was launched and reforms were planned to put the nation's ineffective economy back on track and more in line with market economics. Gorbachev's actions created a big shift in international affairs. The new thinking associated with the Gorbachev name contributed to a fundamental change in the international environment and played a prominent role in ending the Cold War, stopping the arms race and eradicating the threat of nuclear war. The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR -­‐ the first parliament in Soviet history, made on the basis of free and contested election -­‐ elected Gorbachev President of the USSR on 15 March 1990. In recognition of his outstanding services as a great reformer and world political leader who contributed greatly to the changing nature of world development, Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 15 October 1990. On 25 December 1991 after dissolution of the USSR, Gorbachev stepped down as Head of State. Since January 1992, he has been President of the International Nongovernmental Foundation for Socio-­‐Economic and Political Studies (The Gorbachev Foundation). Since March 1993, he has also been President of Green Cross International -­‐ an international independent environmental organization with activities ongoing in over 30 countries. Of particular concern to Mikhail Gorbachev, and a central pillar to the work of Green Cross International, is advocating for environmental and developmental sustainability in the face of threats posed by over consumption and use of fossil fuels, development of nuclear technology and growing gap between rich and poor. Lech Wałesa Former President of Poland Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lech Wałesa was born in Popowo, Poland in 1943. As a twenty-­‐four-­‐year-­‐old car mechanic he moved to Gdansk where he found a job as an electrician in the Lenin shipyard. When the workers’ protests broke out in 1970, he became a member of the strike committee. In 1976 he was dismissed from work. Since that time he actively participated in creating Free Trade Unions that eventually were established in March 1978. In August 1980 he joined the occupational strike in the Lenin Shipyard and became the chairman of the Inter-­‐enterprise Strike Committee declaring solidarity with striking workers in other enterprises. In November 1980 the first legal independent trade union “Solidarność” was registered. A year later Lech Walesa was elected its president. In 1981 when Martial Law was imposed to seize the control over the country and to prevent all further union activity, Lech Walesa was interned. In November 1982 he returned to Gdansk. In 1983 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1989 he became the chairman of the opposition delegation in the Round Table talks with the communist government. In 1990 Lech Wałesa was elected President of the Republic of Poland. In 1995 he established the Lech Wałesa Institute Foundation He has been granted more than a hundred honorary doctorates from colleges and universities in the world, and numerous st
prizes and medals, among them: U.S. Medal of Freedom; Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath 1 Class, Great Britain; Star of st
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the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of 1 Class, Western Germany; Star of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour of 1 Class. Ruud Lubbers Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Chair, Energy Research Centre in the Netherlands, Atoms for Peace & Rotterdam Climate Initiative Ruud Lubbers (1939, married with three children and nine grandchildren), started his business career by joining his brother in the family-­‐owned company Hollandia, when his father passed away unexpectedly in 1963. He maintained this position until he became Minister of Economic Affairs, including Energy, in 1973. During this time in office, he was faced with the first oil crisis. In 1975, he wrote a white paper on Energy, expanding the focus of Dutch energy research, which was then limited to nuclear (enrichment technology), to include energy conservation and renewables. From 1978 until 1982, Ruud Lubbers was Member of Parliament, where he was instrumental in merging Protestant and Catholic parties into the Christian Democratic Alliance (1980). In 1982, he became Prime Minister, serving until 1994. Ruud Lubbers is now Minister of State. Ruud Lubbers started his public career at the end of the sixties, when he joined the ‘Rijnmond Raad’, a public institution to balance economic growth with environmental concerns. In 1971, ‘Limits to Growth’ of the Club of Rome prompted him to recognize the global dimensions of these concerns. During the time when Gro Harlem Brundtland chaired ‘Our Common Future’, Ruud Lubbers realized the first inclusive plan on Environment and Nature in the Netherlands (1988). In 1989, the joint efforts and his friendship with Gro Harlem Brundtland led to the Declaration of The Hague, an agenda-­‐setting document for the Earth Summit. In 1994, he retired from politics and became professor of globalization, combining this with many ancillary positions, including a position as International President of WWF. From 2001 until 2005, he was High Commissioner for Refugees. During those years, he continued his membership of the Earth Charter Commission. At present, he devotes a lot of time to chairing the Energy Research Centre in the Netherlands, which provides a focus for energy saving, renewable energy, clean fossils (climate change!) and Atoms for Peace (nuclear technology), as well as to the Rotterdam Climate Initiative. Diversity, respect, reverence for nature and the need to celebrate life mark him as an Earth Charter man. Jerzy Buzek Member and former President, European Parliament Former Prime Minister of Poland Jerzy Buzek is a Member of the European Parliament since 2004, currently working in the Parliamentary Committees on Foreign Affairs as well as on Industry, Research and Energy. On 14 July 2009 he was elected the President of the European Parliament with the biggest majority of any EP President since the first direct elections in 1979. He was the first EP President from one of the EU's 2004 enlargement Member States. During Jerzy Buzek's presidential mandate, he presided over the transition from the Nice Treaty to the Lisbon Treaty, playing a key-­‐role in the finalisation of the ratification process. He was also very active on the energy front, launching together with Jacques Delors the initiative of a European Energy Community aimed at strengthening energy legislation and cooperation within and outside the EU. President Buzek actively defends and promotes human rights and is deeply committed to EU partnership with its neighbourhood. Jerzy Buzek is a chemical engineer by education and academic professor. Member of the Solidarność movement from its early days; elected the Chair of the first national Solidarity Congress. He preceded the Works Committee, and became a Chairman of the fourth, fifth and sixth national Congresses. From 1997 to 2001, Jerzy Buzek served as a Prime Minister of Poland, introducing sweeping reforms in pensions, healthcare, local and regional administration, education and the mining sectors. During his period as Prime Minister, Poland acceded to NATO and made key-­‐steps towards its EU membership. In November 2012, prof. Buzek received the highest Polish state medal -­‐ the White Eagle Order -­‐ for his contribution to Poland's democratic transformation, for scientific achievements and for accomplishments in political activity in Poland and in the international arena. Corinne Lepage MEP, Chair of the Parliamentary Intergroup Seas and Coasts, Vice-­‐chair of Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety French politician Corinne Lepage trained as a lawyer before setting up a practice specialised in public and environmental law, where she made her name defending victims of the Amoco Cadiz oil spill in 1978. She went to defend victims of the Erika disaster in 1999 (which is still at trial). She was also a founding member of the Committee for Independent Research and Information on Genetic Engineering. In 1995, she was made Environment minister in the French government just as France was taking over the presidency of the Council. She spent two years as the head of the ministry, where her achievements included a major overhaul of the air legislation. She helped set up the prevention and precaution committee, and put in place the first national sustainable development strategy in 1997, removed public powers from the asbestos committee, prevented the relaunch of the Superphénix nuclear project, and pushed through a moratorium on GMOs. In 2008, she oversaw a report for the French government on "Environmental Governance" which included more than 80 recommendations, with ten headline measures designed to boost French confidence in information about the environment, including proposals to improve such information, strengthen the requirements for specialist studies, and clarify responsibility for pollution, all of which was presented during the French Council presidency in 2008. She has often acted as an expert at the European level (including on the 6th Environmental Action Programme) and was named on a UNEP list in 2006 of the ten most important women for the environment in Europe. She teaches at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, where she heads the sustainable development section. In 1996 she set up CAP 21, a think tank that subsequently turned into a political party. She stood as a candidate during the French presidential elections in 2002 as a centre-­‐right candidate, and supported François Bayrou in 2007. She was elected to the European parliament in June 2009, where she is part of the ALDE group. She was appointed vice chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and is a substitute on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. In December 2009 and 2010, she was part of the official delegation of 15 MEPs in Copenhagen for COP 15 and Cancun for COP 16. In the ALDE group she is closely involved with the directives concerning GMO, IPPC, RoHS, WEEE, novel foods, information for consumers, and on themes such as climate change, the energy mix, independent appraisals, the link between health and the environment, the freedom of the web, civil liberties and fundamental freedoms. Her knowledge of maritime matters enabled her to found the intergroup on "Seas and coastal zones" in the European Parliament, a group she has chaired since January 2010. In March 2010, alongside some thirty figures who have served as environment ministers around the world, she set up another think tank (the association of ex-­‐ministers of the Environment and ex-­‐directors of international environmental organisations) to study problems concerning international ecological governance. She is the author of a number of books including La Politique de précaution, en coll. avec François Guéry (2000), Santé & Environnement : l'ABCdaire (2005), Ecoresp 1&2, Vivre autrement (2009), Entre colère et espoirs (2009), Sans le nucléaire on séclairerait à la bougie et autres tartes à la crème du discours technoscientifique (2010). Rashid Khalikov Director, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Geneva Rashid Khalikov joined the Russian Foreign Service in 1976. He worked in New Delhi, Moscow and New York handling humanitarian, political, economic and environmental issues. Mr. Khalikov joined the United Nations in 1993. He has worked as a Senior Humanitarian Affairs Officer, Chief of the Office of the Under-­‐Secretary-­‐General for Humanitarian Affairs and Inter-­‐Agency Standing Committee/Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs secretariat, and Deputy Director of OCHA Geneva. In 2005 he became the Head of the OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, and the Area Humanitarian Coordinator in the aftermath of the South Asia earthquake. From September 2006 to April 2010, as the Director of OCHA New York, Mr. Khalikov oversaw OCHA’s work on policy development, information management, external relations, the Central Emergency Response Fund and other humanitarian financing issues. In 2009 and 2010, at the request of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Khalikov led missions to Pakistan, Yemen, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Kyrgyzstan to evaluate in-­‐country humanitarian conditions, and to develop recommendations on the UN’s humanitarian role in these crises. In March 2010, the UN Secretary-­‐General, Ban Ki-­‐moon, appointed Mr. Khalikov as the Director of OCHA Geneva. In March and April 2011, Mr. Khalikov was the Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, as designated by the ERC. In August 2011, he led a UN humanitarian mission to Syria. Mr. Khalikov is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and holds a Master’s degree in International Law and International Relations. Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri is the Chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-­‐winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the scientific intergovernmental body that provides decision-­‐makers and the public with an objective source of information about climate change. He is also Director General of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), a major independent research organisation providing knowledge on energy, environment, forestry, biotechnology, and the conservation of natural resources. Dr Pachauri is a prominent researcher on environmental subjects, recognised internationally for his efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-­‐made climate change and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change. He has been appointed as Senior Adviser to Yale Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI) from July 2012 prior to which he was the Founding Director of YCEI (July 2009 – June 2012). He is active in several international forums dealing with the subject of climate change and its policy dimensions. He was awarded the second-­‐highest civilian award in India, the 'Padma Vibhushan' in January 2008 by the President of India and received the 'Officier De La Légion D’Honneur' from the Government of France in 2006. He has been conferred with ‘The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star’ by His Majesty Akihito, Emperor of Japan, the ‘Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland’ by the Prime Minister of Finland, the ‘Commander of the Order of Leopold II’ by the King of the Belgians and Mexican Order of the ‘Aztec Eagle’ by the President of Mexico in June 2012. Alexey Kozhemyakov Ph.D./Dr. of Sc. (Law) Head of the Department, National Minorities and Antidiscrimination Representative of the Directorate General of Democracy, Secretariat General of the Council of Europe Moscow Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), LL.M. Diploma in International Public and Private Law in 1971, Ph.D. Diploma in 1977, Dr. of Sc. (Law) Diploma in 1990, Researcher and Deputy Director of the Centre for International Studies, Professor of Political Science in the same University. Author of about 60 books and articles. In the Diplomatic Service since 1985 (rank of Counsellor), since 1988 Adviser in the Administration of President Gorbachev until 1991. Special Advisor in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 1992, as from 1997 the Head of Department in the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe. Jakob von Uexkull Former member of the European Parliament (Germany) Founder, World Future Council & Right Livelihood Award Jakob von Uexkull is the founder of the World Future Council (2007) and the Right Livelihood Award (1980), often referred to as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize', as well as co-­‐founder (1984) of The Other Economic Summit. As a past Member of the European Parliament (1987-­‐89) he served on the Political Affairs Committee and later on the UNESCO Commission on Human Duties and Responsibilities (1998-­‐2000). Jakob has also served on the Board of Greenpeace, Germany, as well as the Council of Governance of Transparency International. He is a patron of Friends of the Earth International and lectures widely on environment, justice and peace issues. Jakob von Uexkull has received the Future Research Prize of the State of Salzburg, Austria (1999), the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana of the Republic of Estonia (2001), the Binding-­‐Prize (Liechtenstein) for the protection of nature and the environment (2006) and the Order of Merit First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany (2009). In 2005, he was honoured by Time Magazine as a European Hero and in 2008 he received the Erich-­‐Fromm-­‐Prize in Stuttgart, Germany. He is also a recognised philatelic expert with publications including 'The Early Postal History of Saudi Arabia' (London, 2001). Born in Uppsala, Sweden, Jakob von Uexkull is the son of the author and journalist Gösta von Uexkull and grandson of the biologist Jakob von Uexkull. After schooling in Sweden and Germany he graduated with an M.A. (Honours) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Christ Church, Oxford. He holds both Swedish and German nationality. Jakob is married and has three children. He lives with his family in London. Garry Jacobs CEO & Chairman, Board of the World Academy of Art & Science Vice-­‐President, The Mother's Service Society Garry Jacobs is an American-­‐born author, consultant and researcher on business management and economic development with extensive international experience in Europe and Asia. He is presently CEO and Chairman of the Board of the World Academy of Art & Science (www.worldacademy.org); Managing Editor of Cadmus Journal (www.cadmusjournal.org) on economy, governance and security; and Vice-­‐President of The Mother's Service Society (www.mssresearch.org), a social science research institute in Pondicherry, South India. Since 1972 he has been engaged in research on the application of Sri Aurobindo’s thought to economic and social development, management, global governance, international security, education, literary criticism, psychology and spirituality. His work includes theoretical research on social development, organizational theory and money as well as applied research on economic development, education and employment strategies. From 1989 to 1994, he was Member-­‐Secretary of the International Commission on Peace & Food (www.icpd.org), ICPF, convener of ICPF’s working groups on Employment and on Transition in Eastern Europe, coordinator of the ICPF research team that evolved a strategy to generate 100 million new jobs in India, and editor of the Commission's report to the UN entitled Uncommon Opportunities: Agenda for Peace and Equitable Development. Jacobs is also a management consultant and partner in Mira International, a US-­‐based consulting firm providing management guidance to firms in a wide range of industries in the USA, Europe and Asia. His work includes assignments for small, medium and large corporations on strategies to elevate corporate values, accelerate growth, and improve profitability. He is co-­‐author of two books on the process of corporate growth: The Vital Difference: Unleashing the Powers of Sustained Corporate Success, and The Vital Corporation: How American Companies Large and Small Double Profits in Two Years or Less. He is also author of a novel entitled The Book: The Spiritual Individual and the Living Organization as well as several hundred published articles and working papers. Fred Matser Humanitarian philanthropist Board Member, Global Security Institute, Fred Foundation & StartFund Foundation Fred Matser is a prominent Dutch humanitarian philanthropist and former real estate developer. He started his professional life in the family owned real estate development business; since the last 30 years he is active in the world of philanthropy and is the founder and co-­‐founder of a wide range of charitable foundations that span the fields of healthcare, environment, conservation, peace and global transformation. His foundations are active and have been active through over 500 initiatives, most of them projects in more then 50 countries. He has made it his life’s work to contribute to creating a more functional global society by means of inspiration, empowerment and sustainability. His book ‘Rediscover Your Heart’ (2008) describes the experiences that led him to this view. He participated in various international events for global transformation including the State of the World Forum, the table of free voices in Berlin, an initiative of Dropping Knowledge, Sages and Scientist event, the European Science and Non Duality event. Fred Matser serves on the board of the Chopra Foundation, Global Security Institute, Malaria no More USA, Fred Foundation, StartFund, and the Jane Goodall Institute (1998 until 2012). He is a member of the advisory board of the Foundation for Natural Leadership. From 2007 till 2011, Fred headed the Dutch campaign for 'Malaria No More.' He is member of Evolutionary Leaders and the Wisdom Council Center for Human Emergence. For his work, Fred Matser has received several awards including the first international Caring Award in Washington, USA in 1992. He also received the Van Emden Award in The Hague, The Netherlands in 1995.