Isabella Burczak is the Cycling for All & Sustainability Manager at the UCI, where she has led global initiatives and partnerships since 2017 to promote cycling as an inclusive, safe and sustainable mode of transport. Her work focuses on supporting cities, regions, National Federations and institutions to embed cycling into urban mobility strategies, public policy and major events, notably through initiatives such as the UCI Bike City Label, UCI Bike City Pathway and the UCI Mobility & Bike City Forum. She oversees efforts to harness elite cycling events as drivers of broader social impact, participation and cultural change around cycling, and led the development of the UCI’s first sustainability strategy, aligning the UCI with international climate and nature frameworks. Prior to joining the UCI, she worked at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for ten years, contributing to international sport policy and the planning and delivery of multiple Olympic and Youth Olympic Games.
2021
Julia Pallé
Julia Pallé is a leading expert on sustainability in motorsport and the international elite sport industry.
In her role at the world’s first all-electric motor racing series, Julia certified the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship net zero carbon since inception – the first sport in the world to achieve the standard.
While developing and implementing the sustainability strategy at Formula E, Julia has overseen a range of significant achievements that establish Formula E’s credentials as a leader of sustainability in tier-one sport.
Julia is also Sustainability Advisor for Extreme E, the all-electric SUVs series, bringing electric racing to some of the most remote corners of the planet to highlight the climate change challenges faced by different ecosystems.
Before joining Formula E, Julia was the Sustainability Executive at Michelin Motorsport.
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe
Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist who studies how climate change impacts us and how we can effectively respond. She is globally recognized as a United Nations Champion of the Earth and an Oxfam Sister of the Planet, and has been named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers, and FORTUNE’s World’s Greatest Leaders.
Katharine is known for her ability to translate complex climate issues into accessible public discourse. She publishes a weekly Talking Climate newsletter, hosted the PBS Digital Series, Global Weirding, and writes for broad range of outlets, from TIME to Good Housekeeping. Her TED talk, “The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it” has more than 4 million views and her most recent book is “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.”
Currently, she is the Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy and holds the positions of Horn Distinguished Professor and the Political Science Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law at Texas Tech University. Katharine earned her B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Toronto and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois. She is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, and the American Scientific Affiliation, and serves on advisory boards for organizations such as Netflix, UBS, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. In recognition of her contributions to science communication and engagement, she has received a number of awards and four honorary doctorates.
Jessica R. Murfree, PhD
Dr. Jessica Murfree is an Assistant Professor of Sport Administration and the Hyde Family Foundation Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she directs the Action on Climate Change and Environment in Sport Studies (ACCESS) Research Lab. She also serves on the Leadership Team of the Sport Ecology Group. Her research studies the effects of climate change on sport through societal implications of climate risks and environmental disparities. Among others, her work has been featured in Sports Illustrated, Scientific American, The Athletic, ABC, The Guardian, The Television Academy, and The Weather Channel.
At UNC, Dr. Murfree developed and teaches the university’s first course on Sport Ecology, advises the university through the Carolina Sustainability Council, and is an affiliated researcher with the Institute for the Environment. She is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree in Sports, and she earned Yale University’s School of Public Health Certificate in Climate Change and Health
Dr. Maddy Orr
Dr. Maddy Orr is an Assistant Professor of Sport Ecology at the University of Toronto. She is best known for her work on climate adaptation in the sport sector, and as founder of The Sport Ecology Group. She’s been named a Future of Canada Fellow, a Top 30 Under 30 Environmental Educator, and a Forbes 30 Under 30 awardee. In 2022, she was the lead author on UNEP’s Sports for Nature report and her 2024 book Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sports was named a Top 5 Sports Book of the Year by The Guardian.
Dale Vince OBE
Green industrialist Dale Vince OBE has gone from ‘enemy of the state’ to ‘green energy tycoon’ but he doesn’t much care what you call him. He has dedicated his life to challenging conventional wisdom in pursuit of a better way of life, using business as a tool for environmentalism.
Dale kickstarted the now global green energy movement using the goals and values he developed on the road to help bring environmentalism into the mainstream.
He started the world’s first green energy company, Ecotricity, in 1996, leads Forest Green Rovers FC, dubbed the world’s greenest football team by FIFA; creates diamonds out of atmospheric carbon – Skydiamonds; builds windmills for export around the world – Britwind; has launched a range of plant-based school dinners and last year launched the world’s first electric airline Ecojet.
In 2004, he was awarded an OBE for services to the environment and was appointed the UN Ambassador for Climate Change in 2019.
He also made the world’s first electric supercar and built the Electric Car Super Charging Highway, the World’s first national network of EV charging stations.
His first book, Manifesto, a Sunday Times Best Seller, is a manifesto of hope, backed up by solutions, from someone with real life experience of disrupting the energy industry and paving the way for a greener planet.
Nicknamed Labour’s Green Knight by The Sunday Times, Dale is a self-professed eco-naut, does not take ‘no’ for an answer and is leading the charge for a greener Britain.
Seán McCabe
Seán McCabe leads climate justice initiatives through the platform of football, using the global reach of the game to drive inclusive, cooperative solutions to social and environmental challenges. At Bohemian Football Club, he has built a team dedicated to developing community wealth building climate actions that can be scaled internationally through football’s networks. With over 18 years’ experience across grassroots and global arenas, Seán has helped shape multilateral climate agreements with the Mary Robinson Foundation, strengthen environmental protections with the Sierra Leone EPA, and advance children’s environmental rights with UNICEF and the UNCRC. As the architect of The People’s Transition, developed with TASC and FEPS, he has championed community-led strategies that position climate action as a driver of equity, dignity, and development.
Dr. Sheila Nguyễn
For over 20 years, Dr. Sheila Nguyễn has championed the protection of our planet through the power of sport. Her impact has been recognized globally — named the inaugural Regional Leader (Oceania) by Sport Positive, awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership by BASIS (2022), and listed among the Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Women of Influence (2019).
As Head of Sustainability for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, she led groundbreaking initiatives to embed sustainability into one of the world’s biggest tournaments. She also co-founded the Sports Environment Alliance, uniting sport and planet leaders to protect the places where we play.
Georgina Grenon
An expert in renewable energies and clean technology innovation, Georgina Grenon obtained an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (Argentina) and an MBA from INSEAD Business School (France). Polyglot, she has triple nationality : Argentinean, French and Italian.
Georgina began her career in business development at YPF S.A., the national oil company in Argentina. She then took up position as a director at international strategy consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, devoting herself mainly to energy and operations, working in Europe, the USA, Japan and South America for nearly ten years. She then joined the Directorate-General of Energy and Climate (DGEC), part of the French Ministry of Ecology and Energy, where she supported the development of renewable energy policies and markets for six years. She also represented France at the International Energy Agency, promoting international cooperation in the creation of markets, innovation and the deployment of clean technologies, playing an active part at COP21 and, among other things, helping to create the International Solar Alliance. She then moved to the ENGIE Group, becoming director of the New Business Factory at ENGIE Fab.
In August 2018, Georgina Grenon has joined the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as its Director of Sustainability.
David Garrido
David Garrido is a Sky Sports presenter with almost 25 years’ experience in the industry, and he is widely considered one of the leading communicators and content-makers for sport and sustainability in the UK and Europe. His documentary, ‘Football’s Toughest Opponent’, explores the relationship between the biggest sport in the world and the climate crisis, and his ongoing episodic series, ‘Playing For The Planet’, profiles elite athletes and their journeys in climate action. Recent guests include British men’s tennis number 1 Cam Norrie, Premier League footballer Ben Mee, double Olympic sailing champion Hannah Mills and marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge.
