Nico Rosberg is known as the Formula 1 World Champion of 2016. Since ending his active driving career, he has been passionate about sustainability. As an entrepreneur and investor in green technologies and alternative mobility start-ups, he stands for visionary innovations that make the world a little better. He is also involved in numerous projects around the world promoting environmental protection, health, equality and justice. In 2019, he founded the GREENTECH FESTIVAL, a global platform for pioneering sustainable ideas, which takes place annually in Berlin, and – as of 2021 – New York and London. Using his former sport as an impactful vehicle, Nico Rosberg has founded Rosberg X Racing, a team that is driven to inspire positive change. The team competes in Extreme E, a racing series that aims to draw attention to the risks and consequences of global climate change. Rosberg has received numerous awards for its entrepreneurial commitment. He lives in Monaco with his wife and two daughters.
Main Summit
Patricia Espinosa
On 18 May 2016, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Patricia Espinosa of Mexico as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Ms. Espinosa took office on 18 July 2016.
Ambassador of Mexico to Germany since 2012 and from 2001 to 2002, Ms. Espinosa was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico from 2006 to 2012, bringing more than 30 years of experience at highest levels in international relations, specialized in climate change, global governance, sustainable development, gender equality and protection of human rights.
As Mexico’s representative on multilateral bodies and international organizations in Vienna, Geneva and New York, Ms. Espinosa has been engaged as leader in the global challenge to address climate change and its consequences, notably as President of the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC leading to the adoption of the Cancun Agreements. Named by the UN Secretary-General to the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, she is a tireless supporter of multilateralism as a way to improve conditions for development in all regions of the world, understanding the inextricable link between the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Elected Chair of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly (1996) she played a key role in the process leading to the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action at the 4th World Conference on Women. Previous Ambassador of Mexico to Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and UN Organisations in Vienna (2002-2006), she was Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1989-1991) and responsible for economic issues at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the UN in Geneva (1982-1988).
Born in 1958, she has postgraduate studies in International Law from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva and is holder of a Degree in International Relations from El Colegio de Mexico. Fluent in English and German, she is confident in French with Spanish mother tongue.
Thomas Bach
Married and a lawyer by profession, he has had a successful career in sports both on and off the field of play. He became an Olympic champion when he won a gold medal in fencing (team foil) at the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal in 1976 and in 2006, he was named as the founding President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).
Thomas Bach was an athletes’ representative at the XI Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden (1981) and a founding member of the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission. He became an IOC member in 1991, was elected as a member of the IOC Executive Board in 1996 and served as an IOC Vice-President for more than 10 years. He has also chaired several IOC Commissions.
On 10 September 2013, Thomas Bach was elected as the ninth President of the IOC. He was re-elected for a second four-year term on 10 March 2021.
Frans Timmermans
Frans Timmermans began his career with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987. After taking part in the junior diplomat training programme, he worked at the European Integration Department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Moscow. He later worked for Hans van den Broek, European Commissioner for External Relations, and Max van der Stoel, High Commissioner on National Minorities for the OSCE.
In 1998, Frans Timmermans was elected as a member of the House of Representatives for the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), where he dealt principally with foreign affairs. In the fourth Balkenende government, from February 2007 to February 2010, Mr Timmermans was Minister for European Affairs. In 2010, Mr Timmermans returned to Parliament as the Labour Party’s spokesperson on foreign policy.
On 5 November 2012, Mr Timmermans became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the second Rutte government. Two years later, on 1 November 2014, he became First Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for better regulation, interinstitutional relations, sustainable development, the rule of law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Since 1 December 2019, he is the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for the Green Deal.
Hannah Simpkins
Hannah is currently Vice President of Club Operations at Liverpool Football Club. A chartered accountant with 15 years’ experience, Hannah joined LFC in 2011 and previously held the role of Head of Financial Planning and Analysis before making the move into Operations. Hannah is responsible for Club wide operations including Capital Projects, Procurement, Sustainable Operations, Facilities Management, Health & Safety and Strategy Management. Hannah also sits on the Finance Committee of Women in Football, a post she has held since August 2020.
Noel Kinder
Noel Kinder is Nike’s Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO). As the CSO, Noel leads Global Sustainability, a team committed to protecting our planet to maintain an environment where all athletes can train, live and thrive. Prior to becoming the CSO, Noel was the Vice President of Sustainable Manufacturing and Sourcing, where he was responsible for collaborating with Nike Inc.’s business units, contracted factory leadership, representatives in academia and within the NGO community on the evolution of the company’s sustainable business performance policies.
Noel joined Nike in 1999 and has held a wide range of leadership positions in the footwear and apparel divisions as well as roles in strategic planning and finance. In 2013, Noel became the General Manager of Nike Vietnam LLC, one of Nike’s largest sourcing countries, and was responsible for all manufacturing operations. He has worked with a wide range of manufacturers; from textile and apparel production in Sri Lanka and Eastern Europe to footwear manufacturing in Brazil and throughout Asia.
Prior to Nike, Noel held roles that included leadership in several non-profit organizations as well small, privately-held companies in the United States. He has also served in the United States Peace Corps, spending two years in Honduras.
Noel holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Oregon and a Master’s degree in Business from Portland State University. He is fluent in Spanish.
Jeremy Casebeer
Jeremy Casebeer is a professional beach volleyball player working to use his platform in sport to scale social and environmental impact. He is the Project Manager for the AVP Tour and Waste Management (WM) Climate Action Plan, he is an ambassador for Parley for the Oceans and the Forest Stewardship Council, focuses his sponsorships as an athlete on sustainable brands that share his values, and is on the Board of Players for the Planet and AVP First.
Dr. Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum
Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum is the Head of the climate change and health unit at WHO Headquarters. He has worked on the issue for over 20 years, playing key roles in the first quantitative estimates of global health impacts of climate change, resolutions of the World Health Assembly, WHO global conferences, and the expansion of WHO’s climate change and health support to over 30 low and middle income countries. Diarmid is author of over 100 journal papers, reports, and book chapters, a lead author on three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, and of the first health report to the UN Climate Negotiations. A keen cyclist, he rode from Geneva to Paris for WHO’s 2nd global conference on Health and Climate Change,
Ian Reid
Ian is the Chief Executive Officer for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and for the last 2 years has been overseeing the establishment of the Organising Committee and early stages of planning and delivery of the city and the region’s largest-ever cultural and sporting event.
He brings a wealth of Games, finance and commercial experience to this role, having served as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games from 2009 to 2015, leading the Corporate Services and Support Functions including finance, legal, procurement, HR, programme management and office management. The event procured almost £250m of goods and services, recruited 1,500 staff and exceeded attendance and commercial targets.
Ian’s previous roles include Head of Commercial Finance for AG Barr plc and sat on the Board of Funkin Cocktails Limited.
Jennifer Babington
At Envision Virgin Racing, Jenn forms part of the team’s executive management and is responsible for all non-race specific affairs, from HR to our ‘Race Against Climate Change’ strategy, our Carbon Neutrality status to Partnership Agreements, business optimisation to corporate governance, and anything else you can think of in between.
With over 10 years working in renewables, Jenn is passionate about using Formula E as a platform to accelerate our transition to a zero-carbon future so that she can look herself in the mirror every day and know that she is doing what she can to make a difference.
Prior to joining the Team in February 2019, Jenn was Chief of Staff at the UK Green Investment Bank, the UK’s £3.8bn green investment fund, established to commercialise green investment into renewable energy projects within the UK and was responsible, amongst other things, for advising the Chief Executive on key business and strategic priorities. Before that she was Legal Counsel at Element Power, a wind and solar power producer overseeing their northern European wind and solar developments, and responsible for global tax planning and HR, and before that a Senior Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright, in their London office, specialising in corporate finance and private equity investments.
In addition to her work with the team, Jenn is also Chairman of Fulcrum Group – a leading provider of utility infrastructure and services in the UK.
Born in Middlesbrough, but spending a large part of her early childhood in Kwangyang, South Korea, and then studying Law at Oxford University, Jenn now lives in London with her husband and 2 children.
