The Leading Speakers blog

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Expert on Energy and the Environment

Claudia Kemfert is Head of the department Energy, Transportation, Environment at the German Institute of Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and Professor of Energy Economics at Humboldt University, Berlin. She advises EU president José Manuel Barroso as a member of the High Level Group on Energy and she is an external advisor for the World Bank, the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“Germany’s leading exponent of green economic policies”
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Former Adviser to Mikhail Gorbachev

Alexander Likhotal served as adviser to Mikhail Gorbachev for many years and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Geneva-based Green Cross International. He is a member of the International Council for the Earth Charter and Adviser to the Club of Madrid and has launched internationally acclaimed initiatives such as the Earth Dialogues Forum and has spearheaded Green Cross International’s global campaign for the Right to Water.

“The past has shown that new security threats would emerge in the form of global terrorism and that globalisation and our continued reliance on fossil fuels would raise the environmental stakes even higher”

In detail

Prof. Likhotal was the Deputy Spokesman for the President of the USSR and has held a number of academic positions internationally specialising in European security and NATO. He was visiting professor at the Northeastern University, Boston, USA, Research Associate at the Institute of European Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow and Associate Editor of Security Dialogue Journal, Oslo, Norway.
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Leading Authority on Corporate Strateg

C.K. Prahalad is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most significant forces in corporate thinking. He has been voted the world’s most influential living management thinker and is the first Indian-origin thinker to claim the title. His research specialises in corporate strategy and the role and value added of top management in large, diversified, multinational corporations. He has helped companies such as AT&T, Ahlstrom, Honeywell, Rockwell, and Steelcase look at their core capabilities and market opportunities in a transformational way.

“The most influential thinker on business strategy today”
Business Week

In detail
Professor Prahalad is a graduate from the University of Madras, the Indian Institute of Management and Harvard University. He has written extensively on core competency and strategy, and has published several best selling business books and award-winning articles. His book, co-authored Competing for the Future with Gary Hamel, was rated a best-seller, and has been printed in fourteen languages.
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Chairman of the Board of Roma Metropolitane

Chicco Testa is Chairman of the Board of Roma Metropolitane, the company in charge of the construction of the new underground lines in Rome. He is also a Senior Partner at Rothschild Italia, a member of the Board of Directors of Lloyd Adriatico and RAS, Chairman of the Board of Telit Communications PLC and Chairman of the Board of E.V.A., a company developing hydropower generation plants. He is currently a member of the Expert Advisory Committee of the European Carbon Fund and also Chairman of the Organising Committee of the 20th World Energy Congress (Rome 2007).

“One of Rome’s most influential business leaders”

In detail

From 1994 to 1996 Mr Testa was Chairman of the Board of ACEA (Rome’s Electricity and Water Co.) From 1996 to 2002 he was Chairman of the Board of Enel Spa, the most important Electrical Company in Italy. From 2002 to 2004 he was Member of the Board of Directors of Gruppo Riello, Italy’s leading company in innovative integrated heating systems and appliances. From 2002 to 2005 he was Member of the Advisory Board of the Carlyle Europe, Chairman of the Board of Directors of STA Spa and Chairman of the Kyoto Club
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Founder of Interdisciplinary Unit for Sustainable Economy and Professor of Anthropology and Economics

Prof. Dipak R. Pant advises governmental, non-governmental and business organizations on policy and planning issues for environmentally sustainable and socially sound development. A tireless world explorer, he is regarded as the pioneer of ‘Extreme Lands Program’ which conducts ethnographic field surveys, economic studies and collaborative economic and social development planning in the most marginal and difficult terrains of the world. He is credited with shaping the global development debate by linking social and environmental sustainability with market competitiveness through the strategic concept of ‘place-brand’.

“Italy’s leading speaker on sustainable economic development”

In detail
In addition to his role as the leader of Interdisciplinary Unit for Sustainable Economy and Extreme Lands Program, he lectures on sustainability issues, development planning and global human security issues in some West European, Chinese and US scientific institutions. His field experience, insight and informed perspective are regularly sought by the business community, scientific organizations, governments and NGOs.
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World Renowned Economist and Expert on the Economics of Climate Change

Sir Nicholas Stern made headline news around the world and became an instant household name when he published his critically acclaimed and long awaited 700 page ground breaking ‘Stern Review’ into the economic impact of climate change. A former chief economic advisor to the UK government he was also the chief economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank from 2000 to 2003.  Sir Nicholas also played a key role in Europe’s economic development as the chief economist and senior advisor to the Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

“The scientific evidence is now overwhelming: climate change is a serious global threat, and it demands an urgent global response” Sir Nicholas Stern

In detail

Sir Nicholas was a lecturer at Oxford University from 1970 to 1977, and served as a Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick from 1978 to 1987. He taught from 1986 to 1993 at the London School of Economics, becoming the Sir John Hicks Professor of Economics, a role which he still occupies to this day.
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Founder and President, Foundation on Economic Trends

Jeremy Rifkin influences public policy on environmental, scientific and technological issues.

A master of speech, he addresses the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, workforce, society and the environment.

He is credited with shaping the global debate on technology displacement, corporate downsizing and the future of work.

A renowned intelligence on global economic trends

In detail

In addition to his role at the Foundation on Economic Trends, he is a fellow at Wharton School of Finance and Commerce where he lectures on future trends in science, technology and the global economy.

His informed perspective is regularly called upon by leading organisations, governments and the media.
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Europe’s Most Experienced Futurologist

Ray Hammond is Europe’s most experienced and most widely published Futurologist.

For over 25 years he has researched, written and spoken about how future trends will affect society and business. As Global Warming and the threat to the Environment continues to occupy a priority position in the World’s agenda. Ray is one of a few commentators who are equipped to communicate how these massive challenges will affect our futures, the way we do business and the far reaching implications both socially, economically and politically.

A futurologist proved accurate by a quarter-century of predictions

In detail

Before becoming a futurologist, Ray founded and led highly successful magazine publishing and advertising businesses in the UK, Europe and the USA before selling them advantageously.  He is now a globally published novelist (Macmillan) whose four recent high-tech futuristic novels have won world-wide critical acclaim. His latest book ‘The Cloud’ (published March 2006) is a dazzling vision of life set in the year 2065. For the last 25 years he has written and spoken about the future.
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Former President of Costa Rica & Former CEO of the WEF

José María Figueres served as President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998. As such, he was the youngest President of a Central American country in modern times. Today he continues to work in the fields of technology and development, and is currently the CEO of Grupo Felipe IV, based in Spain, dedicated to the support of organizations which promote development and democratic values around the world.

“The world of tomorrow, which we are constructing today, will be different”

In detail

Prior to serving as President, José Maria was Minister of Foreign Trade and Minister of Agriculture. He has pioneered the linkage between sustainable development and technology, in the realms of business, public service, and non-profit organisations. He helped create and lead the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force and is the founder of the Fundación Costa Rica para el Desarrollo Sostenible in Costa Rica. In 2000, he joined the WEF and became its first CEO in 2003.
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