Governance

Aban is Regional Director for IUCN Asia, overseeing 15 countries and more than 70 wide-ranging environmental initiatives. She has 30 years of experience and leadership raising awareness on gender, culture, and the sovereign dimensions of conservation. Ms. Kabraji is visiting Professor with the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Thibaut leads DG DEVCO's SWITCH TO GREEN flagship green business programme, and manages EU support to relevant initiatives, including the GEC. Thibaut previously led on forestry and climate change with the EU Delegation to Indonesia, and worked with several international NGO programmes. He holds master’s degrees in business and development.

Steve works with IIED and GEC on sustainable development, focusing on institutions, dialogue and diagnosis for inclusive green economies. He is known for poverty and environment work including ESPA, the WAVES project and the UN PEI. Previously, Steve was Chief Environment Adviser at DFID, and a fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Zeenat Niazi, vice-president of Development Alternatives Group, has over 26 years’ experience in the social and environment development sector. In the last decade, her work has extended to design and coordination of low carbon development strategies for the central Indian region of Bundelkhand and coordination of climate change adaptation, action and communication, knowledge management and knowledge dissemination for promoting national and global sustainable development strategies.

As Convenor, Oliver provides the GEC’s network leadership, enabling people from diverse institutions to work and influence collectively. Before GEC, Oliver spent 7 years enabling stakeholder change leading WWF’s Sustainable Business and Economics work. He previously worked in corporate strategy advisor with Booz Company and the BBC World Service.

Steven has over 15 years of professional experience in environmental and natural resource management and a PhD in Resource Economics from Cornell University. Prior to UNEP, Steven worked for the IDB in Ecuador and Honduras, and worked on capacity building, technical assistance and natural resource investment in Jamaica and Brazil.

Peter is now based in Freiburg, Germany. He previously served at the ILO working in some 35 countries, including as country director for Brazil (2015-2017), director of the Enterprises Department (2009-2015) and coordinator of the ILO Global Green Jobs Program (2005-2015). Prior to joining the ILO in 1986, he served as a volunteer in Ethiopia.

Mike began his career as a lawyer, before moving into senior policy roles in the Canadian government working at the intersection of the environment, economy and innovation. Mike has a firm belief that 'green' and 'growth' can go hand in hand and a passion for making that happen. 

Dr Andrew Norton took up the position of Director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in June 2015.  From his Doctoral research in rural Mali through a career that has spanned research, academic and development institutions he has focused on issues of poverty, inequality, participation, natural resource governance and climate change. As Director he is working to amplify and strengthen IIED’s core messages on climate action, social and environmental justice, and helping poor people to achieve greater voice and more resilient livelihoods.

Holger is responsible for the implementation of the MAVA strategy for Switzerland, the Sustainable Economy Programme, and jointly manages MAVA’s overall project portfolio, including global projects. Holger previously worked for WWF in the Mediterranean and in Mongolia, and holds a Master’s degree in biology from Bayreuth University in Germany.