Session: Renewables in Africa

Margaret has vast experience in complex infrastructure projects and provides guidance on development to the infrastructure financing industry, serving on a number of investment fund boards.

She is a partner in Mutschler Consulting Services (MCS), a Namibia-based cross-sectoral consultancy providing engineering, management and development solutions for sustainable projects across different sectors.

Since July 2019, she has supported CWP H1 Energy in developing ‘power-to-X’ (PtX) projects. Margaret represents CWP H1 Energy as country manager in Namibia and joined CWP H1 Energy’s international green hydrogen development team as development director for Africa. Her current focus is on developing green hydrogen projects in Mauritania and Morocco.

She served as the inaugural chairperson of the Namibian Green Hydrogen Association (NamGHA).

Session: Renewables in Africa

Lucy Thomas, RSK Group Chief Scientist and Managing Director of the RSK Centre for Sustainability Excellence in Singapore and of RSK’s operations in Africa, has over 20 years’ experience in sustainable risk-based remediation in primarily the property and energy sectors. Lucy’s experience includes the design and undertaking of site investigations and human health and groundwater risk assessments, land contamination management frameworks, sustainability assessments of remediation options and managing remediation projects globally.

Lucy is an elected council member of The Geological Society and is the former chair of the executive committee of the Society of Brownfield Risk Assessment (SoBRA) and the National Brownfield Forum that advocates for sustainable land management. She is also a Chartered Geologist and a Specialist in Land Condition.

Session: Renewables in Africa

In his role as Commissioner for Electricity and Renewable Energy in Tanzania’s Ministry of Energy, Edward ensures that energy services are efficient, cost-effective and reliable. He has a bachelor’s degree in petroleum geology and master’s degrees in petroleum engineering and security and strategies, with a specialisation in the role of the growth of renewable energy technologies in national security in Tanzania.

Edward also has a substantial role as Assistant Commissioner for Renewable Energy and is passionate about developing the crucial policies and programmes that will usher in a new energy era for Tanzania that will provide quality services with as little impact on the environment as possible.

Session: Renewables in Africa

Laura is responsible for directing the membership and institutional partnerships work at REN21. Previously, she led REN21’s outreach and communication work, anchoring the organisation’s work in the renewable energy sphere. From 2008 to 2013, Laura was the Project Director for HELIO International, an international think tank developing renewable energy solutions. She began her career as a programme manager officer with the United Nations Environment Programme, leading on industry and sustainability issues.

Over her career, Laura has co-authored numerous reports on the sustainability of energy systems and the contribution of renewables to increased climate resilience. She has degrees from the University of Chicago and Tufts University, both in the USA.

Session: Renewables in Africa

Jacopo joined RP Global in February 2017 and is responsible for driving all aspects of the development process of a portfolio of renewable energy projects, including hydroelectric, solar, and wind. He manages the land acquisition and approval process and interacts with relevant authorities to secure relevant permits and off-take agreements (PPA) and liaises with different subcontractors. The main projects under development are a 50 MWp PV Solar and a 300 MW wind farm pipeline.

Jacopo has a bachelor’s degree in International Development and Cooperation from Università di Bologna, Italy, and a master’s in European Studies from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.

Session: The global water challenge

Alison set up eWATERservices in 2017, after a 30-year career as an environmental economist working on global water programmes with UNICEF; WaterAid; the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); and the World Bank.

eWATERservices offers a solution to the global water crisis using the internet of things, mobile money and prepayment Solar Smart Taps. All funds go directly to the eWATERservices local teams that use the innovative tech and world-class dashboard to ensure a minimum of 12 years’ sustainable water supply.

Now, Alison runs a team of 40, based in The Gambia, Ghana, Tanzania and the UK, providing a service that has now dispensed 800 million litres of clean drinking water to 250,000 people living in 85 villages in sub-Saharan Africa.

Session: The global water challenge

Mark is a chemical engineer who has over 30 years of experience in the UK and international water sector. He is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years’ experience managing businesses internationally in both the private and public sectors. His technical background is in water, wastewater and biosolids treatment processes, and he has a particular interest in developing and implementing innovative solutions for which he has actively advocated over many years. Mark is the current chairman of the Future Water Association and is on the technical advisory board for SPRING, the UK water sector’s innovation centre of excellence. He has in-depth and current knowledge of the international water sector and its challenges, and, as the RSK Strategic Director, he is helping RSK to develop a global presence in the water sector.

Session: The global water challenge

Michel is Director of International Development at Nicholas O’Dwyer, an Irish engineering consultancy with a strong focus on sustainable infrastructure.

With more than 26 years’ experience in the water services sector, Michel has now been working on donor-funded infrastructure projects in Africa for the last 12 years, across East, West and southern Africa.

Originally working in technical engineering, research and software development, Michel’s current role involves the strategic planning of the company’s overseas portfolio and leveraging opportunities consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

He is Vice-Chairman/Board Member of Euronet EEIG (Brussels) – a European instrument to promote partnership amongst European firms – and a member of the steering group of Watershare Ireland, a collaboration between GOAL and the Irish Water Industry.

Session: The global water challenge

Dr Farah Ahmed is a research fellow at the New York University Abu Dhabi Water Research Center. She is an affiliate member at the Mohammed bin Rashid Academy of Scientists in the United Arab Emirates. Dr Ahmed’s research expertise lies in the area of advanced membrane materials for desalination and water treatment, with a focus on emerging low-energy technologies. She has authored many articles in prestigious international journals and book chapters and has been invited to deliver lectures at international conferences and institutions. Dr Ahmed serves on the editorial and advisory boards of a number of journals, including Membranes, Separation Technologies, Nature Communications, Energies and Desalination.

Session: The global water challenge

Based in East Africa, Jusper has more than 12 years’ hands-on experience in geographical information systems, remote sensing and new digital technologies. He has worked with international non-governmental organisations, researchers and policy makers at all levels, and with grassroots communities across Africa, India, Central America and Europe. Jusper leads GRI’s mapping of small-scale water service providers in each of Kenya’s 47 counties to support the Water Services Regulatory Board in ensuring efficient and affordable water provision.

He has also worked with leading organisations such as CGIAR, KEMRI|Wellcome Trust, VSF Germany, USIU-Africa, CIMA Research Foundation, IGAD-ICPAC and UNOPS.

Session: Climate finance

Professor of Accounting and Sustainability at Birmingham Business School and Director of the Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business, Ian has been researching topics relating to responsibility, sustainability and accountability for over 25 years. His current projects include carbon accountability, operationalising the UN Sustainable Development Goals for business and responsible business outcome measurement. He was called as an expert witness to the Scottish Parliament; was an adviser to the Scottish Parliament’s Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, and Cities and Infrastructure Committees; worked with the Sustainable Development Commission (Scotland); worked with The Prince’s Trust charity; and was an accountability expert for the UN’s World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization. Before becoming an academic, he worked as a management accountant for the NHS Scotland and for BBC Scotland.

Session: Climate finance

Dr. Robert Charnock received his PhD in carbon accounting from the London School of Economics and Political Science while working with the United Nations to develop a financial sector toolkit for analysing and managing the risks of climate change. In 2021, he led a team commissioned by the UK’s Financial Reporting Council to investigate how FTSE 100 and 250 companies use climate scenario analysis to inform their climate risk management and net zero transition strategies. Robert is now director of the Metis Institute for Climate Strategy in Singapore, which is funded by RSK and supports the company’s Centre for Sustainability Excellence.

Session: Climate finance

Claire’s team works with investors and capital market actors to request and utilise critical climate, water and forest impact data from the companies they finance, through CDP’s global disclosure process. Claire started her career broking Pan-European Equities to UK-based institutional investors for eight years for HSBC, Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan before moving to Tanzania to establish a pioneering new grassroots social enterprise initiative called Pikilily, tackling the escalating public health issue of avoidable crashes amongst Africa’s motorcycle-dependent communities.

Session: Climate finance

Yvonne completed her doctoral studies in climate change and adaptation at the University of Nairobi Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation. Her research focused on the nexus between national development and climate change adaptation, with a specific interest in engagement with multiple stakeholders as a tool for mainstreaming climate change adaptation into national infrastructural development. Yvonne has a master’s degree in environmental education from New York University and an LLB in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science. In addition, she has worked for over 13 years consulting in the sustainable development and environment sector. Yvonne is the founder and chief executive officer of CaelKlima, a climate change advisory and product development start-up. She started CaelKlima to play a significant role in informing and ensuring that adaptation to climate change is integrated into decision-making processes.

Session: Climate finance

Ornsaran is based in Bangkok. She is currently a senior consultant to the World Bank, working on climate finance in South Asia, and the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), promoting sustainable finance and climate transition in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). She is also an adviser to Thailand’s Fiscal Policy Research Institute (FPRI), working on a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-financed project on an integrated financing framework for the Sustainable Development Goals. She has more than 18 years of international work experience on issues including climate change, climate and sustainable finance, environment and natural resource governance, landscape management (agriculture and forest landscapes), weather insurance and agricultural risk financing in South and Southeast Asia.

Session: The road to the UAE

Walid is the CEO and co-founder of Rebalance Earth, a global ecosystem services platform for valuing and funding living nature to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, and lift communities out of poverty. Walid started off in the corporate world at Barclays Corporate Banking in 1998. As a serial entrepreneur, he has co-founded six start-ups, of which one had a successful acquisition. Walid is also an industry associate at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies.

Session: The road to the UAE

Cyndi has more than 27 years of experience in the petroleum industry in oil-rich countries such as Canada, Iraq and the UAE. She has worked in the Middle East since 2004 and has been immersed in the environmental and, more frequently, social impacts of the petroleum industry in Iraq since 2009. Her work in environmental and social management, programme development and implementation has, in the last several years, shown a shift whereby project work sees renewables and climate action as essential aspects.

Session: The road to the UAE

Antonios Vouloudis is responsible for transforming New York University Abu Dhabi’s (NYUAD) sustainability vision into a broad strategic climate action plan. Antonios plays a key role in the development and implementation of NYUAD’s climate action plan that will enable the university to measure its greenhouse gas emissions and set clear, measurable targets for reducing these going forward. Previously, Antonios worked for the Government of Abu Dhabi as senior project manager for the For Abu Dhabi initiative of the Ghadan 21 programme at the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT). Antonios holds an MSc in renewable energy systems engineering from the University of Surrey, UK, and an MEng in civil engineering from Democritus University of Thrace, Greece.

Session: The road to the UAE

Abdul Rahman is an experienced energy professional with more than 20 years of technical, commercial, business marketing, planning, finance, asset management and business development experience across the full oil and gas value chain. Before joining OPAL as CEO, he was Director of Arab Gulf Crude Oil Operations and Marketing for Occidental Energy Marketing as that company was emerging as a global trading house, and managed the commercial development of a portfolio comprising a basket of crude oil from different Middle East countries. He has also worked with Schlumberger and Oman LNG in roles of increasing responsibility.

Session: The road to the UAE

Tom is a highly regarded constructed wetland specialist with more than 25 years’ experience in the research, design and implementation of climate-positive nature-based solutions for wastewater treatment. He has published over 25 scientific papers and is frequently invited as a keynote conference speaker and teacher at postgraduate courses on treatment wetlands. Tom has extensive international project experience, including leading the design of world’s largest flagship nature-based solution: a 480-ha constructed wetland that treats 175,000 m3/d of oil-contaminated wastewater in Oman. Tom is based in Australia but focuses much of his attention on spreading the uptake of climate-friendly water management innovations throughout the Middle East region.