Olivier Guersent graduated with distinction from the “Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux” in 1983. He joined the French Ministry of Economy and Finance in 1984, where he carried out many investigations for the French Competition Authority. He joined the European Commission in 1992, initially with the “Merger Task Force” in the Directorate-General for Competition. Since then, he has alternated between the private offices of a number of European Commissioners (Karel Van Miert, Michel Barnier and Neelie Kroes) and DG Competition (successively Deputy Head of Unit in charge of cartels, Head of Unit in charge of policy and coordination of cases, Head of Unit in charge of merger control, Acting Director “Transport, postal and other services” and, from 2009, Director responsible for the fight against cartels. From 2010 to 2014 he was the head of the private office of Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. Having held the position of Deputy Director-General since July 2014, Olivier Guersent has been Director-General of the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union from 1 September 2015 to 31 December 2019. As of 1st January 2020 he is the Director General of the Directorate General for Competition. Married and a father of three children, Olivier Guersent is a member of the board of of the non-profit organisation Aremis that provides medical care in the home, primarily to cancer patients in the Brussels area. He is a regular lecturer to postgraduate university students.

Marja Nykänen has been a Member of the Board of the Bank of Finland since 2017. Her areas of responsibilities include financial market issues, macroprudential policy and the risk control of investment activities and monetary policy. Marja Nykänen is the Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority.

Sylvie Préa began her career at Societe Generale in 1985 working for SG CIB. She held a number of commercial positions in the fields of infrastructure financing, international trade and in the aeronautical sector. In 2003, Sylvie moved into Human Resources, firstly as Head of Human Resources for the Operations department of SG CIB and then taking up Human Resources responsibilities for the Group HR department in 2006. In 2009, she was appointed Head of Human Resources for Global Investment & Management Services (GIMS), then Global Head of Human Resources for Global Banking & Investor Solutions (GBIS). Sylvie was appointed Director of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the Group in January 2017 and is member of the Group Management Committee.

Sylvie holds a Masters degree in International Trade from the Sorbonne University.

Eric Usher currently heads the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, UNEP FI, a global partnership bringing together the UN with 230 banks, insurers and asset managers working to develop the sustainable finance and responsible investment agendas. Eric oversees governance, strategy and day-to-day management of UNEP FI’s work programme and global network development. Over the years UNEP FI has established some of the most important sustainability oriented frameworks within the finance industry, including the Principles for Responsible Investment (2006), the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (2012) and work now underway on the establishment of Principles for Responsible Banking. Since joining in 2015, Mr. Usher has focused on accelerating the deep integration of sustainability risks into financial practice, including addressing climate change, natural capital loss and human rights abuses, as well as building out the frameworks for positive impact finance needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Eric sits on several industry bodies including as UN representative on the Board of the Principles for Responsible Investment, as a member of the Evaluation Council of the French sovereign green bond, as Director for the impact fund REPP Africa and founder of the Seed Capital Assistance Facility.

Prior to leading UNEP FI, Mr. Usher has over twenty years of experience in the low carbon sectors, spanning technology commercialisation in Canada, solar rural electrification in Morocco and financial sector development across emerging markets. During 2011, Mr. Usher worked on the establishment of the Green Climate Fund and led efforts to create its Private Sector Facility. Eric has been an editor of the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report published annually with Bloomberg and was lead author for finance of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources. Before joining the UN, Eric was General Manager of a solar rural electrification company based in Morocco.

Heike Reichelt is Head of Investor Relations and Sustainable Finance at the World Bank Treasury. The World Bank Treasury manages the funding programs for the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), and the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm). Her team is responsible for managing relationships with bond investors, rating agencies and the financial media, and developing new bond products. These include products to raise awareness for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change mitigation and adaptation – like World Bank Green Bonds and World Bank Sustainable Development Bonds. Heike also manages outreach to the sustainable and impact investing community and works with other issuers and market participants to encourage the growth of sustainable capital markets focused on making a long-term positive social and environmental impact through integration of environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG) in investment decisions. She has 20+ years of experience in finance – including as an engagement manager for the World Bank Treasury’s Reserves Advisory Management Program for central banks and in the areas of export finance and capital markets, during her career at KfW, the largest German development bank. Heike was recognized for her role in building sustainable capital markets as the 2017 recipient of the prestigious Joan Bavaria Award.

Valentijn is Chief Investment Officer of NN Investment Partners and chairman of the Management Team Investments (MTI)

Valentijn has over 18 years of experience working in financial markets. Valentijn is also chair of NNIP’s Tactical Asset Allocation committee and the firm’s key spokesperson on the macro and market outlook. Therefore, he appears frequently at client events, seminars and in financial news media like CNN, CNBC, RTLZ, NOS, BNR, Bloomberg and Reuters or journals like the FT, FD, IPE, and other newswires and social media channels.

Geraldine Ang works as a senior policy analyst on green finance and investment at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which she joined in 2011. Under the OECD Centre on Green Finance and Investment, she has developed several projects to support the global green finance and investment agenda, including on: the role of central banks to address sustainability in the financial system; integrating climate factors in institutional investment; integrating biodiversity factors in business and investment decisions, and mobilising clean energy finance and investment. Geraldine has co-authored multiple OECD reports, such as the OECD report contributed to the G7 Environment in 2019 on Biodiversity: Finance and the Economic and Business Case for Action. She has organised several events on green finance and investment, such as the annual OECD Forum on Green Finance and Investment and the High-Level Breakfast on Institutional Investors and the Low-Carbon Transition. Prior to joining the OECD, she conducted research on climate mitigation for the Earth Institute. Previously, she worked for Lagardere Active and the French Senate. Geraldine holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s SIPA (2011), and a Master of Science in Management from HEC Paris (2006).