Helen Clark

37th Prime Minister of New Zealand; Former Administrator of UNDP

Helen Clark was Prime Minister of New Zealand for three successiveterms from 1999 to 2008. She was the first woman to be electedas Prime Minister in New Zealand. Throughout her tenure as PrimeMinister, and as a Member of Parliament over 27 years, Helen Clarkengaged widely in policy development and advocacy across theinternational, economic, social, environmental, and cultural spheres.She advocated strongly for New Zealand’s comprehensive programon sustainability and for tackling the problems of climate change.In 2009, Helen Clark became Administrator of UNDP. She was thefirst woman to lead the organization and served two terms there. Atthe same time, she was Chair of the UNDG, a committee consistingof all UN funds, programs, agencies, and departments working ondevelopment issues. As Administrator, she led UNDP to be ranked themost transparent global development organization.

Mahmoud Mohieldin

Senior Vice President of World Bank Group

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin is the World Bank Group Senior Vice Presidentfor the 2030 Development Agenda, UN Relations and Partnerships.He previously held numerous senior positions in the Government ofEgypt, including Minister of Investment. He also served on severalBoards of Directors including the Central Bank of Egypt and thebanking, corporate, and academic sectors. Mohieldin is also Professorof Economics and Finance at Cairo University and Honorary Professorat Durham University.

Sheikh Mohammed bin
Abdulla Al Khalifa

President of Bahrain Supreme Council of Health

Dr. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Health, and Chairman of the National Health Regulatory Authority, is one of the pioneers of health care practice in Bahrain.One of his key achievements was the inauguration of the first militaryhospital in the Kingdom, and subsequently, the expansion of the Bahrain Defense Hospital to a 390 bed hospital specializing in many clinical services. Dr. Al Khalifa was appointed as Undersecretary of Bahrain Defense Force from 1999 to 2006, after which as Minister of State for the Defense Affairs from 2006 to 2014. He currently chairs Supreme Council of Health. The councils’ main role is to set national health care policies and strategies for all the health sectors in Bahrain.

Jaehyang So

Senior Advisor for Office of the Senior Vice President,2030 Development Agenda UNRelations & Partnerships, WorldBank Group

So Jaehyang is Senior Advisor for the 2030 Development Agenda UNRelations & Partnerships at the World Bank, under the Office of SeniorVice President.Previously, So was Director for Trust Funds and Partnership atthe World Bank; she has joined the Bank since 1992. Throughouther career, So has focused on the privatization of utilities, financialand corporate restructuring of state-owned enterprises, andinfrastructure operations in East Asia, South Asia, Eastern and CentralAsia, and Africa. She also worked as Manager of Water and SanitationProgram (WSP), one of the longest global partnership programsestablished at the World Bank.So has previously been a board member of Global Water Challengeand Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council as well. Soholds a master’s degree in Business Administration from StanfordUniversity.

Woochong Um

Director-General and Chief Compliance Officer of Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department at Asian Development Bank

As Director-General and Chief Compliance Officer of the SustainableDevelopment and Climate Change Department at Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB), Um Woochong is responsible for developing sector andthematic policies, strategies, frameworks and operational plans,encouraging vibrant sector and thematic communities of practice, anddeveloping new business ideas. Previously, Um served as Secretaryto ADB, Deputy Director-General of the Sustainable Developmentand Climate Change Department, and Director of the SustainableInfrastructure Division.With an extensive career in the field of international developmentat ADB, Um has played a vital role in working towards achievingADB’s strategic priorities. Um holds a master’s degree in BusinessAdministration from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

John M. Christensen

Director of UNEP DTUPartnership

Dr. John Christensen is the Director of the UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP). He has worked on energy, climate and development issues for the UN Environment Program in different capacities for the last 30 years. The UDP has a staff of approximately 70 professionals engaged in analytical studies and technical assistance activities in more than 60 developing countries.Current focus of his work is on implementation of the Paris Agreement and SDG 7, including co-leading the annual UN Environment flagship Emissions Gap Report. John has in addition had a long involvement with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC) where he has been a lead author on five reports and a member of the Bureau for a couple of years. John holds a doctorate degree in energy planning methods for rural energy access from the Technical University of Denmark.