Plenary speakers

Confirmed speakers for the 5 plenary sessions:

• Liv Monica Stubholt, State Secretary and Chair of the Conference Planning Committee, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
  
  Ms Stubholt has held the post of State Secretary since 2005. She has experience from both the public and private sectors, most recently as a partner in the law firm BA-HR. She has also served as a political adviser to the Centre Party parliamentary group.

• Erik Solheim, Minister of International Development, Norway
  
  Mr Solheim became Minister of International Development in 2005. Prior to taking office, he was a senior advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has many years’ political experience in the Norwegian Parliament.

• H.E. Helen Esuene, Minister of Environment, Nigeria
  
  Ms Esuene is a veteran civil servant, having served in the civil services of South Eastern State and Cross River State between 1968 and 1985. She was Chairman of the Board of Akwa Ibom State Commission for Women from 1991 to 1992. Ms Esuene is currently a member of Nigeria’s National Political Reform Conference.
  

• Irene Alexandra da Silva Neto, Deputy Minister of External Relations for Cooperation, Angola
  
  Ms Neto was appointed Deputy Minister in 2004.
  

• Jannik Lindbæk, Chairman of the Board, Statoil, Norway
  
  Mr Lindbæk has previously served as CEO of the Storebrand Group. He has many years of experience from the banking sector and intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations such as Transparency International Norway and Plan International Norway.
  

• Bjoern Stigson, President and CEO, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
  
  Mr Stigson was actively involved in founding the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and was appointed its Executive Director in January 1995. Mr Stigson has also served on the boards of various international companies, and is presently a member of advisory councils to, among others, the ABB Group, Unilever, the EBRD and the Chinese Government.
  

• Atle Sommerfeldt, Secretary General, Norwegian Church Aid, Norway
  
  Mr Sommerfeldt has served as Secretary General of Norwegian Church Aid and been a member of the Church of Norway’s Council on Ecumenical and International Relations since 1994. From 1996 to 2000, he was a member of the Executive Committee of APRODEV.

• Finn Bergesen Jr., CEO, Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, Norway
  
  Mr Bergesen has held numerous management positions in both the public and private sectors. In addition to heading the International Division of the Ministry of Fisheries from 1973 to 1976, he has been the chief negotiator on several important domestic and international fisheries agreements.

• Marianne Lie, Director General, Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, Norway
  
  

  Ms Lie took over as Director General of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association in June 2002. Before that, she worked for the Association for ten years, first as a manager and later as the Director of the Department of Industrial Policy.
  

• George Jaksch
  Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility and Public Affairs, Chiquita International, Belgium
  
  Mr Jaksch is based at Chiquita’s European headquarters in Antwerp, Belgium. In his 20 years with Chiquita he has worked in banana production in Latin America and Africa, and in various management functions in the US and Europe. Jaksch is a member of Chiquita’s corporate responsibility steering committee, of Social Accountability International’s advisory board, and of the labor advisory group of the IFC.
  
  
  
  
  
• John Evans, General Secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD
  
  Prior to joining TUAC, John Evans worked as Research Officer in the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) in Brussels. His previous appointments include Industry Secretary at the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical and Technical Employees (FIET) in Geneva and Assistant in the Economic Department of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in London.

• Helen Bjørnøy, Minister of the Environment, Norway
  
  Prior to taking up her ministerial post in 2005, Ms Bjørnøy was Secretary General of Norway’s Church City Mission. She has previously worked as a lecturer and as a priest.
  

• Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
  
  Before joining the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Mr Steiner served as Director General of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) from 2001 to 2006. His professional career has included assignments with governmental, non-governmental and international organisations in different parts of the world.
  

• Surya P. Sethi, Principal Energy Adviser and Secretary to the Indian Government Planning Commission, India
  
  Mr Sethi started his career with Tata Administrative Services in 1974, and worked as head of international projects at Tata Enterprises Overseas prior to joining the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in 1984. He has worked in about 30 countries worldwide in the infrastructure, capital markets and industrial enterprise fields, across a variety of sectors.

• José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo, CEO, Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), Brazil
  
  Prior to taking up his current post, Mr Gabrielli held the post of Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Director in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A (Petrobras). He has been a member of the boards of Petrobras Energía Participaciones S.A. (PEPSA) and Petrobras Energía S.A. (PESA).
  

• Egil Myklebust, Chairman of the Board, Scandinavian Airlines, Norway
  
  Mr Myklebust has been chairman of the board of Scandinavian Airlines since 2001, and held the same post in Hydro from 2001 to 2004. He chaired the Executive Committee of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) from 1998 to 1999, and was a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists from 1995 to 2002.
  

• Knut N. Kjær, CEO, Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway
  
  Mr Kjær manages Norway’s oil revenues through the Norwegian Government Pension Fund. He has previously held positions in ECON Analysis, Storebrand and Statistics Norway.

• Jennifer L. Morgan, Climate Change Programme Director, E3G, United Kingdom
  
  Ms Morgan joined E3G (Third Generation Environmentalism), in October 2006 to head the organisation’s work on climate and energy security issues. Before joining E3G, Ms Morgan headed the Worldwide Fund for Nature’s Global Climate Change Programme. She has also served on a number of boards, including the Climate Action Network, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, and REN21.
  

• The Honorable Al Gore, Chairman, Generation Investment Management and former United States Vice President, US
  
  Former US Vice President Al Gore is Chairman of Generation Investment Management, a London-based firm that is focused on a new approach to sustainable investing. Al Gore led the Clinton Administration's efforts to protect the environment. In 2006, he starred in the Academy Award winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which is also the title of a companion book he authored.

• Kishor Chaukar, Managing Director, TATA Industries, India
  
  In addition to his role in TATA Industries, Mr Chaukar serves as Chairman of Tata Council for Community Initiatives (TCCI), which focuses on social development, environmental management, biodiversity restoration and conservation of wildlife. He has previously been Managing Director of the ICICI Securities and Finance Company and a member of the board of directors of ICICI.   
  
  
  
  
  
• Richard Howitt, Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur on CSR, UK
  
  Richard Howitt is a Labour Member of the European Parliament for the East of England, first elected in 1994. Mr. Howitt is the European Parliament Spokesperson on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and led the preparation of the Parliamentary report on CSR.
  

• Huguette Labelle, Chair of the Board of Transparency International, Canada
  
  Ms Labelle is a Companion of the Order of Canada and has been awarded honorary degrees from 12 Canadian universities. She has served in various Canadian government departments, including the Department of the Secretary of State, Transport Canada, the Public Service Commission and the Canadian International Development Agency.
  

• Idar Kreutzer, President and CEO, Storebrand, Norway
  
  Mr Kreutzer has been Group Chief Executive Officer in Storebrand since 2000, and has been with the company since 1992. His previous positions include the post of Political Secretary to the Municipality of Oslo.  
  
  
  
  
• Georg Kell, Executive Head, UN Global Compact Office
  
  Mr Kell began his career at the UN in Geneva, where he worked for the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 1987 to 1990. In 1997, he became a senior officer in the Executive Office of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, with responsibility for fostering cooperation with the private sector. He has served as head of the UN Global Compact since 2000.
  

• Bruce Jenks, Assistant Secretary General and Director of the Bureau for Resources and Strategic Partnerships, United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
  
  Mr Jenks joined UNDP in 1981, and has worked on a variety of headquarters and field assignments. In 1995, the UN Secretary-General appointed him as the first director of the United Nations Office and as UNDP’s representative in Brussels.
  

• Henrik Madsen, President and CEO, Det Norske Veritas, Norway
  
  Mr Madsen has been President and CEO of Det Norske Veritas (DNV) since 2006. He has worked for the company for many years, including as regional manager of its Danish business and as regional manager in Japan. During his membership of the executive board from 1998 to 2005, his responsibilities included the oil and gas sector and certification.
  

• Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate, Founder of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh    
  
  Returning to Bangladesh from the US in 1972, Professor Yunus started his professional career at the University of Chittagong as Professor of Economics. He started the Grameen Bank project in 1976, and oversaw its transformation into an independent bank in 1983. His many accolades include being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Grameen Bank in 2006 for “efforts to create economic and social development from below”.
  

• Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway
  
  Mr Støre became Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2005. He held the posts of State Secretary and Chief of Staff during Jens Stoltenberg’s first term as Prime Minister, and has been Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross and Chief of Staff for the World Health Organization (WHO).