YES-Europe Annual Conference 2021
October 16, 2021 at 10:00 - 21:00 CEST
| FreeThe Annual Conference of 2021 was held online. After the cancellation of the Annual Conference of 2020, in 2021we gathered together as a community and enjoyed a day full of knowledge sharing and networking. During the day, we had a diverse range of speakers, workshops and panel discussions. You can view all the panel discussions and seminars and learn more about the speakers below.
Speakers
Beatriz Ildefonso
Researcher @Laboratory of Energy Policy and Policy Team leader & Board member at YES-Europe
Dimitri Zogg
R&D Engineer as well as the co-founder of a startup in alternative food.
President of YES-Europe
Stephen Lezack
Writer, researcher, and advocate who focuses on the politics of climate change and environmental justice
Valentina Guido
Associate in the Supply Chain Emissions Initiative within the @Climate Intelligence Program
Partners
Alba Forns is a young environmental professional & game changer in the clean energy space. Alba is cofounder, Head of Growth & Chief Climate Officer (CCO) at Seeds, an environmental FinTech mobile app that allows users to invest in community energy projects & cleantech scale-ups through crowdfunding with as little as their spare change. Forns has previous experience in the sustainability field as an Energy Consultant, engineering projects related with sustainable mobility, circular economy & energy efficiency. Her background is in Industrial Technology Engineering with a Double MSc in Renewable Energy at two leading technical universities in Europe. Alba entered the sustainability space out of passion. In her free time she loves to spend time in nature & practice outdoor sports. She likes to organize & participate in Volunteering events such as beach/bay clean ups.
Anna Martin is an energy policy officer at BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation. Prior to this experience, she worked in the German Foreign Office to prepare the German EU Council Presidency and as an energy policy officer in a renewable energy association. Anna holds a master in European affairs from the College of Europe, Sciences Po Lille and the University of Münster.
As the Group Vice President of Sustainable Development at Air Liquide, Ashutosh is responsible for development and deployment of the Sustainability roadmap across the organization. This includes environmental and societal components that are key to the Group’s strategy.
Beatriz Ildefonso is a board member of YES-Europe with an engineering background and a passion for sustainability and participatory policy. She has done a traineeship at the Joint Research Centre of Petten, followed by an internship at SolarPower Europe, in the International cooperation unit. Currently she is working as a researcher and project manager at the Laboratory of Energy policy in Ljubljana, and she is leading the Policy team at YES-Europe. Her main goal at YES-Europe is to support the active members in gaining skills that help accelerate the energy transition and help disseminate relevant information within the community.
Diala Hawila is a Programme Officer, Policy Advice in the RE Markets unit in the Knowledge, Policy and Finance Centre, based in Abu Dhabi. She has been working in the Policy Unit of IRENA since 2012. During this time, she has managed, coordinated and co-authored reports related to renewable energy policies and benefits entailing the series on Auctions, Policies in a Time of Transition including heating and cooling, and Leveraging Local Capacity, among others. Based on the findings of the reports, she provides on the ground support to countries in capacity building workshops, organized by IRENA or partner institutions, on the design of policies and targets. She also coordinates policy events to engage policy makers in related discussions, such as the IRENA Policy Day. Prior to that, she worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers on supporting the development of policies and procedures for government entities in Abu Dhabi. She holds a Master’s degree in Systems Engineering and Management focusing on Renewable Energy Policy.
Dimitri Zogg is an R&D Engineer in Switzerland as well as the co-founder of a startup in alternative food. Currently President of YES-Europe, he’s been involved in the NGO for 4 years, leading numerous initiatives at the local and international level. One of his main drives is to make a positive impact on the planet as well as to connect and empower people. He holds a Mechanical and Energy Engineering Master from EPFL Switzerland and previously worked on the sustainable transition of an O&G company in Paris as well as on research for Concentrated Solar Power in the Chemical Engineering department of Imperial College London.
Ella is a climate scientist at the University of Reading with her head in the clouds and her heart in the ice. She has spent several years working on Antarctic climate change and how clouds mediate atmospheric warming. Her current work focuses on the climate impact of aviation but she is interested in all things climate science. She is also a passionate communicator and presenter who speaks in the media and at schools, festivals, museums and more. You can find her at 
Juliana Salamone is a Consultant in Business Strategy for Sustainability, with focus on leadership and personal development. Juliana is passionate about sustainable change and fostering systemic impact, she founded Antesis, a consultancy agency based in Argentina that seeks to help organizations in the region to move towards sustainable development. She graduated as a Lawyer and has a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), recently she graduated from the Master’s in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability (MSLS) in Sweden. She is also specialized in Climate Change, entrepreneurship and business development.
Kurt is a well experienced consultant, coach and facilitator with experiences from different industries and in different roles throughout his career. For about 15 years he pursued a successful career path as an Industrial Engineer in industry. His areas of expertise include project management, supply chain management, business transformation, organizational change and development of sustainability strategies. Over the past 5 years, Kurt has worked as a coach and facilitator with individuals, students, entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs. During this time, he has designed sustainability and systems thinking masterclasses for industrial engineers, facilitated a city climate summit to define a climate change mitigation concept, developed organisational and sustainability strategies and designed business models within the food sector. He also supports C-Climate KIC as a Coach and Consultant, where he developed a sustainability leadership model for different programs. Kurt holds a Master in Industrial Engineering and a M.Sc. in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability. The Strategic Leadership Master equips him with all strategic sustainable development concepts to support his clients on their transformation journey.
Livia is a board member of YES-Europe where she is developing the strategy of the organisation. Passionate about sustainable development and finding synergistic collaborations, she has developed business cases with the chemical industries (CEFIC) to improve their sustainability strategy. She is currently finishing her PhD at Imperial College London where she has been involved in several activities from research on novel materials for 3D printing, future cities development as well as teaching activities related to Sustainable Design Engineering. She is also involved in a multidisciplinary project to address complex contemporary societal challenges from alternative perspectives.
Nicolas is a climate scientist. He uses satellite observations and climate models to quantify the climate impacts of atmospheric particles, which interact with sunlight, clouds, vegetation, and other components of the Earth system. He is Professor of Climate Processes at the University of Reading, United Kingdom, and Chair of Aviation and Climate at Sorbonne Université, France. Nicolas is a Lead Author of Chapter 3 of the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher.
Rebecca is South Pole’s Director of Sustainable Finance, joining in early 2020 after approximately two decades of holding senior leadership roles in the financial industry. In her previous role, Chief Financial Officer of Sustainable Finance at HSBC Holdings plc, Rebecca oversaw group-wide financial services relating to sustainable finance products, such as sustainability/green bonds, ESG (environmental, social, governance) asset management/private bank funds and commercial lending related to sustainability. In addition, Rebecca was responsible for HSBC’s external ESG reporting and investor relations – including the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and corporate reporting on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Rebecca has chaired the European Banking Federation industry SDG working group and has been a member of other advisory groups to progress non-financial reporting, for example, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and CDP. She holds a BSc in Economics and Politics, a Masters in Sustainability Leadership from University of Cambridge, and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant.
Stephen Lezak is a writer, researcher, and advocate who focuses on the politics of climate change and environmental justice. He is a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge, a fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute, and the manager of the Oxford Programme on the Sustainable Future of Commodities & Infrastructure. He has also advised on sustainability policy in a variety of contexts, including working with two US presidential campaigns, the government of Mongolia, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. His writing has been published in a variety of academic and popular outlets, including The Independent, Grist, and Emergence.
Valentina is an associate in the Supply Chain Emissions Initiative within the Climate Intelligence Program. She conducts research to support several work streams and engages with stakeholders in heavy industries to support decarbonization efforts. She also serves as the policy liaison for the Supply Chains team, working to support the program and RMI in making climate differentiated markets compliance based. Before joining RMI, Valentina was a sustainability analyst at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. She was also a sustainable finance research assistant at the Energy Politics Group of ETH Zurich and an intern at the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative at UNCTAD, the trade and development agency of the UN. In the latter position, she helped draft the 10-year anniversary impact report of the initiative.