Mitigating biodiversity impacts in solar and wind energy 24 February 2021 Speakers' biographies

Mitigating biodiversity impacts in solar and wind energy
                    24 February 2021

                    Speakers’ biographies

        Dr Bruno Oberle, Director General, International Union for Conservation of
        Nature (IUCN)
        Dr Oberle assumed the position of Director General in July 2020. He brings over
        40 years of experience to IUCN at a time when redefining humanity’s
        relationship with nature is more urgent than ever. Before joining IUCN, he
        served in some of Switzerland’s most prestigious positions related to the
        environment. Between 2005 and 2015, as State Secretary for the Environment
        and Director of the Federal Office for the Environment for Switzerland, he
        represented Switzerland in leading international institutions and international
        negotiations, playing a key role in the Global Environment Facility and in the
        establishment of the Green Climate Fund. He is a leading expert in sustainable
        resource management and on green economy, and has explored and shaped
        the interface between environmental policy, economic development and social
        equity from the perspective of state regulator, entrepreneur and scientist.

        Stewart Maginnis, Global Director, Nature-based Solutions Group, IUCN
        Stewart has overall responsibility for IUCN’s global programmes on Business
        and Biodiversity, Ecosystem Management, Environmental Law, Forests,
        Gender, Global Policy, Governance and Rights, Marine and Polar, Nature-based
        Solutions, Science and Economics, and Water. With more than 28 years of
        experience in the area of natural resource management, he spent 13 years
        working full-time on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in
        Tanzania, Sudan, Ghana and Costa Rica. An agriculturalist by training, he holds
        a M.Sc. in Forestry and Land Use from the University of Oxford and has been a
        study fellow at the University of Manchester.

         Leon Bennun, Chief Scientist, The Biodiversity Consultancy Ltd
         Leon has experience of many facets of biodiversity conservation, with a focus
         on using science to improve policy and practice. He is a tropical ecologist by
         training and worked at the National Museums of Kenya, Tropical Biology
         Association and BirdLife International before joining The Biodiversity
         Consultancy in 2014.

         Tris Allinson, Senior Scientist, BirdLife International
         BirdLife’s work on the impact of energy infrastructure on birds is overseen by
         Tris Allinson, a world expert in the development of spatial planning tools to
         facilitate responsible energy expansion. Tris works closely with governments,
         international financial institutions and the energy sector to ensure that avian
         data are effectively integrated within the renewable energy planning process.
         He frequently contributes to global scientific and policy fora on the topic of
         biodiversity and energy and is chair of the Technical Working Group of the
         Convention of Migratory Species’ Energy Task Force.

Pippa Howard, Director, Extractive & Infrastructure, Fauna & Flora
International (FFI)
Pippa directs FFI’s engagement with the corporate sector, leading successful
programmes to both advise and steer biodiversity management while
leveraging change through critical interventions. Pippa brokers collaboration
and cooperation between business, government and civil society to address
both practical and policy challenges to biodiversity conservation.

Joseph Kiesecker, Lead Scientist, Global Conservation Lands Program, The
Nature Conservancy
Joseph is a Lead Scientist for The Nature Conservancy’s Global Conservation
Lands Program. In this capacity, his main responsibilities include developing
new tools, methods and techniques that improve conservation. He pioneered
the Conservancy’s Development by Design strategy to improve impact
mitigation through the incorporation of predictive modeling to provide
solutions that benefit conservation goals and development. He has published
over 150 articles, on topics ranging from climate change to the effectiveness
of conservation strategies; and, examples of his work have been published in
Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Conservation
Biology, Ecology and American Scientist.

Howard Rosenbaum, Senior Conservation Scientist and Director of the
Ocean Giants Program, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Howard oversees WCS’s Ocean Giants Program, which aims to secure the
future of whales, dolphins and other marine species. He is a Senior Scientist at
the American Museum of Natural History, core faculty member at Columbia
University, a member of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group and Important
Marine Mammal Area Task Force as well as the International Whaling
Commission’s Scientific Committee. He has led marine mammal conservation
projects around the world, including in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
and the Arctic. For 30 years, his innovative science has helped protect marine
species from current and emerging threats in their most important habitats.
He is also a member of New York’s Environmental Technical Working Group
and on the Specialist Committee for Best Management Practices related to
Offshore Wind Development. He has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed
publications and co-edited a book on genomics. In the NY Bight, he leads WCS’s
efforts for research and conservation of marine mammals, which includes a
collaborative effort to use state-of-the-art near real-time acoustic monitoring
and other technologies to study whales and ocean noise.

Etienne Bérille, Environmental and Biodiversity Manager, Electricité de
France (EDF) Renewables
Etienne works in EDF’s Sustainable Development team. As an
environmentalist, he provides support on biodiversity issues and coordinates
the French Environmental Management System and partnerships. He
contributed to IUCN guidelines by sharing the company's experience
acquired developing, building and operating solar and wind (onshore and
offshore) projects.

Sara Goulartt, Deputy Director of the Corporate Sustainability Office,
  Energias De Portugal (EDP)
  Working on the sustainability landscape for more than 20 years, Sara has been
  responsible for sustainability strategies and corporate reporting, aligned with
  the most recognised global standards and ESG requirements. Currently,
  climate performance, circular economy and biodiversity strategies are her
  main areas of responsibility, with stakeholder engagement, mostly with
  academia, NGO and business associations playing a decisive role in helping the
  company to achieve its sustainability commitments. Sara started her
  professional life as an environmental engineer, with a MSc in Economics and
  Environmental and Energy Policy.

 Koen Broker, Environmental Manager, Shell Renewables and Energy
 Solutions
 With an ecological background, Koen has been working as an environmental
 scientist in the energy sector with specific focus on management of
 biodiversity risks to marine and terrestrial ecosystems for nearly 20 years. He
 currently works as environmental manager for Shell Renewables and Energy
 Solutions. In that capacity, he is managing environmental and circularity
 programmes in Shell’s renewables business, with specific focus on offshore
 wind. At present, he is involved in management of Shell’s offshore wind
 environmental and circularity R&D efforts, environmental impact assessments
 and development of monitoring and mitigation programmes. He is passionate
 about the effects of underwater sound on marine life and has authored several
 publications on this topic.

Jan-Willem van Bochove, Senior Principal Consultant, The Biodiversity
Consultancy Ltd
Jan-Willem is a Senior Principal Consultant at The Biodiversity Consultancy. He
helps businesses align with biodiversity good practice and environmental
safeguards, with a focus on IFC’s Performance Standard 6. His experience spans
a wide range of sectors, including renewables, mining and oil and gas in both
marine and terrestrial environments.

Giulia Carbone, Deputy Director, Business and Biodiversity Programme, IUCN
Giulia’s recent responsibilities include the management of the Western Gray
Whale Advisory Panel, the adaptation of the biodiversity mitigation hierarchy to
the sport and energy sectors, the development of the recommendations for
responsible business operations in and around KBAs, and the development of
the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s performance standard. Previously, Giulia
worked for the United Nations Environment Programme, where she was the
coordinator of UNEP’s tourism work. She has a master of science degree from
the London School of Economics in marine policy (1993), a master’s in
environmental engineering from the Turin Polytechnic (1991), a bachelor of arts
in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA (1990) and
the Laurea in geography from the Università di Genova, Italy (1997).