Angela Merkel served as Chancellor of Germany. She was Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety and, while Minister, presided over the first United Nations Climate Conference in Berlin, held in 1995. During her time as German Chancellor and until leaving office, she regularly took part in UN Climate Conferences and pushed for binding undertakings to reduce national and international carbon emissions.
Miguel Araújo is a Research Professor at the National Museum of Natural Sciences, in Madrid and Chair of Biogeography at the University of Évora. He has published over 250 articles and is recognised as a world leader in the study of climate change effects on biodiversity. Thomson-Reuters highly-cited scientist since 2014, having received the 2016 Rey Jaime I Prize and 2018 Pessoa Prize.
Chair of the African Climate Foundation and Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town. Carlos Lopes has held leadership roles at the United Nations and African Union, including Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (2012-16). He serves on several global commissions and boards relating to climate, energy and development.
Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam. He is an internationally recognised scientist on global sustainability issues and led the development of the Planetary Boundaries framework for human development in the current era of rapid global change.
Chair of the Global Carbon Project and Douglas Provostial Professor of Energy and Environment at Stanford University. Rob Jackson is a Guggenheim Fellow and received the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering. Beyond his work on carbon cycles and climate policy, he is an accomplished climate photographer and author (Into the Clear Blue Sky, 2024, Penguin Random House).
Runa Khan founded Friendship in 2002, addressing adaptation solutions for climate-impacted communities. She won the Earthshot Prize in 2025 for Friendship Integrated Climate Adaptation (FICA). She is a Rolex Laureate, member of the Club of Rome and Honorary President of One Sustainable Health Forum. Author of eight children’s books, Runa is globally recognised for her work on climate adaptation, human dignity and leadership.
Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and CONICET, Argentina. She has pioneered the field of plant functional biodiversity and its links with societies, being one of the world’s most cited scientists in ecology. A recipient of the Tyler Prize and named on the 2025 TIME100 Most Influential People list, she co-Chaired the first global intergovernmental assessment of biodiversity and human quality of life (IPBES Global Assessment).
Writer and environmentalist. Sunita Narain is Director-General of the Centre for Science and Environment and editor of the magazine Down To Earth. In 2005 she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian government and also received the World Water Prize. In 2020, she was awarded with the Edinburgh Medal. She continues to work on climate justice, arguing that the world needs an ambitious and equitable agreement. Ms. Narain was also a member of India’s Prime Minister’s Council for Climate Change.
He was President of Portugal from 1996 to 2006 and President of the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity Jury until his death in 2021. He held high-level positions within the UN from 2007 to 2013 and was a trustee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 2013 to 2018. He served as Chair of the Global Platform for Syrian Students, and was a member of both the Global Commission on Drug Policy and the Club of Madrid. He has received several honours and awards, including the UN Nelson Mandela Prize.
Director General of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria. Schellnhuber is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, China. He founded the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in 1992 and headed that institute for 26 years. Schellnhuber is an active member of numerous scientific societies, most importantly the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the German National Academy Leopoldina and the US National Academy of Sciences.
Head of the Environmental Systems Analysis group of Wageningen University and editor-in chief of the international journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (Elsevier). Over the last decade, Rik Leemans has been recognized for developing and integrating innovative natural and social science knowledge.
European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action in the Juncker Commission between 2014 and 2019, Miguel Arias Cañete led the EU negotiations of the Paris Agreement. Previously, he served as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (2000-2004) and as Minister for Agriculture, Food and Environment (2011-2014) in Spain.
Professor in Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London and Director of UCL's Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. She won international prizes as Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought (2018) and Staël Prize for Cultural Values (2019). She advises policy makers around the world on innovation-led inclusive and sustainable growth.
Prince Constantijn is an independent adviser on corporate innovation. He is also Director of Digital Technology and Macro Strategy at Macro Advisory Partners in London. In January 2017 the Prince joined the 15-strong High-Level Group of Innovators that advises the European Commission on improving Europe’s performance in breakthrough, market-creating innovation.
Portuguese academic, researcher and writer. Mr Oliveira is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Portuguese Academy of Engineering. He is author of more than 150 scientific articles and papers in conferences and wrote three books on the matters of science and digital mindsets.
Director of the Center for Macroecology Evolution and Climate (CMEC), Mr. Rahbek is also the Research leader of the ‘Biodiversity and Macroecology’ Group from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen. Elected Member of Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters (2006 onwards), has been awarded, in 2010, the ‘Elite Researcher Price’.
President of Indigenous Women and Peoples Association of Chad, Member of Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee and Member of Advisory Committee to the Secretary-General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit. In 2019 she was listed by Time Magazine as one of 15 women championing action on climate change and won the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award.
Professor of Biological Oceanography and Leader of the Sustainability Science Centre at the University of Copenhagen. Ms Richardson served as Chair of the Danish Commission on Climate Change Policy and on the United Nations Scientific Panel that drafted the Global Sustainable Development Report published in 2019.
Professor of Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Nature, and European Ideas in the Departments of Philosophy and European Studies of the University of Lisbon. Mr Soromenho Marques was Chairman of Quercus (1992-1995) and is currently a member of the National Council on Environment and Sustainable Development.
