What do you have in common with governments, the private sector and the civil society? Together, you can collaborate and set up an effective global response for several pressing concerns. This event will shed light on how technology and innovation can champion biodiversity to achieve sustainability. In addition, it will. It will convene conversations to create solutions in areas like employment, while providing partnership and networking opportunities for stakeholders. In addition, it will provide opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs to become part of the global dialogue, to drive climate change and biodiversity conservation. 

Thriving in Balance with the Planet

Thematic Business Forum | Opportunities in Climate & Biodiversity

Opportunities and progress achieved by the UAE, participating countries and Expo Partners. 

Role of Public Sector in Driving a Sustainable Future

Role of Private Sector in Achieving Net-Zero Carbon

Dubai Exhibition Centre - Audio Guide

Dubai Exhibition Center

Take in conferences and performances a mere 300 metres away from Al Wasl Plaza.

Dubai Exhibition Center 3

Enjoy the serene movement of the DEC's shading element.

Dubai Exhibition Center 4

Expo 2020 connects minds from around the globe. These connections are not limited to the pavilions and parks, but also extend to the vast Dubai Exhibition Centre: a new, state-of-the-art venue for conferences, concerts and more. 

Conveniently located next to the recently completed Expo 2020 metro station, with striking views of the magnificent domed Al Wasl Plaza, the DEC offers 45,000 square metres of customisable event space, 14 exhibition and multi-use halls, on-site catering, and best-in-class audio-visual resources.


A light geometric pattern decorates the DEC’s extraordinarily broad front façade, which features a giant overhanging arch over the entrance to the central plaza area, as well as sloped surfaces that seem to angle away from the entrance like a pair of wings

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event space

A sleek

Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC)

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Panel Discussion - Climate and Biodiversity Day 2 Web Image m2216

Panel Discussion - Climate and Biodiversity Day 2 Web Image m2217

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Image Gallery

Gulf News

Climate and Biodiversity Week to spur the world into action to protect our planet

We stand at the brink of a crucial moment in time - a moment in which we must take decisive collective action to protect our planet, and the life it sustains, for future generations. It is an opportunity for us to take our place in history as the generation that stepped up to halt climate change, and transform human activity to operate within Earth's planetary boundaries. 

Expo 2020 Dubai's Climate & Biodiversity Week convenes government decision-makers, business leaders, youth advocates and our millions of visitors to address the greatest challenge of our time and generate solutions critical to the future of our civilisation and the health of our planet. 

What's your Promise to our Planet?

Climate and Biodiversity

How do we work together to better manage climate change and protect biodiversity? 

C&B week PPP info extract

Climate & Biodiversity Week Programme

Learnings and insights from the World Majlis conversations on Climate and Biodiversity

World Majlis: Insights from Climate & Biodiversity Week

Insight Report from Climate and Biodiversity Week

Natural Resource and Biodiversity Conservation

Program for People and Planet - Empowerment Workshop 

Conservation for Hope at Climate and Biodiversity Week

Cultures in Conversation Climate Change in the Classroom Living Room Street and Beyond event at Terra the Auditorium

Eleni Giokos with Sabrin Rahman and Erik Becker at the World Green Economy Summit 2021

Panel Discussion - Climate and Biodiversity Day 2

Climate & Biodiversity Week

Expo 2020 Dubai Climate & Biodiversity Week

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Connecting the business community with a world of possibilities in the most dynamic city in the Middle East.

Dubai Chamber Website

As an Official Partner for Expo 2020 Dubai, Dubai Chamber is playing a key role in creating new connections and fostering cross-border collaboration. The Chamber is providing a platform for UAE companies and their international counterparts to network at its on-site facility at Expo 2020. It is also hosting a number of high-profile events during Expo, including the Global Business Forum (GBF) Africa, GBF Latin America, GBF ASEAN, the 12th World Chambers Congress and the 5th edition of the Global Islamic Economy Summit.

Creating an Expo of business opportunities

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Virtual Expo Partner Content DC image 1-01

Dubai Chamber

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stamp Estonia

Estonia Image Gallery

Offering everything from online tax filing to internet elections to quick business registration via your mobile device, Estonia is one of the world’s first e-governments, a true digital-first society. With a luminous design that draws inspiration from the circuitry that powers it, the Estonia Pavilion shares the Baltic nation’s digital innovations with Expo 2020.

Inside, visitors can tour a futuristic model e-classroom and walk beneath illuminated data “clouds” based on the country’s X-Road online infrastructure – but it’s not all digital here. You can also taste Nordic-inspired Estonian cuisine at the on-site restaurant.


Estonia

Estonia 2

Estonia Pavilion

Ameer Ebrahim is a marine ecologist with a vast experience in fisheries management and ecology. He received his PhD in Marine Ecology mid last year at the University of Queensland, Australia. His research was focused on the ecological and functional roles of commercially important rabbitfish species in a marine environment. He has recently been appointed as Technical Coordinator and Advisor to the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA). His role primarily involves developing, facilitating, coordinating scientific research and projects within the SFA, and forming strong international ties within the sector. He also acts as the Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer and to the Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy. Dr. Ebrahim is also the Chief Scientific Advisor to the James Michel Foundation (NGO).

Ameer Ebrahim

PhD Candidate in Marine Ecology/ Chief scientific advisor to The James Michel Foundation	 


Dr. Ameer Ebrahim 

Anna-Greta Tsahkna is the founder and CEO of Timbeter and Vice-President on Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications. Timbeter is an innovative, global AI-based solution that enables quick, accurate and transparent digital measurement of timber and data management. Timbeter helps the forestry industry to save time and costs by making processes more objective and transparent, enabling better control and fair trade. Solution helps companies to manage their timber sustainably and governments with the fight against illegal logging. Timbeter as company started off from hackathon Garage48, an event that was specially dedicated to bring more women to IT. Before founding Timbeter, Anna-Greta worked in the field of IT, communications and politics. 

AGTsahkna

Anna-Greta Tsahkna	

Aristides Muhate has 17 years of work experience in the forest sector both with the government and private sector. He started his career in 2004 as a technician in the Forest Department at the National Directorate of Forest and Wildlife, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. In 2006 He was appointed Head of Department of Forest and Wildlife at the Provincial Forestry Services in Nampula. He  joined the Private sector to work in a Carbon Project in Cheringoma and Gorongosa, working at the Nhambita and Zambezi Delta Projects for 6 years. In 2014 Aristides re-joined the Government (MICOA) as a technical assistant for REDD+ projects in Maputo, where he was involved in the development of the first jurisdictional REDD+ project (under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility) in 9 districts of the Zambezia Province.

Aristides

Aristides Baptista Muhate

Benedict Libanda is the Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia. Leading up to this position, he held strategic positions in the field of biodiversity conservation with special focus at environmental and climate financing. A seasoned environmental expert with over 19 years’ experience in the area of environmental fiscal reforms, climate change financing, resource mobilisation, and investment structuring. He serves on several international environmental and climate change bodies. He holds a Master’s Degree in Developmental Studies from the University of the Free State, South Africa, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University Leicester, England.
 



benedict-libanda

Chief Executive Officer, Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia

Benedict Libanda	

Dragica Marinič holds a PhD in Ethnology and a BSc of Chemistry and Chemical  Engineering. She works as a head of the project management office and coordinator of  the national Strategic research and innovation partnership. Her main tasks include coordination in the field of the circular economy and human resources, to support to SMEs. This is in the form of consulting, advising, providing technical support to business entities for the preparation of various projects, particularly on a national level, cross-border and European level.


Dragica Marinič 

Project Manager at Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Štajerska, Slovenia 

Dr. Dragica Marinič	

Fatima HAMDOUCH is Director of Strategy and Monitoring at MASEN, the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy, which she joined in 2013, continuing an extremely varied career in  consulting, both in Morocco and overseas. Currently, her main role is to contribute to define Masen’s strategy and translate it into strategic  objectives and plans. She manages the various stages of project incubation and oversees  reporting activities. She is also in charge of corporate activities including the company organisation and risk management. She is also member of Masen Executive Committee and  represents the company in various Boards. 


Photo F.Hamdouch[2]

Strategic Steering Director, Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN)

Fatima Hamdouch 	

A professor of Food Science and Technology, Professor Fefadu Beyene holds a BSc in Animal Sciences (Addis Ababa University), MSc in Animal Production (Haramaya University) and PhD Food Science & Technology-Dairy Technology (Agricultural University of Norway). He is the Commissioner of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, Ethiopia. He previously served as the Minister of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, and State Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia. 

Prof. Fekadu Beyene

Commisioner, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commision, Ethiopia 


Fouad Abdou Rabi is a graduate engineer in fisheries resources management at the University of Murmansk in Russia. He has also followed several training courses in marine environment management and participated in the establishment of the first national park of the Comoros (Moheli marine park) in 2001. Currently, he manages the national system of protected areas of the Comoros which is composed of 6 national parks. He is a member of several regional NGOs including the regional network for coral reef management in the Indian Ocean.

Fouad Abdou Rabi

Executive Director, National Parks Agency of Comoros 


Hana AlHashimi is Head of the Office of the UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, HE Dr. Sultan Al Jaber. Previously, she led the International Organizations Section of the United Arab Emirates Prime Minister’s Office. AlHashimi served as a senior adviser to the President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly From 2018–2019, as team lead for climate action, sustainable energy, frontier technologies, and information and communications technologies (ICTs); and as the liaison with the Group of 77 and China.


Hana AlHashimi

Head of the Office of the U.A.E. Special Envoy for Climate Change	UAE


Dr. Schoenfelder, started his chemical industry career in the year 1996, when he joined BASF in the field of research and development. Hendrik has since led on both, technical and commercial roles ranging from Capital Investment Manager, Six Sigma Manager (2003), Regional Business Manager (2007) and Sales Director (2011). Among Hendrik’s key achievements at Evonik, a significant initiative included the 
merging of Evonik’s Middle East, North Africa, and Sub Sahara Africa clusters to a joint unit 
as ‘Evonik Middle East & Africa’ (MEA). This newly formed organisation shares functional and 
operational expertise enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of Evonik’s activities. 


Dr. Hendrik Schoenfelder

Regional President MEA, Evonik Gulf FZE 


Hendrik Schoenfelder	

Jan Budaj is the Minister of Environment of the Slovak Republic. Previously, he was the MP of the National Council of the Slovak Republic (NC SR) and Member of the Committee of the NC SR for Agriculture and Environment.



Jan Budaj

Dr. Jozsef Steier is an economist, energy specialist, agricultural engineer and Professor of UAC (Benin).


Prof.Dr. Jozsef Steier

Founder and CEO, SUNWO Startegical Energy Technology Developement & Supply Co.

Dr. Jozsef	Steier 	

Leo Van Broeck is advocating for an attractive, dense, and highly qualitative urban space, and is actively  contributing to raising awareness on land-use beyond the world of architecture.  
Leo is the founder and former President of the Association “City & Architecture” in Belgium, former member of the Advisory Committee for Art in the Public Space and of the Urban Design Committee of Leuven and former  President of the Federation of Belgian Architectural Associations. During his mandate as Flemish Government Architect (Vlaams Bouwmeester) in 2016-2020, he has been advising public patrons in the design and realisation of buildings, public space, landscape and infrastructure. 


Leo Van Broeck

Flemish Government Architect, Government of Flanders


Prof. Leo	Van Broeck

Dr. Marc Pons Pons is an Engineer, with a MSc and a PhD in Sustainability Science and Technology from the BarcelonaTech and the McGill University of Montreal. Currently the director of Andorra Research + Innovation, the institution leading the design and the implementation of the National Innovation Strategy in Andorra, especially the development of the Country as an Open Innovation Living Lab and the implementation of the Digital Transformation roadmap of the country. He is also researcher of the 
Sustainability Institute of the BarcelonaTech. He has worked on several research and engineering projects in Europe, Asia and North America with a strong focus on the use of technology and Innovation for the sustainable transition in the fields of the Tourism, Energy, Mobility or Water management. 

Marc Pons Pons 

Director, Andorra Research and Innovation

Marc Pons Pons 	

Marshall Banamwana is a Conservation Scientist with a more than 13 experience spanning in research, teaching and public administration. He holds Bachelor of Science in Biology majoring in Botany and Conservation and Masters of Science in Biodiversity Conservation both from the former National University of Rwanda currently the University of Rwanda. He has been working at the Ministry of Environment for the last 7 years as Biodiversity Management Specialist offering technical advisory in the implementation of policy related to biodiversity, protected areas ad wetland management and related Multi-Lateral Environment Agreements. 

Marshall Profile Pic

Biodiveristy Management Specialist, Ministry of Environment, Rwanda

Marshall	Banamwana	

Marta Giannichi is biologist graduated from Mackenzie University, Master in Biodiversity  and Conservation and PhD in Market Mechanisms for the Conservation of Tropical  Forests from the University of Leeds - England. She serves as the Amazon and  Environmental Services Secretariat at the Ministry of the Environment and has  experience as a REDD+ project manager in the Brazilian Amazon and as coordinator and director of the Ministry of Environment's forest and Sustainable department.

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Secretary of Amazon and Environmental Services, Ministry of Environment, Brazil 


Marta Giannichi

Originally from Dorset in England, Dr. Max Graham has been involved in studying and conserving elephants in Africa for the last 20 years.  He was awarded his PhD and Rugby Blue from Cambridge University in 2007. In 2011, in response to poachers killing several elephants he was studying, Max founded the international conservation organisation, Space for Giants. Today, Max continues to lead Space for Giants' work in 10 African countries with an increasing focus on attracting conservation and tourism investment to protect and restore the continent's remaining natural ecosystems. He lives with his family on a wildlife conservancy in the foothills of Mt Kenya. 

Adv BP - Max Graham

Max Graham

Miguel Méndez is Industrial Engineer (Mechanical and Energy Technologies) from the University of Seville (Spain) and holds a Master’s Degree in Project Management from Loyola Business School in Seville (Spain) and the Graduate School of Business in Cape Town (South Africa). He has been leading Technology development and Renewable Energy projects execution for over 12 years. Since 2010, he has been focused in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, participating in flagship projects worldwide valued at over 9$ billion.

corporate p(b n) mendeztrigomiguel

Head of Solar Technology Department, Abengoa


Miguel Méndez Trigo

Dejan Pavleski holds the position of the Director of the Agency of Foreign Investments and Export Promotion. Previously he was the Deputy Minister for Local Self-Government starting from June 2017 and Special Adviser to the Additional Deputy Minister of Information Society and Administration in 2016. He started his professional career in 2003 as Adviser for ICT and Copyright Protection at the Ministry of Culture and from 2007 continued in private sector as ICT Manager. He upgraded his knowledge and expertise in the fields of computer and network systems management, copyright and related rights, the principles of World Trade Organization, electronic resource planning of companies, leadership values and management of organizational culture, change management and life cycle of organizations. 


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Director, Invest North Macedonia, North Macedonia 

Dejan Pavleski 	

He has been leading the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA) since June 2020. The SIEA covers a wide range of activities from projects focused on innovative solutions, energy efficiency to the use of renewable energy sources. Before joining SIEA, he served as Director-General of the National Center for Health Information (NCZI) for four years. Under his leadership, a large-scale eHealth project has been launched, which is the basis for electronic healthcare. For this project, he received the ITAPA 2019 award in the category of the best digitization project of the Slovak company. In the past, he worked as an IT consultant and manager in Austria, Australia and the Middle East and headed the information technology department of Slovenská pošta (Slovak Post Office).


Peter Blaskovits SIEA

Director General, Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA)

Peter Blaškovitš	

Ranjit hasextensive experience in Renewable Energy,Thermal Power and the O&G industry with specialities in Project Management, Business Development, Bidding, and Project Finance. Prior to Azure Power, Ranjit co-founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of Ostro Energy where he spearheaded growth through a prudent renewable energy auction strategy entailing an equity investment of $280 million and a debt of about $900million to build a 1100 MW renewables platform. Prior to Ostro, Ranjit
co-founded Orange Renewable where he steered the capital raise of $65mn equity and executed RE projects of 180 MW on BOO basis and developed a pipeline for another 350 MW.

Ranjit Gupta

Roberta Barbieri is PepsiCo’s Vice President for Global Sustainability.  Roberta has over 25 years of experience in environmental sustainability across the electronics and food and beverage industries. In her role with PepsiCo, Roberta is accountable for developing and executing PepsiCo’s environmental sustainability strategy, including the company’s net zero greenhouse gas emissions strategy, its positive water impact strategy and its sustainability data governance and reporting strategy.  Before joining PepsiCo, Roberta worked for Diageo, where she held the position of Global Environmental Director and served as the principal architect of Diageo's Global Environmental Sustainability strategy. Roberta currently serves on the steering board of the 2030 Water Resources Group.  

Roberta Barbieri headshot Jan2020 (2)

Vice President for Global Sustainability, PepsiCo


Roberta Barbieri	

Tomas Sterckx is an Innovation, Project and Business Development manager at Dredging International. After graduating at the Universities of Brussels and Antwerp he worked a.o. at the Antwerp Port Authority and at projects for Development Aid in Afrika. The vast greatness of the River Congo became the outset of his enthusiasm for marine and environmental engineering and his first contact with Dredging International (DEME). After working in several international units at DEME he now specializes in nature based solutions, ecosystem based design and ecological engineering, ocean pollution problems, multi-use of space and renewable energy. He considers the Coastbusters projects (ecosystem based flood defense) and the overall positive feeling towards nature based solutions it transmitted, as a great achievement.


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Innovation, Project and Business Development Manager,	Dredging International


Tomas Sterckx

Engineer Ziyad Al-Shiha was appointed as the CEO of the Saudi Investment Recycling Co. (SIRC), a wholly  owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) in February 2021. Al-Shiha is also a board member and Head of the Investment, Corporate Governance and Merger Committees for the National Petrochemical Company (Petchem), a Saudi joint-stock company. He also acted as the Deputy Chair for the 2020 B20 Trade & Investment Taskforce during the KSA leadership for the event. He was the president and CEO of the Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) from 2014 to 2018 and prior to that he was an SEC board member from 2012 to 2013. He held several positions at Saudi Aramco both inside the Kingdom and overseas. 

CEO-picture square

CEO, Saudi Investment Recycling Co. (SIRC)


Ziyad Al-Shiha

Mauricio has more than 20 years' experience advising organisations on business strategy, markets and policies related to the energy transition and climate change. His experience spans decarbonisation, renewables, hydrogen, CCUS, electromobility, circularity and ESG, and has advised international 
and national oil & gas companies, European and US utilities, international mining companies, commodity exchanges, investors, NGOs and regulators on strategies, business & operating model innovation, asset and portfolio optimisation, and performance management. He also publishes, speaks and 
lectures frequently on these topics. He is a Managing Director at Accenture Strategy working across the sustainability, energy, utilities, chemicals and natural resources practices.

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Managing Director for Sustainability & Energy Transition, Accenture 


Dr. Mauricio Bemudez-Neubauer	

He has 20 years of experience in energy sector after his degree in Nuclear Engineering with a graduation thesis on Hydrogen Storage, in 1999. Since 2003, he had different roles in R&D, engineering, construction and operations in ENI upstream Oil & Gas sector. In 2012 he was for two years Head of Environmental Department in ENI Exploration & Production division. In 2016 he joined Energy Solutions, ENI business unit dedicated to renewable energy, holding the position of Vice President North Africa and afterwards Senior Vice President Middle East, Central Asia and Australia. He is currently holding the position of Head of Renewable Engineering and Projects in “Eni Gas e Luce” a 100% Eni Company. He has an extensive international experience in countries like Italy, Japan, Algeria, Iran, UK, Turkmenistan and Iraq. 


Donato Azzarone picture

Head of Renewable Engineering and Projects, Eni Gas e Luce, 	Italy 


Donato Azzarone 

Prof. Tom Crowther is a scientist specialising in ecosystem ecology and the chief scientific advisor to the 
UN's Trillion Tree Campaign. He is a tenure-track professor of Global Ecosystem Ecology at ETH Zürich, 
where he created the Crowther Lab, an interdisciplinary scientific research group that aims to generate a 
better understanding of global ecology. His work seeks to generate a holistic understanding of the global 
scale of ecological systems that regulate the Earth's climate.

thomas-crowther

Chief Scientist and advisor to the UN's Trillion Tree Campaign, Switzerland 


Tom	Crowther 	

Dave Maslen is general manager for markets and sustainability at The New Zealand Merino Company (NZM). He is an advocate for sustainability in the wool industry and has been instrumental in bringing the largest supply of ethically sourced wool to the world. Dave is responsible for strategic growth initiatives, research and development, sustainability, traceability and ethical production. In 2007, NZM created the ZQ on-farm, industry leading standard that includes animal welfare, environment planning and social responsibility. Dave is also now leading the recently launched ZQᴿˣ programme, a platform designed to encourage and quantify regenerative farming.



DAVE

General Manager for Markets and Sustainability, The New Zealand Merino Company	

Dave Maslen

Holding his current position since 2006, Hamad Buamim is the President & CEO of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He is also the Chairman of the Paris-based World Chambers Federation - International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Buamim serves as a Board Member of Dubai World, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, UAE Banks Federation, and acts as Chairman of National General Insurance PJSC.
Previously, Buamim served as Chairman of Emirates Financial Services, Emirates NBD Capital as well as a Board Member of the UAE Central Bank, Dubai International Financial Center, Emirates NBD Bank and Network International.

HE. Hamad Buamim Official Passport Photo 2x2inches White Background

President and CEO, Dubai Chamber of Commerce 	Dubai Chamber of Commerce 


HE Hamad Buamim 

Climate & Biodiversity Business Forum 

World Expos have long been inflection points for global progress and innovation where governments and citizens have united to form enduring partnerships and generate opportunities in business. We have built an exciting offering through which entities such as governments, the private sector and others can harness the power of global trade and exchange to shape a better world. 

The Thrive Together Track of Expo 2020 Dubai’s Programme for People and Planet features a tapestry of event series and experiences that focus on building a resilient global economy, one that enables strong economic growth and partnerships. 

Enabling Economic Growth and Partnerships

Thrive together image

Thrive Together 

Thrive together icon

A fantastical show for both little and big kids alike! Guided by five hilarious characters, Humanimals will take you on a journey through the animal kingdom. This family show will delight and entertain all who encounter it.

Description

The Humanimals

Humanimals will take you on a journey through the animal kingdom. This family show will delight and entertain all who encounter it at the Dubai Millenium Ampitheatre.

The Humanimals 

Humanimals will take you on a journey through the animal kingdom. This family show will delight and entertain all who encounter it in Dubai Millinium Ampitheatre.

Climate & Biodiversity Business Forum

Thriving in Balance with the Planet

Highlights

Speaker of the day

Speaker

Dr. Ameer Ebrahim

Speaker

Anna-Greta Tsahkna

Speaker

Aristides Baptista Muhate

Speaker

Benedict Libanda

Speaker

Dr. Dragica Marinič

Speaker

Fatima Hamdouch

Speaker

Dr. Ameer Ebrahim

Speaker

Anna-Greta Tsahkna

Speaker

Aristides Baptista Muhate

Speaker

Benedict Libanda

Participants

Image Gallery

Climate & Biodiversity Week.

This event is part of the
Thrive Together .

Thriving in Balance with the Planet

Highlights

Speaker of the day

Participants

Image Gallery

Climate & Biodiversity Week.

This event is part of theThrive Together .

This event is part of the
Thrive Together .