Advisory Board

The Advisory Board of the Global Development Conference 2024 comprises scientific experts with strong research backgrounds and capacity-building skills. Their diverse perspectives and experience are key to curating a conference on the foundation of technical and regional expertise that brings together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, youth, and communities.

How is the agenda shaping up?

Advisory Board: GDC 2024 Advisory Board Members help shape the conference agenda by selecting sessions, topics, and training workshops that meet the attendees’ needs.

They review the suggestions received through the call for ideas to ensure that the conference aligns in practice to the innovative approach of offering hands-on, skill-building experiences.

Ideas Received Through Open Call: The GDC 2024 Call for Ideas was a novel and key part of our community-driven approach. It helped gather inputs from the people in the field, either impacted directly by climate change or working on different aspects of the issue, ensuring that the community’s interests and needs shaped the conference content.

The ideas received are being used to determine the conference agenda, making it more relevant and impactful through a bottom-up approach.

GDN Team: The conference team at GDN is at the heart of this year’s innovative conference approach. Their focus on capacity-building and networking, in addition to technical sessions, sets this conference apart.

The team designed the conference format to facilitate meaningful interactions, knowledge exchange and professional development opportunities for participants.

Agenda Input Ratio

ADVISORY BOARD

CHRISTIAN NIELSEN

DR. CHRISTOPHE BUFFET

Dr. Christophe Buffet is an adaptation researcher at the French Agency for Development (AFD). From 2018 to 2024, he was in charge of AdaptAction, a programme of AFD Group that supports understanding, planning, and investing in adaptation in 12 to 18 partner countries and regional organisations (Africa, LDCs, SIDS, Mediterranean area) with two cross-cutting components (Gender & social inclusion; knowledge management and outreach).

He previously worked for NGOs in the humanitarian field (Afghanistan, Pakistan). He holds a PhD on the construction of adaptation from COPs to vulnerable villages in Bangladesh (EHESS), a Master’s degree in International Relations (IRIS), and a Master’s degree in Business Management and Marketing (Audencia).

HAFIZ JAWAD

Hafiz Jawad is a geoscientist and interdisciplinary researcher specialising in global environmental affairs and sustainable development. He is a leading figure in youth climate action in the region. His participation in UN Climate Conferences and other forums has advanced youth integration into national climate agendas and policy processes, including at the World Bank Group and the UNFCCC’s Official Children and Youth Constituency.

His work focuses on geoscientific inquiry and interdisciplinary climate change and environmental sustainability research. Hafiz’s contributions have been recognised globally, and he serves on multiple advisory boards, supporting businesses, educational institutions, and industries in achieving a just transition. He is also the co-founder of Climate Forward Pakistan.

ISKANDER ERZINI VERNOIT

Iskander Erzini Vernoit is a co-founder and director of the Imal Initiative for Climate & Development (IMAL). Iskander has a diverse background working on the climate crisis, including in policy and diplomacy across the public and non-profit sectors, as well as in research and at the grassroots level. He began his professional career as a climate negotiator for the Kingdom of Morocco during its COP22 Presidency, and later worked as staff at the London headquarters of leading international climate think-tank E3G, where he helped lead on key finance-related advancements ahead of COP26. Iskander holds a BA in Political Science (Concentration in Climate Politics) from Yale University, and an MSc in Environmental Policy & Regulation from LSE.

JEAN-LOUIS ARCAND

Professor Jean-Louis Arcand is a Canadian economist at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and an affiliate professor at Université Mohammed VI Polytechnic in Rabat. He is a Founding Fellow of the European Development Research Network (EUDN) and a Senior Fellow at FERDI. Arcand has held academic positions at the University of Montréal, CERDI, and has been a Visiting Professor at institutions in China, Brazil, Africa, and the Caribbean. He holds a PhD in Economics from MIT, an MPhil from Cambridge University, and a BA from Swarthmore College. He became president of GDN in January 2023.

KERRYN DEVENNY

Kerryn Devenny has a diverse background in education and retail management, with expertise in business processes, project management, capacity building, and leadership. Since joining the International WaterCentre (IWC) in 2017, she has developed and managed custom training programs to enhance the skills of water professionals globally.

Kerryn has also led projects such as the Water and WASH Futures Knowledge Events Series and developed strategies like the Water Security Engagement Strategy for the Pacific Region. Currently, as Sustainability Manager (Impact and Engagement) at Griffith University, she manages systems for rankings submissions, prepares sustainability reports, and coordinates initiatives aligned with the Griffith Sustainability Strategy 2023-2030.

MARIANNE KETTUNEN

Marianne Kettunen is a senior policy expert and advisor, serving as Policy and Institutions Operations Lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. With 20 years of experience at the science-policy interface, she has addressed biodiversity, green, bio-, and circular economies, and sustainable trade, collaborating with UN organisations, the European Commission, national governments, and various NGOs.

She is a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. She serves on the boards of the Institute for European Environmental Policy and the Thin Green Line Foundation UK. She is also Adviser to the Board for Tulip Consulting.

Marianne regularly mentors the next generations of environmental sustainability experts, including in the context of the Global Development Network (GDN).

SALĀ DR. GEORGE CARTER

George’s research and teaching are shaped by his diverse Samoan, Tuvaluan, i-Kiribati, Chinese, and British heritage and extensive Pacific experience. He serves his aiga and communities in Samoa as Salā from Lēauva’a and is the Deputy Head and Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Pacific Affairs and Director of the Pacific Institute at The Australian National University. George is a Co-Director and founder of Resilience and Sustainable Islands (SIDS Policy Research) and a Fellow at the Climate Council.

His research examines the intersection of international politics and climate change, which impacts Pacific peoples and states. He focuses on diplomacy, negotiations, security, finance, democracy, gender, and Pasifika philosophy, exploring the influence of small island states.

DR. SONNY NUÑEZ DOMINGO

Dr. Sonny N. Domingo is a Senior Research Fellow and OIC Department Manager for Research Information with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). He obtained his Ph.D. in Applied Economics as a fellow of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). Dr Domingo has more than three decades of extensive multi-sector technical and policy research exposure. His current research interests include ecological integrity and environmental policy, technical agriculture and resource economics, and climate change and disaster risk management.