Mr Curt GARRIGAN

Cities and Buildings Programme Manager, UN Environment- Economy Division

Curt GARRIGAN is currently the Cities and Buildings Programme Manager for UN Environment based in Paris, France.  He led efforts to plan the first ‘Buildings Day’ at COP21, and to launch the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, which has mobilized 24 countries and more than 70 organisations to scale up building sector climate actions.  He has also coordinated UN Environment’s efforts to assist countries in developing Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) for the sector.  Prior to joining UN Environment, Mr GARRIGAN served more than 20 years in a number of operational and management roles for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville, Tennessee including serving as Deputy Mayor. 

Mr WONG Kam-sing, GBS, JP

Secretary for the Environment, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Mr WONG Kam-sing was born in 1963 and is an architect by profession. He has been promoting green building and building energy efficiency over the past years. He had served as the Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Green Building Council and the Chairman of the Professional Green Building Council. He has contributed to the development of local green building standards and taken part in a number of green building projects.

Before joining the Government, he has contributed to the work of a number of Government advisory bodies. In particular, he had active involvement in the public engagement processes of the Council for Sustainable Development. He was the convener of the Support Group on Combating Climate Change: Energy Saving and Carbon Emission Reduction in Buildings. He was also a member of the Support Group on Building Design to Foster a Quality and Sustainable Built Environment.

Mr WONG graduated from the Department of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong. He received further education on green building from the University of British Columbia in Canada. He has been appointed as the Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR Government and assumed the post on 1 July 2012.

Mr Gregor HERDA

Regional Housing Advisor, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)

Gregor HERDA is an urban planner who has been coordinating the sustainable housing portfolio of UN-Habitat since 2014, including the activities of the Global Network for Sustainable Housing. His research interests include the socio-economic and financial sustainability of social housing programmes, integrated life-cycle energy analysis of housing developments as well as the application of building sustainability assessment and benchmarking tools in the Global South. He is currently based in New Delhi as a Regional Housing Advisor for India, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

Ms Christiana FIGUERES

Vice-Chair, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy

Christiana FIGUERES is a world authority on global climate change and was the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC from 2010-2016.

Ms FIGUERES is currently Vice-Chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors and Mission2020 Convenor. During her tenure at the UNFCCC, Ms FIGUERES brought together national and subnational governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and communities of faith, think tanks and technology providers, NGOs and parliamentarians, to jointly deliver the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, in which 195 sovereign nations agreed on a collaborative path forward to limit future global warming to below 2C. The agreement entered into force in less than a year, breaking the record of the UN. For this achievement Ms FIGUERES has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy. In addition to her remarkable diplomatic achievements over the past 20 years, she served as Director of Renewable Energy in the Americas (REIA) and in 1995 founded the non-profit Center for Sustainable Development of the Americas (CSDA), which she directed for eight years.

Ms Jennifer LAYKE

Director, Global Energy Program, World Resources Institute

Jennifer LAYKE is the Director of the Global Energy Program at World Resources Institute. Jennifer leads WRI’s work globally on energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy access.  From 2014-2016, Jennifer’s work focused on scaling up the Building Efficiency Accelerator - a partnership of over 30 organizations working with 23 cities around the world supporting new policies, projects, and tracking – contributing to the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative’s energy efficiency goal.

From 2010-2014, Jennifer created and directed Johnson Controls’ Institute for Building Efficiency, a global initiative to provide information and analyses on the technologies, policies, and practices to deliver high performance buildings.

Jennifer’s prior experience includes 12 years at the World Resources Institute where she was deputy director, Climate and Energy Program. She developed innovative energy procurement paths for corporate use of clean energy in the U.S. and Europe, managed corporate partnerships to reduce GHG emissions, and led work on U.S. carbon cap-and-trade policy approaches.

Jennifer’s international experience includes consulting for the World Bank and the U.S. EPA on technology transfer for ozone layer protection. She has an A.B. in Asian Studies/Political Studies from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, and a M.S. and MBA from the University of Michigan. In 1990, she was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Foundation fellowship for a year of sociology research in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Mr John DULAC

Energy Technology Policy Building Sector Lead, International Energy Agency

John is the Energy Technology Policy Building Sector Lead at the International Energy Agency. He leads the energy technology and policy analysis in the buildings sector, contributing to IEA efforts to better understand the implications for a low-carbon economy. He also leads the IEA’s Collaborative on Combined Heat and Power and efficient District Heating and Cooling (CHP/DHC). John is also the desk officer for the Technology Collaboration Programmes (TCPs)on Energy Conservation through Energy Storage (ECES), Heat Pump Technologies (HPT), District Heating and Cooling including Combined Heat and Power (DHC) and Energy Efficient End-Use Equipment (4E).

John previously worked as a research associate at the Asian Development Bank. He received a BSc in Environmental Engineering and BA in International Relations from Tufts University, and MSc in Urban Planning and Master of International Affairs at Columbia University.

Mr Nils LARSSON

Executive Director, International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment

Nils LARSSON is an architect specializing in research on the performance of the built environment and its impact on climate change. During the 1990's he developed a well-known building performance assessment system to support integrated design.  He represents five international partner organizations in managing an international series of regional and global conferences on sustainable built environment, which has been underway since 2000. He is currently leading the development of an international survey that will identify effective GHG mitigation measures within the built environment and is also actively assisting the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GBAC, formed at COP21) in the organizational start-up phase and carrying out GBAC's information mission.

Mr Pekka HUOVILA

Coordinator, The 10YFP Programme on Sustainable Buildings and Construction

Mr Pekka HUOVILA has 35 years of experience in sustainable built environment research and practice. He coordinates the UN 10YFP Sustainable Buildings and Construction Programme for the Ministry of the Environment, Finland, supporting and mainstreaming sustainable building solutions globally. He has acted at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland as Principal Scientist and Key Account Manager for EcoCities in developing countries and emerging economies with practical experience from Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has also served over 10 years as a Visiting Professor in University of Salford, UK. Pekka was the principal organizer of the SB11 Helsinki World Conference.

Mr Roland HUNZIKER

Director, Sustainable Buildings & Cities, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Roland Hunziker is Director, Sustainable Buildings and Cities, at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), based in Geneva, Switzerland. He leads the Sustainable Cities program, including projects on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Sustainable Mobility and Zero Emissions Cities, and manages the Council’s relationships with key city networks and stakeholders. A Swiss national, Roland holds an MBA with distinction from INSEAD, France, and an MA in history and political science from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Prior to working at the WBCSD, he was a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), coordinating humanitarian field activities in the armed conflicts of Colombia, Liberia and Ivory Coast. Roland started his career with the Zurich-based consultancy firm Ernst Basler & Partners Ltd. on a large change management project for the Swiss Federal Administration.

Ms Christine LOH

Under Secretary for the Environment, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Ms Christine LOH was the Chief Executive Officer of the non-profit public policy think tank Civic Exchange prior to joining the HKSAR Government in September 2012. Prior to founding Civic Exchange in 2000, Ms LOH had spent nearly a decade as a politician and member of the Legislative Council (1992-97 and 1998-2000). Before joining the Legislative Council, Ms LOH held senior regional positions in commodities trading, as well as in project negotiation. Having been very active in public affairs since 1980, she had founded or served on boards of a wide range of non-governmental organisations in Hong Kong and overseas concerning a variety of issues including environmental protection, urban planning and design, and equal opportunity. Ms LOH is a lawyer by training.