Speakers

Achim Steiner is the executive director of  the United Nations Environment Program. Previously, he served as director general of the World Conservation Union, and his professional career has also included assignments with governmental, nongovernmental and international organizations around the world. In Washington, he was senior policy advisor to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s global policy unit. In Southeast Asia, he worked as chief technical advisor on a program for the sustainable management of Mekong River watersheds and community-based natural resources management. As secretary-general of the World Commission on Dams, based in South Africa, he managed a global program on dams and development. He has worked at the grassroots as well as the highest levels of international policy-making on environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic development.