Naoko ISHII 【onsite】

Executive Vice President Director, Center for Global Commons The University of Tokyo

Dr. Naoko Ishii is a professor and executive vice president at the University of Tokyo, where she is also an inaugural director for the Center for Global Commons, of which mission is to catalyze systems change so that humans can achieve sustainable development within planetary boundaries. She is of a view that academia can and should play an active role in mobilizing movements with policymakers, business and civil society towards a shared goal of nurturing stewardship of the global commons; stable and resilient planetary earth system. Before joining the university in 2020, Dr. Ishii served the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as CEO and chairperson. During her tenure of 2012 to 2020, she formed GEF’s first mid-term strategy, GEF 2020, focusing on the transformation of key economic systems and collaborating with multi-stakeholder coalitions. She holds a B.A. in economics and a Ph.D. in international development, both from the University of Tokyo. She published several books among which two are awarded by academic prizes.

Jeffrey SACHS 【online】

President, The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development. He is widely recognized for bold and effective strategies to address complex challenges including debt crises, hyperinflations, the transition from central planning to market economies, the control of AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, the escape from extreme poverty, and the battle against human-induced climate change. Sachs serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he holds the rank of University Professor, the university’s highest academic rank. Sachs held the position of Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University from 2002 to 2016. He is President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development, and an SDG Advocate for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. From 2001-18, Sachs served as Special Advisor to UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan (2001-7), Ban Ki-moon (2008-16), and António Guterres (2017-18). Sachs is the Chair of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission (July 2020).
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Johan ROCKSTRÖM 【online】

Director, The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Professor, The Institute of Earth and Environmental Science at Potsdam University

Professor Dr. Johan ROCKSTRÖM is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues, who led the development of the new Planetary Boundaries framework for human development in the current era of rapid global change and leading scientist on global water resources, with about 25 years of experience from applied water research in tropical regions, and more than 150 research publications in fields ranging from applied land and water management to global sustainability.

JUNG Tae Yong　【onsite】

Professor, Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University

Dr. Tae Yong Jung is currently a professor at the Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University. He is a director of Sustainable Development Program of Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future. He coordinated lead authors of Assessment Report (AR) 6 of IPCC on climate investment and finance chapter. He was a chair of the Appeal Committee, Green Climate Fund (GCF). He worked at the Asian Development Bank, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) as the Deputy Executive Director and the World Bank. He was at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan and Korea Energy Economics Institute. Educated at Seoul National University (BA) and at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (MA and Ph.D.).

Joyeeta GUPTA　【online】

Professor, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam

Joyeeta Gupta was co-chair of UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook-6 (2016-2019) which was presented to governments participating in the United Nations Environment Assembly in 2019, and won the Association of American Publishers PROSE award for Environmental Science. She is presently co-chair of the Earth Commission (2019-2021), set up by Future Earth, together with Johan Rockström and Dahe Qin. She is full professor of environment and development in the global south at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research of the University of Amsterdam and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. She is also the Faculty Professor on Sustainability (2019-2024).

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