A NEW
VISION
FOR EARTH

GLF Nairobi 2023 Hybrid Conference


This digital conference has been made possible through the generous support of:





This digital conference has been made possible through the generous support of:
The climate crisis is already impacting every corner of the Earth – and it’s taking a heavy toll on rural communities dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods. It’s time for a new vision.
This October, join us for a two-day hybrid conference to explore local solutions to the global climate and biodiversity crises.
Day 1 focuses on African Sovereign Solutions. Find out how the continent can create a prosperous and sustainable future.
Day 2 will be all about climate. Join us in crafting a Survival Guide for a Planet in Crisis and set the stage for a fairer world ahead of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28)
This conference will amplify the voices we need the most at this critical time: leading scientists, activists, Indigenous leaders, financiers, women, youth, policymakers, private sector and more.
Are you a journalist? Please visit the conference Newsroom here
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition
University of Maryland, NASA Harvest
Country Representative UN-REDD Executive board
Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Global Environment Facility
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)
Climate In Colour
State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany
Jochen Flasbarth took office as State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in December 2021. From 2013 to 2021, he was State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Prior to that, he held the position of President of the Federal Environment Agency for four years. He holds a degree in economics from the Universities of Münster and Bonn.
Co-founder and Executive Chair, Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition
Mrs. Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is an expert on social innovation, African agriculture and nutrition, entrepreneurship, and youth development. She has over 25 years of international development experience and is a recognized serial entrepreneur, author, public speaker, and consultant. Ndidi started her career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, working in Chicago, New York, and Johannesburg. She returned to Nigeria in 2000 to serve as the pioneer executive director of FATE Foundation, supporting young entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses. In 2002, she established LEAP Africa to inspire, empower, and equip a new cadre of principled, disciplined, and dynamic young leaders in Africa. The same year, she established NIA to support female university students in Nigeria to achieve their highest potential. Over the past 14 years, Ndidi has focused exclusively on transforming the African agriculture and nutrition landscape. Through her work as the co-founder and the Executive Chair of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition, she has partnered with a range of private and public sector organizations to implement ecosystem solutions in the African agriculture and food landscapes. As the co-founder of AACE Foods, which produces a range of packaged spices, seasonings, and cereals for local and international markets. Ndidi has propelled the growth of a catalytic business. As the founder of Nourishing Africa, a digital home for food and agriculture entrepreneurs operating on the African Continent, she is accelerating the growth of the ecosystem and supporting entrepreneurs in 34 African countries. Her latest start-up is Changing Narratives Africa, committed to changing global mindsets about Africa by showcasing the Continent’s contributions to the global food ecosystem through the pioneering work of her dynamic people, their innovations, and products. Ndidi serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), AGRA, and Nigerian Breweries Plc. (Heineken), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. India, the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, Royal DSM Sustainability Board, Netherlands, and the African Philanthropy Forum. She previously served on the Boards of Nestle Nigeria Plc., Helios Fairfax Africa, the World Vegetable Center and Cornerstone Insurance Plc. Ndidi was recognized as a Young Global Leader and a Schwab Social Innovator by the World Economic Forum and received a National Honor from the Nigerian Government. She was listed as one of the 20 Power African Women by Forbes, on the 2019 100 Most Influential Africans List by New African Magazine and received the 2021 HBS Alumni Achievement Awards. She is a TED Global speaker. Ndidi is the author of "Social Innovation in Africa: A Practical Guide for Scaling Impact" and "Food Entrepreneurs in Africa: Scaling Resilient Agriculture Businesses," published by Routledge. She is also the author of “Working for God in the Marketplace.” Ndidi holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She was a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, an Eisenhower Fellow, an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow and the McConnell Visiting Scholar at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University.
Associate Research Professor, Africa Program Director, University of Maryland, NASA Harvest
Dr. Catherine Nakalembe is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Maryland’s Department of Geographical Sciences. Her research focuses on developing remote sensing and machine learning applications for smallholder agriculture, early warning of food insecurity, and disaster assessment in Africa. She is the Africa Program Director for NASA Harvest and a NASA SERVIR Applied Sciences team member. She is an award-winning scientist, including a 2022 Highest Civilian Award: The Golden Jubilee Medal-Civilians of Uganda and the 2020 Africa Food Prize for her dedication to improving food security in Africa through the enhanced use of Earth observation.
Director of Climate Change, Forestry Commission, Ghana, Country Representative UN-REDD Executive board
Roselyn Fosua Adjei was appointed the first Director of the Climate Change Directorate and second female Director of the Forestry Commission of Ghana in April, 2018 after working with the Com- mission for twelve years. Her work with the Commission began with her national service at the Plantations Department after a BSc Degree in Natural Resources Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a Masters in Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Mrs Roselyn has expertise in forest management, social and environmental safeguards as well as conflict resolution in forest management and is a strong advocate for gender responsiveness and sensitivity in development planning and policy making.
Deputy Executive Secretary, UNCCD
Andrea Meza Murillo is the Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCCD. Ms Murillo is the former Minister of Environment of Costa Rica. She is an expert in sustainable development with more than 20 years of experience in formulating public policies and executing projects. She has worked in more than 15 Latin American countries in multidisciplinary projects financed by various multilateral organizations (IDB, World Bank, CAF, European Union, UNDP), bilateral (AECID, GIZ) and National governments.
Vice-Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Prof Youba Sokona, with over 40 years of experience addressing energy, environment and sustainable development in Africa, has been at the heart of numerous national and continental initiatives. He is currently a Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change after serving as Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III following being a Lead Author since 1990. He has a proven track record of organizational leadership and management, for example, as Inaugural Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre and as Executive Secretary of the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory. He is affiliated with numerous boards and organizations, including an Honorary Professor at the University College London, a Member of The World Academy of Sciences and the African Academy of Sciences, Science Advisory Committee of the International Institute for Applied System Analysis. In short, he is a global figure with deep technical knowledge, extensive policy experience and an unreserved personal commitment to African-led development.
Lead Environmental Specialist, Global Environment Facility
Mohamed joined the GEF as Senior Environmental Specialist with a primary focus on Land Degradation and Sub-Sahara Africa. He has nearly two decades experience working on various aspects of integrated natural resource management including agroforestry land use, biodiversity conservation, and ecological restoration in the tropics. Although focused mainly on sub-Sahara Africa, his geographical experience extends across parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America. Prior to joining the GEF, he worked for seven years in several capacities at Conservation International, including most recently as Executive Director of the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science; and four years at the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya as Director of Strategic Initiatives (Assistant Director General). Mohamed holds a Bachelor’s degree from Njala University in Sierra Leone, and a Masters and PhD in Tropical Ecology from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida.
Attorney and Environmentalist, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)
Syeda Rizwana Hasan is an enrolled lawyer with the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. In her professional life, she is working for the cause of the environment as the Chief Executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA). Her main focus is to promote the notion of environmental justice in Bangladesh. Rizwana has filed PILs on various environmental issues, most of which have received favorable orders/judgments. She has fought against vehicular pollution, river pollution, industrial pollution, ship breaking, grabbing of wetlands, cutting of hills, unregulated mining, unplanned urbanization, commercial shrimp cultivation, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, etc. Her cases are redefining the current notion of development devoid of environmental consideration. Since she is an anthropocentric environmentalist, her efforts add value to the conventional human rights movement by bringing in the elements of environmental justice. She places people’s legitimate rights at the center of her activism. Rizwana has received the ‘Ananya Top Ten Award’ from a reputed journal in Bangladesh. She is among the first five South Asian women to receive the ‘Celebrating Womenhood’ award (2008) from the Creative Statement and South Asia Partnership based in Nepal. Rizwana received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2009 for her outstanding contribution to protecting and conserving the country's environment. She has also been named one of the 40 Environmental Heroes of the World by TIME magazine. Recognizing her dynamic leadership, hard-driving skill, and uncompromising courage in the campaign of judicial activism that has demonstrated that the right to the environment is nothing less than a people’s right to dignity and life, Rizwana was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2012. In 2020, BELA was awarded the prestigious Tang Award from Taiwan for its contribution to the arena of Rule of Law (2020). Rizwana has been awarded the International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award 2022 by the US Department of State for her exceptional courage and leadership in her mission to protect the environment and defend the dignity and rights of marginalized people Bangladeshis.
Climate Activist & Founder, Climate In Colour
Joycelyn Longdon is a 23-year-old PhD student at Cambridge University in the Artificial Intelligence For Environmental Risk (AI4ER) Programme who researches AI applications for climate emergencies. Her research will take an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the role of technology in forest conservation. She is also the founder of Climate In Colour, an online education platform and community for the climate curious, making climate conversation more accessible and diverse. Since April 2020, the platform has grown to a community of 27k+ individuals and has collaborated with a wide range of committed organizations including Estee Lauder, Samsung, Oxford University, REN Skincare, The Design Museum, Cheltenham Science Festival, Fairtrade, Greenpeace and The Wellcome Collection.
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