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Sri Lanka

Economic Summit

2023

Sustain Reform. Accelerate Growth.
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About SLES 2023

The Sri Lanka economy has stabilized relative to 2022 with multiple reforms underway and the commencement of the country 17th IMF program. While meeting the structural benchmarks under the program in the next 4 years will be key in maintaining this stability, how can the country utilize this opportunity to accelerate growth and development in a sustainable manner. With many reforms underway how can we ensure that these reforms are not just limited to a policy document or a committee/taskforce but translates into impactful implementation. Can Sri Lanka pursue twin objectives of meeting the IMF program requirements while pursuing reforms related to land, labour and trade. The summit can focus on the key policy ingredients that will enhance the macroeconomic stability as well as ensuring opportunities for accelerating growth led by the private sector.

28th & 29th Nov

Event Date

Shangri-La Colombo

Event Location

Sustain Reform - Accelerate Growth

Event Theme

Agenda for (SLES) 2023(SLES) 2023

The Sri Lanka economy has stabilized relative to 2022 with multiple reforms underway and the commencement of the country 17th IMF program.
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Day 1 – Inauguration (Evening): 28th of November, 2023

0630 - 0715 hrs

1. TATA Chairman-Mr. Natarajan Chandrasekaran- Outlook for India and impact on India BOP Crisis 1991 and how private sector recovered Or

2. Dr. Raghuram Rajan - Professor of Finance, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

3. Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia- Former Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission of India

4. Senior Foreign Investor from Singapore/ Vietnam/ Thailand

Interviewer- Mr. Anushka Wijesinghe- Co-Founder, Centre for a Smart Future

Day 2: 29th of November, 2023

0830 - 0900 hrs

0900 - 1030 hrs

Outline:

(1) How have we performed so far under the IMF program?

(2) What more can we see in terms of fiscal reform- widening the net and improving administration?

(3) How do we prioritize and streamline expenditure?

(4) What is the multilateral agency assessment of the reforms taken so far and what needs to be done?

(5) What policies can we now look to implement to drive growth?

Panelists `{`Panel discussion for 90 minutes`}`:

(1) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe – Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka

(2) Mr. Mahinda Siriwardana - Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance OR Mr. Deshal De Mel, Advisor, Ministry of Finance.

(3) Ms. Sarwat Jahan- IMF Resident Representative for Sri Lanka.

(4) Mr. Takafumi Kadono - Country Director for Sri Lanka, ADB

(5) Mr. Faris Hadad-Zervos- World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

(6) Mr. Bingumal Thewarathanthri- Chief Executive Officer, Sri Lanka, Standard Chartered Bank
Moderator - Mr. Murtaza Jafferjee – CEO, JB Securities Ltd

1030 - 1100 hrs

1100 - 1230 hrs

Outline:

(1) Understand the progress of the SOE reform undertaken so far and what will be in store?

(2) How are the large SOEs being restructure and reformed?

(3) Can we see a positive impetus towards economic growth from the reform?

(4) What will be role of labor reform in this growth?

(5) Understand different stakeholder view points on the implementation of SOE reform?

Presenter `{` 15 minutes`}`

(1) Mr. Suresh Shah- Director General, State Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit (SRU)

Panelists `{`Panel discussion for 75 minutes`}`:

(1) Hon. Kanchana Wijesekera - Minister of Power and Energy

(2) Hon. Manusha Nanayakkara - Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment

(3) Mr. Suresh Shah- Director General, State Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit (SRU)

(4) IFC Representative to speak on the divestures they are looking at and the outlook

(5) Moderator—Mr. Dhananth Fernando- CEO, Advocate Institute

1230 - 1330 hrs

1330 - 1515 hrs

Outline:

(1) Learn how other countries navigated a crisis to unlock trade and investment reform

(2) How can Sri Lanka leverage its location and adopt a +1 strategy

(3) How can Sri Lanka accelerate its exports and FDI trajectory – an outsider perspective

(4) How the leading conglomerates in Sri Lanka are planning to support Sri Lanka’s economic growth trajectory and what they see as the enablers towards growth.

Presenter `{` 1 presentation - 15 minutes`}`

(1) International Speaker from Vietnam/ Mckinsey to discuss how the South East Asian countries unlocked through trade and investment

Fireside Panel discussion with leading Conglomerates `{` 90 Minutes`}`

(1) Mr. Krishan Balendra – Chairman, John Keells Holdings PLC

(2) Dr Parakrama Dissanayake, Deputy Chairman /MD, Aitken Spence PLC

(3) Mr. Mohan Pandithage - Chairman & Chief Executive, Hayleys PLC

(4) Foreign Investor – CICT/ Adani

(5) Presenter to join

(6) Moderator – XXXXX

1515 - 1545 hrs

1545 - 1715 hrs

Outline:

(1) Understand the cost of corruption to business and the public

(2) How do we look at incorporating governance reform together with other macro-economic reform?

(3) How do we improve our institutions so that they are effective, productive, independent and accountable?

(4) What should be reforms that should be implemented beyond an IMF program to accelerate growth?

(5) What will be the role of private sector in driving towards this consensus?

Panelists `{`Panel discussion for 90 minutes`}`:

(1) Hon. Shehan Semasinghe- State Minister of Finance

(2) Hon. (Dr.) (Ms.) Harini Amarasuriya- Member of Parliament

(3) Dr. Harsha De Silva- Member of Parliament

(4) Ms. Nadishani Perera- Executive Director, Transparency International Sri Lanka

(5) Moderator – Dr. Nishan de Mel- Executive Director, Verite Research

We are excited to announce some
of the confirmed speakers

Thomas Smith
Developer

University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
Master of Public Speaking

Lauren Smith
Engineer

University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
Master of Public Speaking

Ernest Smith
Designer

University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
Master of Public Speaking

Stella Smith
Designer

University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
Master of Public Speaking

Vincent Smith
Engineer

University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
Master of Public Speaking

Monica Smith
Developer

University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
Master of Public Speaking

The conference organizers greatly appreciate the support
of the various corporate sponsors listed

Platinum Sponser
Gold Sponsor
Knowledge Partner
Session Sponsors
Telecommunication Partner
Television Partner

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Nalin Karunatileka

Mr. Nalin Karunatileka, Vice President – Sustainability & Consulting at DFCC Bank PLC, is a 30-year veteran of the bank with extensive experience in climate finance and Investment Banking.

Mr. Karunatileka currently heads the Sustainability function at DFCC Bank. He was involved from the inception in the bank’s successful quest to become an Accredited Entity of the Green Climate Fund - the world’s largest fund for the climate action.

Previously, he was a Project Director of the World Bank and Global Environment Facility funded ‘Renewable Energy for Rural Economic Development ‘(RERED) Project. This project, along with the preceding ‘Energy Services Delivery (ESD) Project’ were instrumental in financing and catalyzing a vibrant private sector renewable energy industry in Sri Lanka involving small hydro, wind, solar and bio-mass.

 

  

Kusum Athukorala

Crossing disciplinary and academic boundaries from 12 years previous experience as a university teacher in languages and cultural studies to development studies, primarily water resources management, Kusum Athukorala holds a M.Sc in Managing Rural Change, Imperial College, University of London. As multidisciplinary skilled development professional, recognized for her contribution to rural development, IWRM, gender and water; she is the recipient of the International Water Association’s International Women in Water Award and the Zonta Woman of Achievement for Environment.

She has held a series of responsible positions in national, regional and international boards such as the Global Water Partnership, Saci WATERS, Women for Water Partnership and NetWwater .

 

  

Yvonne Zhang

Yvonne is an internal sustainability subject matter expert in Deloitte SEA, she leads strategic pursuits to help our clients attain their sustainability goals and supports the WorldClimate agenda that drives Deloitte’s transition to Net Zero.

She had led the Deloitte Risk Advisory sustainability SEA regional team, legally trained with experience in project finance, commodities trading and fintech, Yvonne built a 18-year career in working with corporates, regulators, exchanges, financial institutions and civil society to unlock value in doing business sustainably. She is uniquely skilled in assisting clients in supply chain traceability, carbon markets, sustainable and transition financing, impact investments, and digital asset development.

Yvonne is a regular contributor to international standards in sustainability impact reporting, trade digitalisation and DLT interoperability, she an occasional lecturer and lifelong space technology enthusiast.

Yvonne holds double degrees in Law and Commerce from the University of Sydney. She is the deputy chair of ISO/TC 307(Blockchain) for Singapore, an expert contributor to standards making in sustainability reporting (GRI agriculture & fishing sector standards), cross-border terms of trade (International Chamber of Commerce Digital Standards Initiative) and a teaching fellow at Singapore University of Social Sciences.

 

  

Sonali Senaratna Sellamuttu

Dr. Sonali Senaratna Sellamuttu has a PhD from Imperial College London, UK, and is a British Chevening Scholar. Her area of expertise is natural resource management and she served as the Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Asia-Pacific Regional Assessment. At GGGI, Sonali she leads a national initiative on climate change adaptation, that supports the Sri Lankan Government with their National Adaptation Plan. Prior to joining GGGI, Sonali was at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and was part of their leadership team, serving as the IWMI Regional Representative for Southeast Asia, and based in Laos and Myanmar. At IWMI Sonali led several interdisciplinary R4D projects in Southeast, East Asia, South Asia, and Africa. Before IWMI, Sonali worked for IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), in both Sri Lanka and USA.

 

  

Chitral J.

Chitral is an avid nature lover and photographer from his formative years. Chitral won his first award in photography from Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, aged just 17.

in 2003, following a joint exhibition with Dr.Ravi Samarasinhe, Chitral published "Wilds of Lanka" a photographic guide to Yala National Park.

He then focused on Sri Lanka's Bio-Diversity in his 2nd publication "Moments of Truth in the wilderness" launched in 2009 and a third jointly with Vimukthi Weeratunge named ‘Living Free’ published in 2017.

Chitral works for John Keells Hotels Group developing Sustainable Wildlife Tourism and Eco resorts in the conglomerates Leisure division. His passion to showcase Wild Sri Lanka has attracted top productions such as Blue Planet II, Planet earth III and Wild Islands to film in Sri Lanka.

As a Vice President of John Keells Group, he heads a dedicated team of field naturalists at Keells creating nature related adventures. His passion for sustainable tourism has been recognized by several PATA Gold awards and four John Keell’s Chairmen’s Awards.

 

  

Chanaka Wickramasuriya

Chanaka Wickramasuriya is the Chief of Party for the USAID Sri Lanka Energy Program, a 5 year technical assistance program on Energy Transition that works with stakeholders in the electricity sectors in both the government and private sectors. He has a long history in Private Equity spanning over 15 years, investing and managing portfolios in Sri Lanka as Joint Managing partner at Ironwood Capital and Partner at Aureos Capital LLC. Chanaka was also Country Head of Fitch Ratings Sri Lanka. He serves on several Boards including Nations Trust Bank, Global Rubber Industries Pvt Ltd and is Chair of the Lynear Unit Trust Investment Committee. He has a BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering (summa cum laude) from Rutgers College of Engineering USA and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

 

  

Lareef Zubair

Lareef Zubair is a climate and adaptation scientist, engineer and thought-leader with 25 year history of R&D in USA, Indian Ocean islands and Africa. He schooled at Trinity Kandy, ranked first in engineering, research and all round skills at Engineering at Peradeniya and completed his masters and doctoral degrees at Yale University. Over the last 25 years, he has led research at Yale University, the University of Peradeniya, the  International Research Institute for Climate Prediction / Society  and Water Center at Columbia University. Two decades ago, he founded the Foundation for Environment, Climate and Technology dedicated to the application of state of the art science to address societal needs and ecological sustenance. 

 

  

Mark Smith

Mark Smith is Director General of the International Water Management Institute. He was formerly IWMI’s Deputy Director General – Research for Development, and brings more than 25 years of research and program management experience in water resources, agriculture, climate and sustainability. He was Director of the Global Water Program at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), from 2008-2018, where he led innovative, multi-regional programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America addressing river basin management, transboundary cooperation and water governance, climate change adaptation and nature-based solutions.

He has a PhD in ecology and resource management from the University of Edinburgh and a Master’s in climatology from the University of Guelph.

 

  

Aban Marker Kabraji 

Senior Advisor Climate Change and Biodiversity

UNDCO

Ms. Aban Marker Kabraji is a biologist and currently serves as Senior Advisor Climate Change and Biodiversity, UN Development Coordination Office for Asia-Pacific. Ms. Kabraji is also Senior Biodiversity Consultant to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. She was the Regional Director for IUCN Asia-Oceania regional office from 2002 to 2021. This involved overseeing and maintaining a diverse portfolio in 30 countries in the region and driving strategic direction of 300 organizations, governments, international and national NGOs, and indigenous groups as members of the Union in more than 70 wide-ranging environmental initiatives. With more than 40 years of global and cross-boundary experience, her leadership has been instrumental in bringing awareness to vital development and conservation issues such as gender, culture, and sovereignty. Ms. Kabraji also has experience in conflict resolution related to environmental security, protected areas, and transboundary programmes, which involved various stakeholders and constituencies.

 

Dr. Ravi Fernando

Dr Ravi FERNANDO is an Alumni of the University of Cambridge having completed both a Post Graduate Certificate in Sustainable business in 2008 and Master of Studies in Sustainability Leadership in 2014. He completed the Advanced Management Program at the INSEAD Business School (France) and is an Executive in Residence since 2010.

His career with Multinationals spanned 1981-2003 with Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, Smithkline Beecham International, MAS covering Africa, Middle East and Asia.

He serves on the Boards of Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company, Aitken Spence Plantations Ltd, Aitken Spence Hotels Ltd, Melstacorp PLC, UN Global Compact, LOLC Holdings, Ceylon Graphene Technologies Ltd.

 

  

Romesh David

Romesh is CEO of South Asia Gateway Terminals, Sri Lanka’s first public private partnership (PPP) project in the ports sector, by a consortium led by John Keells Holdings (JKH) and including the A P Moller/Maersk Group, Evergreen of Taiwan and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. He was previously with JKH, where he had overall responsibility for all businesses in the Transportation Group which included ports, bunkering, shipping, logistics, freight forwarding, airline, aviation services and travel sectors. During his tenure with JKH, he also led businesses in the IT and IT Enabled Services (BPO), International and Domestic Trading sectors.

A Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport and a past International VP of the Institute, he also served as a Global Advisor to WiLAT (Women in Logistics & Transport) until 2023. He is Immediate Past President of the Indo-Lanka Chamber of Commerce, former Chair of the National Agenda Committee on Transport & Logistics of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and was a founding member of the IFC’s Women-in-Work, High-Level Advocacy Group in Sri Lanka.

 

  

Dr.Sulakshana Jayawardena

Dr. Sulakshana Jayawardena, Secretary, Ministry of Power & Energy is equuped with professional experinace over 18 years of Government Sector as Sri Lanka Administrative Service Officer. Experienced with all stages of the development cycle for dynamic government projects especially in the power sector. Well-versed in numerus Sectors such as Power, Human Resouces, Development and Administration. Strong background in project management and customer relations. Bringing forth an excellent work ethic and a dedication to honesty and intergrity.

He is having more than 20 years experiance in the power & energy sector, including the experinces in Renewable Energy Development, Energy Efficiancy Improvement, Rural Electrification, Policy Fomulation so & soforth.

He is having Doctor of Philosphy Degree and he holds Master’s in Business Studies from the University of Colombo and a Bachelar’s Degee in Science from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He is also holds Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology, Diploma in Information Technology and a Diploma in Professional Diplomacy and World Affiars.

 

  

E Nand Gopal

Nand Gopal is a seasoned climate change professional. His areas of expertise include developing and implementing climate change mitigation strategies, supporting governments in creating enabling ecosystem through conducive policies, regulations and schemes,supporting donor backed line of credits for climate change and building capacities of private sector on evaluating climate risks and implementing mitigation action plan.

Policy related projects led by Nand: Developed National Energy Efficiency Policy for Cambodia, Drafted Green Industry Policy for Lao PDR, Supported team in developing Carbon Credit Trading Scheme in India, Power to Health Master Plan for Malawi.

Nand led GHG inventory, carbon mitigation strategy, long term net zero roadmap and SBTi target setting for various clients including Vedanta, Tata Chemical, Tata Communications, Piramal Pharma, Coca Cola and many medium tier textile firms.

Nand holds a Masters in Renewable Energy Engineering and Energy Management. He is ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems and ISO 14064 Greenhouse Gases Implementor and lead auditor.

 

  

Prof. Rohinton Emmanuel

Rohinton Emmanuel is Professor of Sustainable Design and Director, Research Centre for Built Environment Asset Management (BEAM) at Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. He pioneered urban heat island studies in Sri Lanka and is an expert in climate and environment sensitive design and urban sustainability. Rohinton was the Secretary of the largest group of urban climate researchers, the International Association for Urban Climate and was a member of the Expert Team on Urban and Building Climatology of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). He currently leads an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s programme on Urban Climate and Sustainability (www.murcs.eu) that has trained several urban climate specialists around the world.

 

  

Thilan Wijesinghe

Thilan Wijesinghe, a graduate from State University of New York and Cornell University, commenced his career as Senior Consultant at PWC and later as Head of Planning, Sampath Bank PLC. Subsequent to achieving success as an investment banker in the early 1990s, in 1995, He assumed the Chairmanship of the BOI, where he pioneered PPPs transactions.

Thilan has served as CEO/MD of Forbes & Walker, Overseas Realty and Asian Hotels Properties and in 2017 became the founding Chairman of National Agency for Public Private Partnership.

Today Thilan leads TWC, an investment bank he founded in 2012. TWC engages in corporate finance and PPP advisory, with experience working in Maldives, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Thilan has also co-founded pioneering businesses including Ceylon Tea Trails and SLIIT.

 

  

Vinod Malwatte 

As a conservationist, Vinod is interested in the convergence of conservation and responsible development. His primary interests lie in the management of mixed-use landscapes that border the Protected Area network and how local communities, that act as custodians of these lands, can be incorporated into conservation interventions. Vinod is the Executive Director of the Lanka Environment Fund, Co-Founder of The Parrotfish Collective and a Trustee of the Federation of Environmental Organizations (FEO).

 

  

Dr Arunabha Ghosh 

Dr Arunabha Ghosh is a public policy expert, author, columnist, and institution builder. He is the founder-CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water. He advises the governments, industry, civil society, and international organisations globally.

He served on Government of India’s G20 Finance Track Advisory Group and advised the Sherpa Track for India’s G20 Presidency in 2022-23. He is currently Vice-Chair of the UN Committee for Development Policy. He also serves as the Co-Convenor and Commissioner of Our Common Air, a global initiative to accelerate air quality action. In 2022, the UNSG appointed him to the High-level Expert Group on the Credibility and Accountability of Net-Zero Announcements by Non-State Actors. In the same year, the Asia Society honoured him with the 2022 Asia Game Changer Award.

He is a member of the WEF Global Future Council on Clean Air, was previously a member of WEF Global Future Council on Energy and WEF Young Global Leader. He is also a member of several international expert advisory groups: Global Commission on the Economics of Water; High-Level Group of Economists, constituted by the French president for the One Planet Lab; and the High-Level Consultative Group for the U.S. Department of State’s Energy Transition Accelerator.

He is a co-author/editor of four books and with experience in 48 countries. He previously worked at Princeton, Oxford, UNDP (New York), and WTO (Geneva) and holds a D.Phil. from Oxford.

 

  

Lakmal Fernando  

Lakmal is a renewable energy activist, entrepreneur, and businessman. His areas of interest include Renewable Energy SDG adaptation in Sri Lanka and poverty elevation in the Sri Lankan rural community. He has been actively lobbying to protect and improve the renewable energy sector in Sri Lanka, bring in new legislation and is a strong promoter of Renewable Energy Exportation to improve the country’s economy.

He is the co-founder and Managing Director/CEO of Regen Renewables (Pvt) Ltd, one of the largest Solar PV Companies in the country and SRT Energy (Pvt) Ltd a Renewable Energy Development Company.

He also currently holds the following positions on honorary basis. Honorary Secretary- National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka Chairman-Renewable Energy Council/National Chamber of Sri Lanka Member-National Energy Committee/ Ceylon Chamber of Commerce He also held the following positions on honorary basis in the past.

 

  

Dr Priyantha D.C. Wijayatunga  

Senior Director, Energy, Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Priyantha has over 35 years of professional experience including 16 years in ADB. He was the Director, South Asia Energy Division and Chief of Energy Sector Group prior to assuming the current position.  Before joining ADB, he served as the founder Director General of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, a Senior Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Moratuwa and its founder Dean, of the Faculty of Information Technology.  He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Ceylon Electricity Board and Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority and Advisory Board, Melbourne Energy Institute.  He has extensively contributed in the areas of energy policy and regulation, energy planning and clean energy development.

Priyantha, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka, holds a Doctorate in Power Systems Economics from the Imperial College London on Beit Scientific Research Fellowship. He served as an Academic Visitor at Imperial College and Chairman, South Asia Forum for Infrastructure Regulators. He is a Chartered Electrical Engineer, a Member of IET and Senior Member of IEEE. He is a Past President of SLEMA.

 

  

Joost Bilkes  

Joost is the Managing Partner of Double Delta. After 17 years at Credit Suisse, Joost has successfully spun-off the Credit Suisse’s impact advisory services business, which advises the bank's Asia Impact Investment Fund series. The activities have been transferred to a new firm in Singapore, called Double Delta.  

Previously, as the Head of Impact Advisory Services at Credit Suisse he was responsible for the bank’s Impact Advisory Services as well as business development of impact investment initiatives in Asia. In 2015, Joost's team launched the first institutional grade Asia Impact Investment Private Equity Fund, a solution drawing the poor in Asia into supply chains in meaningful ways through investments in profitable private sector solutions. His team raised a second Fund in 2021, attracting institutional (e.g. IFC) as well as UHNW investors. 
 
In his previous role as Head of Sustainability Strategy, Advisory and Finance (SSAF) APAC at Credit Suisse, he developed the regional sustainability strategy for Credit Suisse APAC and supported the development and implementation of the CS Sustainable Investment and Sustainable Activities Frameworks. He represented the Bank in a variety of sustainability-linked working groups and taskforces together with industry leaders and regulators. Before that, he held the role of regional and product head of investment fund solutions in Asia. 
 
Prior to joining Credit Suisse in 2006, Joost worked as an analyst and project manager for UBS Investment Bank and Westpac in Australia and ABN AMRO Private Bank in the United Kingdom. Joost holds an MBA from the Vrije University of Amsterdam and completed post-graduate programs at the University of Stellenbosch, Oxford Saïd Business School and University of Cambridge. Joost is conducting guest lectures on Impact Investing for MBA and EMBA students at INSEAD, St. Gallen University, Wharton, ESSEC, NUS and CBS. 
(https://publishing.insead.edu/case/credit-suisse) 

 

  

Uchita de Zoysa

Uchita de Zoysa is a thinker, author, strategist and facilitator for the climate sustainability transformation since the 1992 UN Earth Summit. In 2016 and 2017 he was the Chief Negotiator for the UN SDG Process and the first Ministerial Advisor on Sustainable Development to GoSL. He heads Global Sustainability Solutions and the Centre for Environment and Development and is the Chief Architect of the Sri Lanka Stakeholder SDG Platform, SDG Transformation Lab, and ‘ESG4sustainability’. He has Authored many books and publications including ‘It Has to be Climate Sustainability’, ‘A Domestic Resource Mobilization Framework for SDGs’, ‘Voluntary Peoples Review on the SDGs’. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uchita-de-zoysa-99933710/  

 

  

Rohan Pethiyagoda 

Rohan Pethiyagoda, a public-policy advocate and biodiversity scientist, is the author of more than a hundred books and scientific papers on the fauna and flora of Sri Lanka. The Wildlife Heritage Trust, a foundation he endowed, discovered some 150 species new to science. He has served as Environment Advisor to the government of Sri Lanka, as Chairman of the Water Resources Board and Tea Boad, Deputy Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, and continues to be a Research Associate of the Australian Museum, in Sydney. He is a recipient of the Linnean Medal and the Rolex Award for Enterprise. 

  

Revan Philip Wickramasuriya 

Revan’s core competency lies in the intricate realm of risk management within financial markets, excelling in comprehending and crafting innovative solutions for handling a wide array of risks, particularly those associated with foreign exchange fluctuations, interest rates, commodity prices, and credit risk. Throughout his professional journey, while living and working in South Asia, Middle East, Africa and Australia he collaborated in structuring bespoke financing and risk management solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises, multinational corporations representing diverse industries and financial institutions , all based in developing markets. This journey has also resulted in him working closely with government institutions such as Central Banks and Debt Management Offices, and multilateral development financial institutions that required solutions in financing, managing interest rates, commodity and currency exchange rate risks. 

  

Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne 

Gehan has played a pivotal role in branding Sri Lanka as a wildlife destination. In the words of British wildlife presenter Bill Oddie, no single individual has done so much to raise the profile of a country for its wildlife. Gehan’s efforts have made him a wildlife celebrity in Sri Lanka. 

  

He is amongst a handful of field naturalists in the world who have written and photographed field guides spanning terrestrial mammals, marine mammals, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, wild flowers and trees. He has been published by international publishers including Bloomsbury, Bradt, John Beaufoy and New Holand. He has written and photographed over 25 books and over 400 articles. 

He has been the Chair of the London Bird Club for eight years and is also a Trustee of the British Ornithologists’ Club.  

Dr. Frank Rijsberman 

Dr. Frank Rijsberman leads the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in supporting governments transition towards a model of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. With over 30 years’ experience addressing the challenges of environmental sustainability and poverty reduction with leading international organizations and philanthropic foundations, Dr. Rijsberman was initially appointed as the Director-General of the Institute, on October 1, 2016 and re-appointed for a second term starting October 1, 2020. 

Dhruba Purkayastha 

Dhruba Purkayastha is the India Director for Climate Policy Initiative, a global non-profit research and advisory institution, working on Green Finance, Climate Finance, Adaptation Finance and Energy Transition. Climate Policy Initiative is engaged with several advisory, research and convening initiatives in energy transition, transition finance, and green finance in India. As part of the US-India Clean Energy Initiative between US and Indian governments in 2016, Dhruba set up and led the US-India Clean Energy Finance Facility (USICEF). Recently, he has also set up the Center for Sustainable Finance (CSF) in India to mainstream sustainability and sustainable finance in academic courses so that future generations are better equipped with underlying concepts of sustainability.  

Dhruba has over 30 years of experience in credit rating, management consulting, investment banking, engineering industries and international development financing. As an ex-World Bank Group and International Finance Corporation staff member, Dhruba has worked in private and financial sector development, infrastructure and clean energy financing, public-private partnerships, banking & capital market reforms and technical assistance in improving the investment climate in India. Earlier Dhruba worked with Moody’s ICRA Limited, a credit rating agency for its Advisory and Consulting business in Public Policy with a focus on Infrastructure and Energy sectors. He has been a significant contributor to India’s Infrastructure Public Private Partnerships (PPP) initiatives working with the erstwhile Planning Commission, now known as Niti Aayog, Ministry of Finance, Government of India where he was responsible for setting up India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) in 2007. He subsequently engaged with IIFCL through World Bank lending to recreate Infrastructure Project Financing in India. Dhruba contributed to the development of several policy and regulatory initiatives for infrastructure project financing in India such as Infrastructure Finance NBFCs, Expected Loss based Credit Ratings for Infrastructure Projects and Investment Trusts (InVITs) in India.  

Dhruba contributes regularly to climate financing discussions and platforms/convenings in India and globally. Domestic and international media often quote him and has several referred journal publications in his name which includes India’s Green Growth Imperative in The Project Syndicate and is a contributor to the Handbook of Green Finance, Jeff Sachs Springer. 

His research areas and interests are in financing infrastructure and clean energy, corporate sustainability, and climate finance.   

Dhruba has been recently appointed as the Chairperson of the Transition Finance Committee at the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) and a member of the CII Net Zero Council for India. He has led the Regulatory Group for Sustainable Finance Task Force set up by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. He has actively contributed to the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group agenda and forums. 

Dhruba teaches Sustainability and Sustainable/Climate/Adaptation Finance at business schools in India and is a visiting faculty at IIM Calcutta.  

Dhruba is an Engineering graduate from Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Ranchi, and a postgraduate in Management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta and earned a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi in Financing Infrastructure and Clean Energy Investments through Bond markets in Developing countries. 

David Rogers, Ph.D. 

Dr Rogers’ career in meteorology and oceanography spans more than four decades. He has authored over 100 papers and books on meteorology, oceanography and related fields, including marine atmospheric boundary layer processes, cloud physics, numerical model parameterization, disaster management, hydrometeorological development and policy.

He has held numerous senior appointments including Chief Executive of the UK Met Office, Vice President of Science Applications International Corporation, Director of the Office of Weather and Air Quality Research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Director of Physical Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Associate Director of the California Space Institute and President of the Health and Climate Foundation, which he co-founded. He is currently a senior advisor to the World Bank and Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction on weather, climate and hydrological issues. 

Dr Rogers has a Ph.D. (1983) from the University of Southampton and Bachelor of Science degree (1980) from the University of East Anglia, UK.   

Bio for Jean-Marc Champagne 

Principal and Managing Director, Seneca Impact Advisors 

Jean-Marc, the Managing Director of Seneca Impact Advisors, is at the helm of a specialized advisory firm that develops innovative financial solutions to scale commercially viable nature and climate positive projects. Seneca’s mission is to mobilize private-sector capital for the protection and restoration of nature. 

Before founding Seneca, Jean-Marc dedicated 7 years to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). In his capacity as the head of Bankable Nature Solutions for the Asia-Pacific region, he nurtured and expanded scalable bankable projects with positive environmental and social impact. His responsibilities included overseeing project initiatives in the region, including those supported by the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development, as well as leading finance and bankable projects within WWF’s global Freshwater Practice. Jean-Marc was also instrumental in co-establishing the Climate Impact Asia Fund, a long-only equity fund, and currently serves on its investment advisory committee.  

Jean-Marc’s earlier career spanned 17 years in the financial industry, where he advised institutional investors on equities and equity derivatives. His investment banking journey commenced in 1997 with Merrill Lynch in New York. Since 2004, he has been based in Hong Kong, with significant time spent in Tokyo and Singapore, working with institutions such as BNP Paribas and Jefferies.  

He graduated from from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. Jean-Marc’s commitment to sustainable finance and environmental impact underscores his influential role in shaping positive change.