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Ms. Karin Reiss-Haimbala is a Program Manager at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Vienna, Austria. With over 15 years of experience, she is currently managing a portfolio of projects and programs in the field of Sustainable Energy, Industrial Decarbonisation and Climate Change Adaptation in Industries with a geographical focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.

From 2013 – 2019 she was based at the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) in Praia, Cape Verde and subsequently at the SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) in Windhoek, Namibia where she provided strategic support to the institutional setup and the development of regional flagship programmes.

Before she joined UNIDO she worked for the Austrian Energy Agency on international collaborations in Energy Policy and Capacity Building in Developing Countries and Countries with economies in transition.

• Email: planglois@econoler.com
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Pierre Langlois is the President of Econoler, an international energy efficiency consulting firm. He boasts 35 years of experience in the clean energy sector with the design, financing, implementation and monitoring of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in North America and internationally. He also acts as well as the president of SOFIAC, the first Super ESCO initiative in Canada and one of the first private sector Super ESCO in the world.

Pierre is a first-rate international expert in the development and implementation of pioneering adapted financial mechanisms for energy efficiency, specifically the use of Energy Performance Contracting and operation of ESCOs. He acted as a member of the boards of several ESCOs worldwide and a few international organizations such as the Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO).  He has been involved in the development of current Super ESCO initiative in many countries (Canada, India, UEA) and is involved in the structuring of many more around the world

Pierre has worked in over 50 countries as part of assignments financed by major multilateral development banks, development organizations and many UN agencies, as well as for major private sector organisations.

He currently acts as co-chair of the steering committee of the Global ESCO Network.

• Email: soren.lutken@un.org
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Soren E. Lütken holds a PhD in assessing European energy utilities' investment strategies with respect to UNFCCC investment vehicles such as CDM. Further, he combines an MBA background with experience from 10 years of service in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tasked with multilateral finance advice and Danish bilateral climate change collaboration with China.

His approach to the energy sector is financial and political rather than technical. He has been working with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) in Eastern Europe with e.g. EBRD financing in the 1990s, private energy infrastructure financing in Asia in the late 1990s, CDM investment, mainly wind energy and hydro projects, in India and China from 2003 onwards, and ESCO concept development in China's steel sector in 2008-2010.

Since joining the UNEP DTU (now UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre) and its climate change-focused advisory in 2010 his work has focused on the linkage between energy investments and the politically controlled frameworks that determine investment conditions. He initiated the Global ESCO Network in 2019, realizing the missing link between the climate change agenda and the obvious role of ESCOs in emissions reduction.

He has authored two books and several working papers, including ‘Corporate Strategies and the CDM – developing country financing for developed country commitments?’ published in 2008, 'Financial Engineering of Climate Investment in Developing Countries' published in 2014 and several guidebooks on climate action and sector-specific energy efficiency implementation, including UNFCCC Guidance.

He is the author of two books on climate finance (published at Edward Elgar & Anthem Press respectively) as well as numerous guides and working papers on NAMAs and climate finance.

• Email: svetlana.adamek@ilf.com
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Svetlana Adamek has a strong foundation in both technical and economic disciplines and has dedicated herself to the ESCO/EPC models for the past 21 years. Her area of expertise lies in developing, advising, and implementing EPCs, with a particular focus on sustainability. Throughout her career, she has held diverse roles related to ESCO/EPC. For instance, she has worked for an ESCO (Siemens) implementing complex EPCs with long-term contracts for up to 20 years, she has provided consultancy services to public facility owners, advising them on how to engage with ESCOs effectively, and has acted as an advisor for international and local financial institutions, donors and MDBs, in developing financial instruments and facilitating the use of EPCs.

Selected professional experience includes:

• Siemens AG – preparing proposals and implementing EPCs; structuring financing, contract development
• Morocco, EBRD – EE market demand study and recommendation of financing mechanisms
• Egypt: 1) GIZ – FS for Egypt Super ESCO and 2) KfW – FS for establishment of a revolving EE Fund
• Ukraine, EBRD – Framework for financing EE projects through EPC scheme (EUR 100 million)
• Moldova, USAID – 1) FS for Moldova Super ESCO and 2) Piloting Moldova Super ESCO
• Poland, EBRD – Investment Strategy, fin instruments and mechanisms for EE retrofitting of public buildings

• Email: benjamin.bruet@siemens.com
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Benjamin Bruet, currently serving as the Head of Services EMEA at Siemens, possesses a robust leadership background in the energy sector. With six years at Siemens, his current responsibility involves structuring and expanding the Energy and Sustainability Service business across 20 countries in Europe and the Middle East.

In his prior role as Zone Head for Southwest Europe, Benjamin assumed P&L responsibility for the Energy Performance Services Division, leading his teams to successfully develop large-scale Energy & Sustainability programs with global industrial and corporate clients.

Before joining Siemens, Benjamin held managerial roles at Schneider Electric and Ergelis, overseeing Energy Performance Contracting sales and operations teams in the Real Estate and Industrial sectors across Western Europe.

Benjamin holds a doctorate and a master’s in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, along with an Engineering Degree from Ecole Centrale Paris.

• Email: cballesteros@anese.es
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Carlos Ballesteros Barrado has been the Managing Director of the Spanish National ESCO Association, ANESE, since 2019. He has more than 15 years of international experience working for top energy companies worldwide in the fields of energy services, engineering, and R&D. Carlos is also been an observer at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties since 2019 and a Board member of the CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee (CEN-CLC/JTC), where he contributed to the establishment of standards within the scope of Energy Performance Contracts minimum requirements,) prEN 17669 normative and ValerI EN17463 Valuation of Energy-related investments, in line with the relevant CEN and CENELEC Technical Board decisions. Other board positions include:

• Advisory board member for the EU Horizon and Life projects
• Board Committee member of the leading Spanish events related to energy efficiency, GENERA, MATELEC INDUSTRIES, GREENCITIES and S-MOVING
• Board Member of OFICINA VERDE (Ayto Madrid), the first one-stop shop for building renovation in Spain

In addition, Carlos is an active promoter of energy efficiency and ESCO as an implementation framework through publications and international conferences and is also teaching Master’s students in the Energy Sector.

• Email: cdc@enersavecap.com
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Seasoned investment banker with a focus on the energy transition and sustainable energy assets. Founder and Senior Managing Partner of Luxembourg and London-based regulated structures with a focus on energy efficiency solutions and renewable energy generation, the repacking of cash flows derived from sustainable investments into green bonds via securitisation.

Csaba has extensive knowledge of energy efficiency measures across heating, cooling, lighting sector, PV's and other energy efficiency technologies and a profound understanding of e-mobility, including V2G. His expertise is focused on the standardisation of contractual agreements (as a service, PPA, EPC models, refinancing), bundling, aggregation and finally securitization.

EnerSave Capital is a Luxembourg-based sustainable finance facilitator and is one of the founding members of the Sustainable Energy Finance Association (SEFA), which is the European trade association for the sustainable energy industry.

• Email: dhevan@ltmenergy.co.za
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Dhevan Pillay is a professional engineer and Group CEO of LTM Energy, a registered Tier 1 ESCO delivering innovative energy, water, and renewable energy solutions. Under his leadership, the company has executed multiple successful projects and received global recognition, including the “Most Innovative Company” award at the World Innovation Congress in Mumbai and the Energy Globe award, highlighting LTM Energy’s commitment to sustainability and technological excellence.

Mr. Pillay is an accomplished thought leader in the energy sector, serving as an external examiner for MSc Engineering students at local and international universities and presenting technical papers in the USA, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. He represented South Africa at the BRICS conference in Russia, focusing on green economy initiatives. A former President of the ESCo Association of Southern Africa (EASA) and former Vice President of the Southern African Energy Efficiency Confederation (SAEEC), he is deeply committed to advancing energy efficiency and sustainability.

Passionate about improving quality of life through clean energy and environmental stewardship, Mr. Pillay combines technical expertise, innovative thinking, and strategic leadership to drive transformative solutions for a sustainable future.

• Email: dlimaye@srcglobal.com
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Mr. Limaye is President and CEO of SRC Global Inc. and is internationally recognized as a pioneer and an entrepreneur with over 45 years of experience in energy efficiency and energy services. He is a consultant to the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, IFC, UNDP, USAID and other donor agencies on financing and implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate change mitigation strategies. He has extensive experience with performance contracting and ESCOs, having started the first multinational ESCO, the International Energy Services Company, with operations in North America, Europe, Australia and India. He has also helped establish successful ESCOs in Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, and several in Europe and North America. Mr. Limaye has conducted pioneering research related to the concept of the Super ESCO and has helped establish Super ESCOs in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Hebei, China, and contributed to the establishment of the strategic framework for the Indian Super ESCO - Energy Efficiency Services Limited. He has edited or co-authored nine books and has presented over 40 technical papers at international conferences.

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Emily McQualter has over 10 years of international experience in various technical and managerial roles in energy efficiency, especially focusing on appliances and lighting.

Emily currently leads the International Copper Association's energy efficiency portfolio with projects in Latin America and Africa. Previously, Emily worked for the International Energy Agency’s Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies (E4) programme, where she managed E4's work in Southeast Asia. Emily spent time in rural Philippines and in Thailand, where she worked for the United Nations Environment Programme, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific on energy efficiency programmes. Emily received a BSc and Master of Natural Resource Management from the University of Melbourne.

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An accomplished senior executive with diverse experience in strategy and tactics in business management, Gino has held leadership positions at Johnson Controls and Bouygues Énergie Services, all related to energy transition. He has been involved in major power generation projects with various solutions worldwide.

In 2019, he joined GreenYellow as Chief Commercial Officer and a member of the board of directors, focusing on aligning business objectives to achieve exceptional growth results since his arrival. Gino is at the forefront of developing new solutions for solar production, energy efficiency and microgrids.

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Ms. D’Angiolini works as a Project Manager and Sustainable Energy Advisor at Econoler. Giulia has more than 10 years of experience in the fields of energy efficiency, project design, and project management, as well as training and capacity building. Ms. D’Angiolini holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering and a Doctorate in Energy Engineering, both from the Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy. At the start of her career, she worked in the construction industry and was involved in thermal engineering, research and development and building energy modelling projects.

Since then, she has worked in many sectors linked to energy efficiency, such as conducting energy market analysis including gender aspects, analyzing the impacts of climate change, as well as elaborating and implementing energy efficiency policies in emerging economies based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

She has expertise in the following sectors: renewable energy; bioclimatic building design; policy for energy transition; market evaluation and studies; capacity building programs and training; energy performance standards and energy labelling systems.

Ms. D’Angiolini has solid expertise in managing international missions thanks to her managing projects for and financed by the European Commission, United Nations programs and agencies, as well as international funds (such as the GEF) in many countries.

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Jacobo Llerena holds a Master's degree in Law and an MSc in Energy Law. Since 2007, I have been a senior official for the Spanish Government Administration.

Jacobo is currently the Deputy Director General for Energy Efficiency at the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge in Spain. Additionally, he is a member of the Directive Board of the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE). He haa previously held various responsibilities in the energy sector, including Senior Advisor at the Cabinet of the Secretary of State for Energy and member of the Directive Board of the Spanish Corporation for Strategic Reserves of Petroleum Products (CORES). His professional experience spans both the public and private sectors.

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Louisa Troitzsch is the Chief Operating Officer of Solas Capital AG, where her responsibilities encompass the company's operations and strategy. She has previously worked in EY in both the UK and Switzerland, providing commercial and financial advice on public sector infrastructure projects. Louisa is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MA (Hons) in Linguistics and an MSc in Carbon Management, both from the University of Edinburgh.

Solas Capital is a specialist investment advisory firm committed to supporting the shift to a carbon-neutral society. Solas Capital advises the Solas Sustainable Energy Fund ICAV (SSEF), a EUR220m fund which launched in February 2022. It is a “dark green” fund, compliant with Article 9 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

• Email: mark.lister@asiacleanenergypartners.com
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Mark Lister is Managing Partner of Asia Clean Energy Partners, an international consulting and advisory firm working to support accelerated clean energy deployment with a focus on markets in Asia and the Pacific. Mark is a leading advocate for expanded energy efficiency deployment, with 20 years of experience in clean energy across a range of sectors, including strategy development for governments, founding an NGO, heading private sector ESCO development efforts in Australia and lecturing in postgraduate sustainable energy courses. In more recent times he has worked with ADB in the Philippines to facilitate and scale up climate technology investments in Asia-Pacific, and was also based in Denmark where he led the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, the global energy efficiency hub of Sustainable Energy for All. Mark has a number of current ESCO-related involvements including as global Chair of the US-based Efficiency Valuation Organization (EVO), a position he has held since January 2020.

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Mary Sotos is the Director of the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). She leads a team dedicated to helping federal agencies achieve sustainable facilities and fleets by assisting with federal-wide data collection and aggregation, developing reporting tools and technical assistance, and offering training and project funding.

Sotos previously served as a senior policy advisor with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, where she launched a revamped "Lead By Example" program to create new strategies to track and manage greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and water use across all state agencies. She also served as the agency's deputy commissioner for energy, directing the state's energy policies and programs. Sotos also worked at the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Program at the World Resources Institute, an international think tank, where she developed new global carbon accounting standards and tools used by thousands of organizations worldwide. Additionally, she partnered with corporate leaders to develop and advance new renewable energy strategies, tools, and policies to decarbonize the grid.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from St. Olaf College and completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Brussels, Belgium.

• Email: me.benjelloun@attijariwafa.com
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Mehdi Benjelloun is the Executive Director at Attijari Capital Management. He has 15 years of experience, both nationally and internationally, in financial structuring and project management in the energy sector. He has a Specialized Master’s degree in Strategy and Engineering of International Business at ESSEC Business School, Paris, France and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Arts et Métiers Paritech, Paris, France.

• Email: paolo.bertoldi@ec.europa.eu
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Paolo Bertoldi is a senior expert in sustainable energy, climate change and energy efficiency at the European Commission.

Some of his key areas of expertise include Energy Service Companies, market-based instruments, governance, environmental leadership, and ICT energy consumption.

Experienced Editor-in-chief with a demonstrated history of working in the international affairs industry. Bertoldi is also skilled in sustainable energy, Corporate Social Responsibility, International Relations, and data centre, and is in charge of policy analysis for energy efficiency at the European Commission where he has served as Energy Efficiency Expert and Senior Expert for a total of 26 years. He has an engineering degree focused on energy systems and electrical systems from the University of Padova, Italy.

• Email: ruediger.lohse@edlhub.org
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Rüdiger Lohse is an industrial engineer. His main tasks are:

1. Senior Facilitating Expertise: He is leading the primary facilitator in the state of Baden-Württemberg for energy services. Responsibility for the complete scope of work, including feasibility studies, decision-making process integrating citizens, councils and administrations, project structures, stipulation together with legal advisers, and procurement process until and beyond the signature of the energy service contract. Awarded by European Commission in 2009 for “Europe´s Most Innovative Facilitator for Energy Services”
2. Market development - political level: He initiated stimulation for the energy service market development on the Regional and the Federal level, targeting harmonisation and increasing awareness and availability of energy services in the public sector. The last of several initiatives was the recently concluded first step of the Contracting Initiative Baden-Württemberg, with 120 stakeholders targeting a 10-step roadmap for the broad development of the energy service market, among others.
3. Market development - research on structures: Their strategic target is implementing ESPC as an applicable and broadly accepted climate protection tool. To increase the demand for energy services, we conducted the user-centric re-design of advanced ESPC far beyond the broadly known approaches in Germany and other mature-market European countries. The latest international research projects targeted the development of advanced performance-related business models for deep energy refurbishment of building stock, the development of ESPC for small buildings and SM ESCOs and development of new financing models for energy efficiency.
4. Competence Centre Contracting: director since August 2015: Market development activities have been bundled in a new regional facility which he has been leading since the summer of 2015.
5. Market - development-research: Mr Lohse has been conducting IEA EBC Annex 61 Deep Energy Retrofit (2013- 2017) in the function of the co-Operating Agent; since 2018, he has been conducting IEA EBC Annex 73 on Near Zero Energy Neighbourhoods also as a co-operating Agent.
6. Director of joint project INEECO with European Investment Bank, facilitating €30M of EPC investments. The joint program initiates a regional public campaign for EPC, the setup of the new legal framework for EPC, fund for refunding ESCOs and a standardised technical due diligence process.
7. Since January 2020, managing director of the newly founded Energy Service Hub in Berlin, aiming at re-structuring political framework conditions for the energy service market in Germany, networking and market development for energy services.

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Ruth Zugman do Coutto have more than 25 years of professional experience in the field of environmental, climate and chemicals policy and programme development and management, most of it in UNEP. Currently, she serves as Acting Chief of the Mitigation Branch in UNEP’s Climate Division. In this capacity, she is leading teams in the areas of energy efficiency, cooling, buildings, cities, climate finance, technology, methane reduction, food waste, transparency, NDCs, and vertical funds.

Previously,  In the Economy Division Ruth Do Coutto fulfilled multiple management positions, such as manager of the GEF and GCF mitigation portfolios, as Division programme and resource mobilization coordinator, Safer Production Initiative lead, etc.

Prior to UNEP, she worked for the Environmental Agency of the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB), Brazil, on accident prevention and preparedness for industrial activities.

She is a Chemical Engineer by training with a post-graduate degree in pollution prevention from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

• Email: Steven.kukoda@copperalliance.org
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Steve Kukoda is responsible for the International Copper Association’s (ICA) global partnerships, working with key stakeholders to make an impact on the UN SDGs, in particular SDG7 and SDG13. He successfully leads ICA’s involvement with its flagship program United for Efficiency (U4E), and was instrumental in the recent founding of the Cornerstone of Rural Electrification (CORE). Grid Efficiency and Resilience (GEAR) is ICA’s newest partnership, which launched in May 2022.

Steve is an evangelist on energy efficiency financing, and he works towards accelerating investment in this space as a critical part of climate action.

• Email: Timothy.Unruh@naesco.org
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Dr. Timothy D. Unruh is the Executive Director of the National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO). In this role, he manages the representation of its member Energy Service Companies. NAESCO provides advocacy for the industry at the Federal, State and Local levels, and provides for member company Accreditation.

Prior to this role, Dr. Unruh was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Renewable Power at the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Office of the US Department of Energy (DOE). As the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Dr. Unruh managed the nation’s renewable power research, while also providing oversight to the Grid Modernization Initiative.

Also, while at the DOE EERE, Dr. Unruh Directed the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). As FEMP Director, Dr. Unruh oversaw the implementation of policy and actions that resulted in energy efficiency implementation, renewable energy adoption, and reductions in energy and water use in Federal government operations. Dr. Unruh coordinates with DOE national laboratories and other Federal agencies in this capacity.

Dr. Unruh has a doctorate, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.

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Ar. Zulkifli Zahari is the President of Malaysia Association of Energy Service Companies (MAESCO) a post he has held since 2008. By profession, Zulkifli is an Architect. He is also a registered Green Building Facilitator and a Registered Electrical Energy Manager with Energy Commission of Malaysia.

Between 2000 – 2007, he was the Project Director for the Malaysian Industrial Energy Efficiency Improvement Project (MIEEIP) conducted by the Malaysian Government in collaboration with UNDP and GeF, and was appointed as a member of the National Steering Committee of The Building Sector Energy Efficiency Project (BSEEP) in 2011 – 2016, as well as the drafting of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act which is being enacted in 2024.

He is one of the juries for the National Energy Award (NEA) for the Energy Efficiency design and management category for the industrial, commercial and residential sector held annually by the Ministry of Energy.

Since 2014 he has developed MAESCO as the main training provider for certified Energy Efficiency related courses including Energy Management, Energy Auditor and Measurement and Verification which is recognised by the Energy Commission.