HRH Crown Prince Haakon is in his work focusing especially on entrepreneurship and innovation in Norwegian business, youth and diversity, and nature – with a special regard for the ocean and the issue of climate change.

Gunhild A. Stordalen is the founder and executive chair of EAT. She is a driving force linking climate, health and sustainability issues across sectors to transform the global food system. In 2020, Gunhild was appointed to a a leading role at the UN Food Systems Summit 2021. She is the Chair of the Summit’s Action Track 2: Shifting to Healthy and Sustainable Consumption Patterns, with a wide mandate to build a broad, multistakeholder coalition around this key challenge and opportunity, and leveraging the EAT platform to the full. Gunhild sits on several boards and advises on councils including the United Nation’s Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Lead Group, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Stewardship Board on Food Systems, REQ Capital Advisory Board, the UNICEF’s Advisory Group, member of Africa Europe Women Leaders Network, and the international advisory board of the SRC. In addition, Gunhild is an ambassador for Friends of Ocean action, a member of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (HLP) for the Blue Economy, A HELENA member, and a part of the International Leadership Committee for a Net Zero NHS.

Kjerstin Braathen is CEO of DNB BANK ASA and has more than 20 years experience from various parts of the DNB Group. Previously she held the role of CFO in DNB, being responsible for the DNB Group’s financial management, financial reporting, treasury, M&A, legal and investor relations functions. Before taking on the role as CFO, Mrs. Braathen was Group Executive Vice President of Corporate Banking in DNB, managing a portfolio of more than 200.000 small- and medium-sized corporate customers. Mrs. Braathen is also Chair of the Board in Vipps, the Nordics’ leading ID and payment infrastructure provider. Before joining DNB in 1999, Mrs. Braathen held various positions in Norsk Hydro where she started her career as a trainee within Hydro Agri International in 1995. Mrs. Braathen holds a Master in Management and Finance from SKEMA Business School in Nice – Sophia Antipolis.

Tore Furevik is the managing director of the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center and a professor in physical oceanography at the University of Bergen. Before coming to the Nansen Centre in July 2021, he worked eight years as the director of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research. Furevik’s research focus is on climate modelling, air-sea-ice interactions, and large-scale variability in the atmosphere and ocean, involving coupling between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes. He has initiated and coordinated a Norwegian research school in climate as well as several ongoing partnership programs with US and China. He is also the former president of the Norwegian Geophysical Society. Furevik has published more than 50 scientific papers, and he has given hundreds of popular lectures and almost one thousand media interviews. He has close to 3000 followers on twitter.

Peter Haugan is Co-Chair of the Ocean Panel Expert Group and Programme Director at Institute of Marine Research, Norway, professor of oceanography at the Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen and past chair of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC of UNESCO). He has more than 30 years of experience in marine scientific research and international ocean science coordination. The preparation and proclamation of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and the launch of the first ever Global Ocean Science Report (2017) are recent highlights. His research interests include various aspects of physical oceanography with primary focus on the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean as well as global ocean carbon cycling and climate. Peter has expertise in polar oceanography and sea ice from working in the high Arctic and has also initiated and led research and education efforts in renewable energy including offshore wind. From 2019, he is in charge of international work with global development at the Institute of Marine Research

Anette Broch Mathisen Tvedt is the CEO and Co-Founder of Adepth Minerals. Anette has her expertise within structural geology with a PhD from University of Bergen. She has broad technical and cross disciplinary experience from the oil and gas industry, especially within exploration. She is driven by collaboration and innovation, and believes that it is an absolute necessity to ensure the data collection and knowledge growth needed for sustainable deep sea minerals exploration and production on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Kristian Mørch has 33 years of experience in the shipping industry, including six years based in Asia. He came to Odfjell from the position as Partner and Group CEO of Clipper Group, and prior to that with a career at A.P.Moller-Maersk where he held various executive positions, latest as COO of Maersk Tankers. Mørch has extensive board experience, and was a member of the Odfjell Board of Directors from 2014 until he assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on August 1, 2015. Other board assignments include Maersk Broker, J.Lauritzen, Clipper Group and Nordic Shipholding.

Tonje Istad is a commercial specialist with more than 10 years in the energy industry. She has coordinated Sustainability initiatives in Norway working with corporate groups on Environment and Sustainability strategies. This includes several proactive initiatives with regards to communication of TechnipFMC’s environment initiatives. She has contributed revising the climate roadmap for Konkraft and written articles about the importance of measuring our carbon footprint. Tonje is passionate about the opportunities we have in Norway to share knowledge and cooperate for a green and inclusive energy transition. Tonje holds a MSc in Energy Management from Nord University and MGIMO/Moscow, and has worked in USA and Brussels.

Anja is working at Slåttland which is the fabricator partner in the Deep Purple Pilot consortium. She is working daily with digital communications and marketing for Slåttland’s movement into new sustainable markets. Guerrera is responsible for the marketing interaction for Slåttland in the Deep Purple partnership.

Finn Gunnar Nielsen is presently a professor at Geophysical Institute at the University of Bergen, Norway. His special field is offshore wind energy. He is director of Bergen Offshore Wind Centre (BOW) which is a cross-disciplinary centre addressing issues relevant to offshore wind energy, ranging from meteorology, via informatics, biology and material science to law. He holds a Dr.ing. (PhD) in marine hydrodynamics from NTNU (1980). Before he joined the university in a full-time position in 2016, he has had adjunct professor positions at NTNU and UiB for more than 20 years. At that time, he was employed by Norsk Hydro, later Statoil (now Equinor) in the research department with a special field within marine structures. Amongst other, he was heading the research group developing the world’s first full scale floating wind turbine, Hywind.

Isabelle Juillard Thompsen, CFA is portfolio manager at DnB Asset management for the global equity fund DNB Fund Future Waves. Isabelle Thompsen has gained extensive international experience with Equity investing in the USA and Norway, and has 10-year experience in sustainable investments from various positions within the industry. During her career she has been portfolio manager and research analyst with, among others, Gjensidigestiftelsen, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) and Storebrand. She is a CFA Charterholder, holds an MBA from Pacific Lutheran University, MSC in Management and Finance from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Bordeaux and studies in Sustainable investments in natural resources from Columbia University.

Martin Visbeck is head of research unit Physical Oceanography at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and professor at Kiel University, Germany. His research interests revolve around ocean dynamic and the ocean’s role in the climate system, integrated global ocean observation and ocean sustainable development. He serves on a number of national and international advisory committees including the Governing Board of the International Science Council (ISC), Joint Scientific Committee of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), leadership council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), Executive Planning Group for the UN Decade of Ocean Science Decade for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 and the Assembly supporting the development of the EU Horizon Europe Ocean Mission. He chairs the Advisory Committee for Earth Observations at ESA. He is President of The Oceanography Society (TOS), and was elected fellow of the AGU, AMS, TOS and the European Academy of Sciences. Martin Visbeck is involved in strategic planning and decision-making processes about the ocean and sustainable development at a national, European and global level.

Giles Dickson is the Chief Executive Officer of WindEurope (formerly EWEA)
WindEurope is the voice of the European wind industry. It represents the entire value chain of wind power: turbine manufacturers, component suppliers, power utilities, project developers, financial institutions and research institutes. As the industry association WindEurope actively promotes wind power in Europe. Prior to joining WindEurope, Mr. Dickson was Vice President of Global Public Affairs at Alstom. He was also a civil servant in the UK Government for over 15 years.

Marie Engelsen is Commercial Environmental Manager in Eidesvik. Within the offshore industry Eidesvik has for long been a pioneer within environment focused innovation, and Launes plays a central role in the commercialization of the company’s solutions within energy optimization and new technologies. Prior to joining Eidesvik Launes worked in various communications and public affairs management positions in Wärtsilä and the cluster organization NCE Maritime CleanTech. She has also been involved in a range of ground-breaking national and European innovation projects within green technologies and new fuels for the shipping sector.

Jo is leading the development of the Ocean Data Platform, a central tool in the C4IR Ocean’s efforts to unlock the power of ocean data. He has a backround in marine engineering and software engineering over more than two decades in Norway and abroad.

Renete Kaarvik is Global Finance Officer in Grieg Seafood. She lead the process of developing Grieg Seafood’s Green Bond framework, is responsible for the company’s financial and sustainability reporting and has an active role in strengthening Corporate Governance. Kaarvik has 10 years of financial experience in the salmon farming industry, as well as 10 years of experience from PwC and EY. She holds a Master of Science in Business and a Master of Applied Finance.

Eystein Leren is responsible for marked development projects for zero emission ammonia with special focus on energy and fuel applications. Leren has experience from 25 years in Norsk Hydro and Yara, working in various positions within business development, market support, Innovation and R&D, with industrial and environmental applications, the last five years focusing on decarbonization projects and commercialization of zero emission ammonia

Karoline Andaur is the CEO of WWF-Norway as of April 2020. She has an MSc in Social Anthropology and a BSc in Social Psychology. Her master thesis was on aquaculture in Chile, from where her father is from, which also gave her an opportunity to get to know her cultural heritage and family there. She has worked in WWF-Norway since 2009, as head of the marine team, corporate cooperation, organisational development and twice as interim CEO. She has throughout her years worked a lot in the global network and is very familiar with the great international environmental and climate issues.

Sissel Rogne joined the Institute of Marine Research in January 2016. The Institute of Marine Research is Europe’s second largest marine research institute. She has previously been the director of the Biotechnology Council and has worked ten years in medical research and ten years in agro- and aquaculture research. Rogne became a professor of biotechnology in 1992. She has a degree in cell biology with a doctorate in molecular genetics. She has extensive experience from boards and councils in research and development, both nationally and internationally.

Gunnar Yttri is the rector of the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL). HVL is one of the largest educational institutions in the country, with about 17,000 students. HVL stretches over 5 campuses and 400 kilometers on the western coast of Norway. They have strong and innovative professional environments within many fields, among them beeing engineering, nature sciences and maritime sciences. HVL has a clear professional-oriented profile, and seeks to create new knowledge anchored internationally, and with solutions that work locally. Their goal is to become a professional and career-oriented university. Gunnar holds a PhD in history, and his research interests lie in the area of economic and technological history, research and education policy and renewable energy. Among other things, he has been a researcher at the former Centre for Technology and Human Physician Value (now Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture) at the University of Oslo, and a visiting lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University in England. He has also conducted research in Scotland and the US.

Sverre Alvik is Director for Energy Transition Outlook. He has a Master’s degree in Naval Architecture from NTNU in Norway from 1997 and more than 20 years’ experience from working in DNV GL. His main experience is with the Energy and the Maritime industry, where he has worked with strategy and politics, marketing and sales, project management and research & innovation, and where he also has written a number of papers and presentations. The last seven years he has been heading up DNV GL’s global research work on the energy transition.

Elisabeth Norgaard Gabrielsen is Acting Director general for the department for Fisheries, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. She joined the Ministry I 2001 and has served in different positions in the Ministry. The department for Fisheries man responsibility is bilateral and multilateral agreements and arrangements as well as participation in the fisheries and regulations at the national level. Elisabeth N . Gabrielsen is a lawyer with a degree from the University of Oslo.