Exceptional Cleantech Leaders
This panel is all about inspiration. Meet four exceptional leaders from various segments of the cleantech world. Their pathways could not be more diverse and still their daily routines have a lot in common. Get a first-hand impression of what it is like promoting cleantech across the planet.
Moderator: Jessica Neumann | Investment & Technology Promotion Expert | UNIDO ITPO Germany
Jessica Neumann is an international project management professional with a passion for sustainable finance, including gender lens investing to advance social entrepreneurship globally. Before joining UNIDO ITPO Germany as Investment and Technology Promotion Expert, Jessica worked as Gender Focal Point Alternate for the Department of Digitalization, Technology & Innovation at the UNIDO headquarters in Vienna. Her experience has given her a sound understanding of the issues hindering development by taking a balanced perspective on social, economic and political aspects. Jessica has work experience in Project-Cycle-Management and is passionate about Circular Economy, Industry 4.0 and social innovation.
Ariesta Ningrum | Team Lead Technology Policy & Strategy | UNFCCC
Ariesta Ningrum has over twenty years of professional experience in the fields of climate change, environment and energy, of which the last thirteen years with the UNFCCC Climate Change secretariat in Bonn, Germany. Graduated as a chemical engineer, her career includes working with an Indonesian government agency in assessing and applying technologies, a non-profit organizarion advising the development of renewable energy potential, and a consulting firm developing portfolio of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism projects. Ariesta currently is leading a team at the UNFCCC supporting intergovernmental process on climate technology development and transfer and the implementation of technology action under Paris Agreement.
Trizer Omugar | Research Fellow | Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment & Energy
Trizer Omugar is a program officer with 7 years of experience in providing technical support in the planning, management, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of project and research activities in Africa and Europe. She has programming and research experience on Energy and Climate Change, Climate Smart Agriculture, Environmental Conservation, Climate Change Adaptation, Climate Change Governance, Agriculture and Food Security. Trizer won the prestigious International Climate Protection Fellowship funded by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to conduct research on energy and climate change at the Wuppertal Institute, where she is preparing proposals and conducting research on the intersectionality of energy transitions, energy poverty, citizen energy, and climate change in Germany, Kenya, and West Africa. Trizer co-founded the Climate Beyond Borders Network, an initiative to address climate change outside regional boundaries and stimulate conversations on the transboundary nature of climate change.
Abimbola (Bibi) Olufore | Head | UNIDO ITPO Nigeria
Bibi Olufore is an experienced energy expert and international development professional in energy transition solutions, industrialization and power projects development, and programme management. She has a passion for lowering carbon emissions and for an energy transition that will lead to a cleaner low carbon future. Most of her recent work has been on accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals for a clean energy and inclusive future. She currently heads the UNIDO-Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) for Nigeria. She has supported the government of Nigeria as a Special Aide to the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, facilitating development funding for technology innovation and access to credit for MSMEs. She led the transactions on the Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialization Programme (NGFCP) at the Nigerian Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Bibi is pioneering the Women in Cleantech Ecosystem Summit in Africa, an annual summit of cleantech experts focused on enabling the business environment for female-owned cleantech startups to thrive.
Katrin Pütz | Co-Founder | BiogasUnite Institute for Climate, Environment & Energy
Katrin Pütz is Co-Founder of BiogasUnite, a private sector initiative for fair biogas markets in Africa, and Head of (B)energy, a social business that provides mobile biogas technology and know-how worldwide. She has more than 15 years of experience in the agricultural engineering sector and previously served as Assistant professor at the University of Hohenheim’s Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Tropics and Subtropics Group. Katrin has won a number of awards for her work, such as the Empowering People Award by the Siemens Foundation (2013) and most recently the European Solar Prize 2020.