GREENTECH FESTIVAL SPEAKERS

Solveig Gode is the deputy department head for Podcasts, Video & Live at Handelsblatt. She hosts various event formats and hosts the Handelsblatt podcasts “Today” and “Crime,” among others. In 2023, she was selected by the trade magazine “Wirtschaftsjournalist:in” as one of the Business Journalists of the Year in the category of Economic Policy/Society. Previously, she moderated the successful True-Crime podcast “Macht & Millionen” by Business Insider, led it, and brought it to the stage in a sold-out live tour. Her eponymous book accompanying the podcast about the most spectacular scandals in the German economy made it onto the Manager Magazin’s bestseller list in 2022. She also works as a moderator and speaker, including past events such as re:publica, Spotify All Ears, or TedX. Solveig completed her traineeship at the Burda School of Journalism and at Focus Magazine, where she also completed a placement at the New York correspondent’s office. Solveig studied Journalism and Political Science in Berlin.

Simon Bail, an “ecopreneur,” founded and leads OneClimate, a climate-action startup, an app that enables their users to take climate actions from holistically. Before establishing OneClimate, Simon worked in a management consultancy at the company builder wattx, within the Viessmann ecosystem, turning ideas into businesses, including OneClimate. He calls himself as a metamodernist and strives to empower as people to take climate action into their own hands.

Mischa is an expert in corporate collaboration, marketing, communications and fundraising. He is dedicated to the many ways in which organisations can best support their business models to work with WWF to create a path to effective sustainability. With his long experience in various positions in the non-profit sector, management and project management, Mischa has a broad understanding of the interplay between business interests and sustainability issues.

As an expert in science-based sustainability and climate strategies, Lea accompanies companies along their transformation towards 1.5°C compatible business models and activities. With many years of experience in strategy and policy development, campaigning and stakeholder engagement with CDP and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Lea not only has deep technical expertise, but also a broad understanding of current market developments and business challenges.

Sebastian is responsible for our climate strategy work, drives it forward conceptually with the WWF network and translates it into Paris-compatible offers for our companies. He is not only our link to the latest developments of the Science Based Targets Initiative. With his scientific expertise in strategic and international sustainability management, he is also a creative driving force for the holistic transformation of companies.

As the Executive Board Member for Sustainability and Development of FÜCHSE BERLIN, I bring over four years of experience in fostering sustainable practices within sports organizations. Currently serving as Co-Chairman of the Sustainability Board at the European Handball Federation and the Nachhaltigkeits-Taskforce at Handball-Bundesliga GmbH, I am dedicated to driving positive environmental and social impact. With a background as Founder & CEO of XU sustainable, I am committed to leading initiatives that promote sustainability and advance the development of our community.

Constance is a sustainability expert with over 20 years of experience working on topics such as climate change, nature, energy, biodiversity, social and environmental enterprises, as well as gender equality and human rights. She has strong expertise in building partnerships and brings a global perspective to her work having grown up in Mongolia and Singapore and having been posted in countries such as North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Viet Nam and the United States. She recently joined Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Germany (CCEP) from the United Nations and leads the coordination and implementation of the CCEP Sustainability Strategy.

David is a successful technology entrepreneur with over 19 years of experience in software development and business creation. Before founding syte in 2021, he was the founder and CTO of Familonet, a startup that was successfully exited and acquired by Daimler in 2017. The focus area of the graduate mathematician is the innovative technological development of syte in order to always be one step ahead of the market.

Diploma Electrical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. Started her career at E.ON in different positions within decentral energy space, amongst others in product management being responsible for E.ONs first smart home product and afterwards leading the team integrating small scale assets into the virtual power plant. Worked with Oracle to digitize the largest german enterprises and migrate their workloads into the cloud as leader for the german cloud business. Lastly, before joining 1KOMMA5°, Barbara was responsible for Google’s Digital Native and Start-up business in Germany, scaling start-ups and scale-ups with Google technology. Part of the Google Cloud Germany leadership team. Now CTO at 1KOMMA5°, the one-stop-shop for climate technology.

Alexander Hirschfeld heads the research division at the German Startup Association. He is responsible for all studies published by the Association related to the ecosystem, including the German Startups Monitor and the Green Startup Monitor. In his teaching and studies at different universities in Germany and abroad, Alex has been focusing on the relationship between economy, technology and society. He spent a year as a visiting researcher at Columbia University in New York and holds a Ph.D. in sociology.

I make social media campaigns and accounts climate-neutral when I’m not launching a nude calendar for climate awareness, recording a podcast, creating content for Brand New Bundestag or taking a stand against BILD ❤️‍🔥

Marcin is a top expert in the petrochemicals and refining world, known for his savvy in strategy, market planning, and making operations and investments shine. Used to based in the Middle East, his work has made waves across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, thanks to a solid track record of leading successful projects. When he’s not dissecting complex industry challenges, Marcin is all about embracing the great outdoors. Whether he’s cutting through waves while kitesurfing, teeing off on the golf course, or exploring nature trails, both in snowy winters and sunny summers, Marcin loves staying active and connected with nature.

Andy is the COO & Energy Analyst at the Institute of Economic Affairs, the UK’s leading free market think tank, where he writes and commentates on issues from a free market environmentalist viewpoint. Prior to the IEA he was head of UK public affairs at BASF, the German chemical company, green energy advisor to BP UK and has also worked for technology and consultancy companies. He has advised political parties, and organised a European election campaign in 1999, and is currently an independent common councillor for the City of London, the world’s oldest local authority.

Joel is CEO and co-founder of Infener. He is also a partner and holds a management position at the W&P Group. His extensive expertise in the field of hydrogen originated at an early stage and has continuously developed since. Scientific studies in the field of geosciences at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen were preceded by a degree in business administration from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Further specialization was achieved through a master’s degree in business administration and relevant postgraduate studies at the University of Leicester.

During his studies at the Technical University of Munich, Philipp Glonner gained extensive experience in engineering and management. He worked independently on automotive projects for alternative drive systems and had successful exits in the start-up sector. As co-founder and CEO of ARTHUR, a mobility company in Munich, he has led the development of one of the most advanced hydrogen buses offering integrated virtual twin and planning services for the transport industry.

As Head of Sustainability & Environment at Deutsche Bahn AG, Katrin Habenschaden is playing a key role in shaping the sustainable mobility transition in Germany. In her position, she is responsible for DB’s green transformation and social responsibility. Her focus is on achieving climate neutrality by 2040 and, together with her team, she is also driving forward topics such as the circular economy and biodiversity. Before joining Germany’s largest mobility company, Katrin Habenschaden was the second mayor of the state capital of Munich. In her previous role, she was already responsible for issues relating to climate protection, mobility and gender equality.

Kevin Knitterscheidt works as the head of the Podcast, Live & Video department. Previously, he served as an editor in the Business and Markets department, covering the steel, mechanical engineering, and construction sectors. His career path includes studying Philosophy and Literary Studies in Munich and Düsseldorf, with journalistic roles at the Welt Group in Munich and Düsseldorf, the Süddeutsche Zeitung (Feuilleton), and the Westfälische Rundschau (Local Editorial Office Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis). He is a graduate of the Georg von Holtzbrinck School for Business Journalists.

Adrian Wons is the Founder and CEO of Senken, a pioneering carbon removal marketplace, now the second largest worldwide. His journey began after engaging with farmers in Southern Africa, leading him to leverage technology for sustainable agriculture. Prior to Senken, Adrian spearheaded the blockchain department at EY Germany and authored two influential books on blockchain technology. He holds a Master’s degree in Computational Fluid Dynamics with a focus on wind energy. Adrian’s multifaceted expertise in technology and sustainability, combined with a deep commitment to practical solutions for climate change, positions him as a leading figure in environmental innovation.

Ms. Moesi is the cofounder and CEO of Viva Organica, and spearheads the overall business strategy of the ecoconscious biotech company based in Gabane, Botswana. She is a biologist by profession and is passionate about developing climate action-oriented businesses and projects in Climate change adaptation work. Applying principles of soil microbiology and agritech in restoring fertility of soils through sustainable agriculture and climate resilient farming is a goals she seeks to achieve through Viva Organica. She has prototyped and launched the company’s flagship products into the local market which has impacted close to 400 farmers and distributed to 200Hectares of land. Mmakwena is a 2022 YouthAdapt Challenge winner, a 2023 SEED Awards runner up and a Youth Ecopreneuer 2023 finalist.

Todd Smith is a former Airbus A320 Pilot turned sustainable aviation activist. He and his colleagues at Safe Landing are determined to ensure the aviation industry changes course through early design, rather than late disaster. This international community of aviation workers have already commissioned the world’s first ‘Aviation Workers’ Assembly’ in the UK and wish to continue to put workers front and centre as we collectively navigate the turbulent skies ahead.

Raised on an organic farm in northern Germany, Philipp Schröder, was Country Director of Tesla Germany & Austria and managing director of sonnen. He now heads 1KOMMA5° as CEO and Co-Founder, closed the largest CleanTech Series A in Europe in 2022 and is on track to build a vertically integrated one-stop-shop for Photovoltaik, heat pump and electric charging to revolutionize the energy market.

Dr. Ruiz-Gutierrez earned her Bachelor’s degree at the National University of Costa Rica in Tropical Biology, and her Doctorate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, with a strong focus on population biology and quantitative ecology. The focus of her research is to work at the interface between science and application to deepen our understanding of the social and environmental factors that shape where and when species occur on a given landscape to improve decision-making and conservation. Her research group works on developing and applying novel quantitative modeling techniques to understand how human drivers of land-use change (e.g. agriculture) affect biodiversity using birds as indicators.