2021 1st Farming Biodiversity Summit

Álvaro Amaro has been a MEP since 2019. He graduated in Economics at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (FEUC). In 1979, he joined the Central Region Planning Commission (Coimbra). He was also a member of the Administrative Council of Social Services of the University of Coimbra, Secretary-General of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (1985), and an instructor at the Centre for Studies and Municipal Training (Coimbra). In 1985, he was appointed Head of Office of the Deputy Minister and for Parliamentary Affairs (X Portuguese Constitutional Government). He was Secretary of State for Agriculture (XI and XII Portuguese Constitutional Government) from 1987 to 1995. In 1987 and 1991 he was elected Member of the Portuguese Parliament at the Coimbra District Electoral Circle, positions that he did not take up because he was a Member of government. In 1988, he was elected Deputy-Chairman of the PSD Coimbra District Political Committee (DPC), and in 1994 was elected President of the PSD DPC of Guarda, a position for which he was re-elected in 1996. In 1995 and 1999 (until December 2001) he was a Member of the Portuguese Parliament elected by the Guarda District Electoral Circle. In March 1996, he became Director and Professor of the Degree in ‘Regional and Municipal Administration’ at the Independent University (Lisbon), until 2003. In December 2001, he was elected Mayor of the Municipality of Gouveia until 2013, and in September 2013 until June this year, he was Mayor of the Municipality of Guarda and Chairman of the Social Democratic Local Representatives (ASD). Between July 2003 and April 2006 he was non-executive Administrator of PT Comunicações, SA and was a full member of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) from 2013 until he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament. An enthusiast of non-governmental and student movements, he was founder and Chairman of the Alumni Association of the FEUC, Chairman of the Supervisory Board (1995-1997) and of the General Assembly (1997) of the Academic Association of Coimbra/Autonomous Football Organisation. From April 1995 to January 2000, he was Chairman of the Academic House in Lisbon. Between 2014 and 2018 he was Chairman of the General Assembly of AIRC (Centre Region Informatics Association). He is a Grand Officer of the Order of Infante D Henrique (Portugal) (since 2014), holds the Merit and Citizenship Medal (2019), attributed by the Portuguese Firefighters League, the Gouveia Municipality Medal of Honour (1993) and the AIRC Gold Medal (2007). He has published several books and articles.. More information Twitter – @alvaroamaroEU Facebook – alvaroamaroEU

Maria do Céu Antunes was born in 1970 in Abrantes. She holds a degree in Biochemistry from the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra and a postgraduate degree in Quality Management and Food Safety from the Egas Moniz School of Health Sciences. She was Secretary of State for Regional Development from February to October 2019. She was Mayor of Abrantes for 9 years and since 2013 has chaired the Council of the Médio Tejo Intermunicipal Community. She was a member of the Economic and Social Council, and of the Council of European Communities and Regions at the Standing Committee for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life. She was a member of the Monitoring Committee of the Regional Operational Programme of the Centro Region - Centro 2020, and of the Executive Committee of the Regional Tourism Authority of the Centro de Portugal Region, while also chairing the board of TecParques - Portuguese Association of Science and Technology Parks. She has received the following awards: Most Family-Friendly Local Authority, Equal Lives Municipal Award, The Tesla Sustainable Leadership Award - Leadership category, Women of the Decade in Public Life Award - All Ladies League.

Luc Bas is the Director of the IUCN European Regional Office in Brussels , representing IUCN towards the EU Institutions and providing leadership and guidance for all activities undertaken by IUCN Government and NGO members within the European context. This includes informing decision-making through IUCN’s knowledge on topics such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Red Lists, Protected Area management, Natural Capital and promoting the use of nature-based solutions across different sectors. Prior to this, Luc was European Director of The Climate Group in Brussels, working with business and government to reach more ambitious EU climate policies and prepare for a true energy transition. As International Director of The Climate Group’s States and Regions Alliance, he established one of the most significant networks of sub-national governments leading on tackling climate change. Luc worked as adviser on international sustainable development policies for both the Belgian Federal and Flemish Governments, representing them at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (SD), the OECD national SD expert panel, the Belgium Federal Council on SD, as well as at various networks of subnational governments. Luc holds a Master’s degree in industrial engineering and postgraduate degrees in both environmental science and international politics. More information Website – www.iucn.org/regions/europe

Eduardo Cuoco was born in Naples (Italy) where he studied and successfully completed his MSc in Food Science and Technologies. Successively, he gained a PhD at the Polytechnic University of Marche (IT) and an executive master on Block-chain Technologies: Business Innovation and Application at MIT Sloan (US). He has been involved in organic farming since 1998. During the first career phase (1998/2008), he focused on the regional and national development of the organic policies in Italy, regarding rural development plans, promotional and certification schemes. Furthermore, he also promoted the organic industry in Italy as an innovation broker. Since 2008 he is contributing and serving the European organic sector as staff member of IFOAM Organics Europe where in 2016 he was appointed as Director. Further, Eduardo is involved in the establishment and management of the European Technology Platform "TP Organics" (as Head of the Secretariat) and he is participating in different expert groups such as the Agriculture Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS-SCAR) and the Euro-Mediterranean Expert Group (EMEG). More information Website – www.organicseurope.bio Twitter – @EduardoCuoco LinkedIn – organicseurope

Thierry de l’Escaille was born in Belgium on 11 May 1955. He studied first at the Faculté Universitaire Saint-Louis, Brussels (1976-78), where he obtained the Diploma in Law, and then at the Université Catholique de Louvain (1978-1980), where he obtained the Licence en droit. He subsequently carried out his Military Service as a Cavalry Officer, 1^er Regiment de Guides (1981-1982) in Germany, current rank: Commandant. Since 1979 Thierry de l’Escaille has been running a family farming enterprise active in Belgium and the Netherlands, in particular in vegetables, sugar beet, potatoes, cereals and flowers. He was the founder of Agriland in 1985. Since 1994, Thierry de l’Escaille has been Secretary General of the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO).  He is also Vice-President of Landelijk Vlaanderen, Member of the Agricultural Reform Group (London), Board member of the Transatlantic Policy Network, Sorgho EU, Société Royale forestière, President Patrimoine Culturel Immobilier, Chairman of various funds. Since 1998 he is also Secretary General of Friends of the Countryside (FCS), and member of different committees. He is currently Member of the Board of several agro-industrial companies in Europe, America and involved in Africa. He is a founder of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, of the Wildlife Estate Label and deeply committed in private conservation such as in reasonable agriculture. He is member of the Board of Directors of a major protected area in Latin America. President of the board in a work promoting rural development and supporting education of young rural citizens in Colombia. More information Website – www.elo.org Twitter – @EULandownersOrg Facebook – europeanlandowners LinkedIn – thierry-de-l-escaille-6728724

Herbert Dorfmann is a politician from South Tyrol, a German-speaking region in Northern Italy and is currently serving his third term as a Member of the European Parliament. After having completed a degree in Agrarian Sciences in Piacenza, Dorfmann started his professional career as a professor at the Agricultural College in Ora. He then became the director of the agriculture department at the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce and went on to direct the South Tyrolean Farmers’ Federation for nearly ten years. Dorfmann’s political career started in 2005 when he became the mayor of his hometown. In 2009, he was elected for his first mandate at the European Parliament and was subsequently re-elected as a MEP for the European People’s Party in 2014 and 2019, for a second and third mandate. In the present term, he is a member in the AGRI Committee and a substitute member in the BUDG, REGI and ECON Committee. More information Website – www.herbert-dorfmann.eu/en.html Twitter – @herbertdorfmann Facebook – @herbert.dorfmann

Dr. Franz Fischler studied Agriculture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. 1989-1994: Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Austria; 1995-1999: European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development; 1999- 2004 also responsible for Community Fisheries Policy; 2012-2015, Chairman of the RISE-Foundation, Brussels; 2014/2015: Chairman of the Steering Committee of the EU scientific programme for Expo Milano 2015; since 2015: President of the Board of Trustees to the Austrian Institute of Advanced Studies (IHS); since 2012: President of the think tank “European Forum Alpbach”. More information Website – www.franz-fischler-consult.co.at

Maciej Golubiewski is the Head of Cabinet of Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Janusz Wojciechowski. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Washington and Lee University (1999) and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the Johns Hopkins University (2005). He also holds an International Baccalaureate Diploma from the United World College of the Atlantic in the UK. After graduation, he moved to Washington D.C. where he spent three years in business consulting at Charles River Associates International (CRAI) before going on to graduate school. During his studies Mr. Golubiewski interned with the office of Senator Richard Lugar, served as a summer fellow at the Heritage Foundation and was an associate scholar at the Center for European Policy Analysis. For close to five years, he was a teaching assistant and lecturer in political science and international relations at the Johns Hopkins University and spent two semesters as a visiting professor at Mannheim University in Germany. In 2008, he joined, as an established official, the Directorate General for Development and Relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries at the European Commission in Brussels as a desk responsible for regional political and economic cooperation with the Horn, East and Southern Africa region. During that time he participated in the Economic Partnership Agreement free trade negotiations with the African regional blocks. In 2011, he was transferred to the newly created European External Action Service, where, since 2012, he had been responsible for preparing the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council positions on the developing conflict in Syria. Between 2014 and 2016, Mr. Golubiewski served as the Deputy Chief of Mission and the Head of the Political Section at the EU Delegation to Lebanon in Beirut and between 2017 and 2019 as the Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York. Mr. Golubiewski sits on an advisory board of the Integral Economic Development master programs at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C, and for almost ten years has been associated with the Sobieski Institute in Warsaw as an expert on the EU and foreign policy. He speaks Polish, English and French.

António Guterres, the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, took office on 1st January 2017. Having witnessed the suffering of the most vulnerable people on earth, in refugee camps and in war zones, the Secretary-General is determined to make human dignity the core of his work, and to serve as a peace broker, a bridge-builder and a promoter of reform and innovation. Prior to his appointment as Secretary-General, Mr. Guterres served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015. Before joining UNHCR, Mr. Guterres spent more than 20 years in government and public service. He served as prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, during which time he was heavily involved in the international effort to resolve the crisis in East Timor. As president of the European Council in early 2000, he led the adoption of the Lisbon Agenda for growth and jobs, and co-chaired the first European Union-Africa summit. He was a member of the Portuguese Council of State from 1991 to 2002. Mr. Guterres was elected to the Portuguese Parliament in 1976 where he served as a member for 17 years. From 1981 to 1983, Mr. Guterres was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where he chaired the Committee on Demography, Migration and Refugees. Mr. Guterres is a member of the Club of Madrid, a leadership alliance of democratic former presidents and prime ministers from around the world. Mr. Guterres was born in Lisbon in 1949 and graduated from the Instituto Superior Técnico with a degree in engineering. He is fluent in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish. More information Twitter – @antonioguterres Website - www.un.org/sg/en

Géraldine Kutas took reins of the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA), now CropLife Europe, as of September 2019. Previously she worked as head of international affairs at UNICA where she was responsible for defining and leading the organisation’s international activities becoming one of the key voices during the recently agreed EU-Mercosur trade deal. She worked for the meat industry as well as for intergovernmental organizations and the academia. Geraldine has over 15 years of experience in Public Affairs working in different continents. She brings a wealth of knowledge in agricultural and international trade policies, coupled with her passion for sustainability and fight against climate change. Géraldine holds an MA in Foreign Affairs from Georgetown University (Washington, DC) and a Ph.D. in International Economics from l’Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. More information Website – www.croplifeeurope.eu Twitter – @CropLifeEU LinkedIn – european-crop-protection-association-ecpa-

Dr Janez Potočnik graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. After a successful career starting in 1989 in Slovenia as a researcher at the Institute of Economic Research, Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (1994), he was appointed Head of the Negotiating Team for the Accession of Slovenia to the EU (1998). He was also Director of Government Office for European Affairs (2000), Minister Councillor at the Office of the Prime Minister (2001) and Minister responsible for European Affairs (2002). In 2004 he joined the European Commission, first as "shadow Commissioner for Enlargement and then as Commissioner responsible for Science and Research. In 2010 Dr Potočnik became Commissioner for Environment. His term ended in November 2014 and he was appointed as a Co-Chair of UN Environment International Resource Panel and was also appointed as a Chairman of The Forum for the Future of Agriculture and RISE Foundation and a Member of the European Policy Centre's Advisory Council. From April 2016 he is also the Partner in SYSTEMIQ. More information Twitter – @JanezPotocnik22 Facebook – potocnikjanez LinkedIn - janez-potocnik-872470a7

Humberto Delgado Rosa is the Director for Natural Capital, DG Environment, European Commission. Previously he was Director for Mainstreaming Adaptation and Low Carbon Technology in DG Climate Action. He is experienced in European and international environmental policy, particularly in biodiversity and climate change issues. He served as Secretary of State for the Environment of the Portuguese Government from March 2005 to June 2011. Between 1995 and 2002 he was an advisor for environmental matters to the Prime-Minister of Portugal. He holds a PhD in Evolutionary Biology. H. Delgado Rosa was born in Lisbon in 1960.

Xavier Le Roux is a Senior researcher at INRAE in Lyon (France). He has been the Chair and Coordinator of BiodivERsA since 2008, i.e. a European network gathering 39 Ministries and agencies from 25 countries. He has promoted biodiversity research and science-society interfacing in this domain in the context of BiodivERsA and as previous Director of FRB, a French foundation set up in 2008 to bring together public research bodies, the corporate sector involved in biodiversity management, environmental organizations, and business. He is a member of the Academy of Europe. He is also a member of boards at the national/international level, including the Development Team of the Natural Assets Knowledge Action Network of Future Earth, the Scientific and Technical Advisory Board for LifeWatch ERIC, the Advisory Board of EuropaBON, and the French committee for global change. He has skills in ecosystem and microbial ecology and biodiversity and has published over 120 papers in international peer-reviewed journals. He coordinated the national scientific expertise on ‘Agriculture and biodiversity’ required by the French ministries of Ecology and Agriculture. More information Website – www.researchgate.net/profile/X_Roux LinkedIn – xavier-le-roux-6730051ab

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is a Law Graduate, he received a Doctorate in Legal and Political Science in 1984. He was a tenured professor at the Faculty of Law of Lisbon University, and has taught throughout his career in various institutions of further education, in Portugal and abroad. He was a journalist, as editor of the Expresso newspaper between 1980 and 1983, and worked on the Seminário newspaper from 1983 to 1987. Subsequently, he appeared on the media as a political commentator on TSF radio and, later, the TV stations RTP and TVI. He works with various civic institutions and associations, as well as in the social sector, as founder, sponsor, director, or simply as a volunteer. In 1976, he served as a deputy to the Constituent Assembly. He was part of the 8th Constitutional Government as Secretary of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and later, as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. He has supported the PSD (Social Democratic Party) since it was founded and was its president from 1996 to 1999, contributing decisively to government stability as leader of the opposition. In the international realm, he encouraged the PSD to join the European People's Party, in which he attained the position of Vice-President. He has held various positions in local government, including Municipal Deputy, Metropolitan Deputy, Councillor and President of the Municipal Assemblies of Cascais, Lisbon, and Celorico de Basto. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was elected President of the Republic for the first time on 24 January 2016 and took office on 9 March. He was re-elected for a second term on 24 January 2021 and took office on 9 March of the same year. More information Website – www.presidencia.pt/en Twitter – @presidencia

Jurgen Tack studied biology (marine ecology) at Brussels Free University where he also obtained his PhD in Sciences. Within the Framework of the Kenya Belgium Project in Marine Sciences (Coastal Farms Kenya) he developed a number of oyster farms along the Kenyan coast. In 2000 he joined the team of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform (Belgian Science Policy Office) where he was responsible for European and international science policy in the field of biodiversity and biodiversity related research. In 2007 he became the CEO of the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (a research organization under the umbrella of the Flemish Authority). In 2015 he became Secretary-General of the National Science Foundation (Flanders) In 2016 he took the position of Scientific Director at the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO), CEO at Landelijk Vlaanderen (Flemish Landowners’ Organisation) and CEO of the Aanspreekpunt Privaat Beheer Natuur en Bos (an advisory organ for private landowners on the management of nature and forest). In 2023 he became Secretary-General of the European Landowners Organisation (ELO). He coordinates several EU projects on private land conservation. On behalf of ELO he chairs the European Commission’s Large Carnivore Platform and acts as expert for the EU Biodiversity Platform and the EU Expert Group on Cultural Heritage.

Mark has enjoyed a long career in the agri-food sector having previously worked at the United Nations and for Syngenta where he held a number of senior leadership positions in corporate affairs and business sustainability in the EAME region and globally. After leaving Syngenta in 2017, Mark became Chief Executive of EngineeringUK, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to inspiring and nurturing STEM skills in young people. Mark later became Head of Marketing and Public Affairs for Indigo Agriculture Europe GmbH. Mark is a co-founder and senior adviser to the Forum for the Future of Agriculture and a Senior Fellow at the Transatlantic Policy Network.

  Board Member in charge of international issues, FNSEA; Vice-Chair Food Chain Committee, FNSEA; Vice-Chair CDG on IAA, COPA; Vice-Chair WFO; Member of the Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, EESC, and Spokesperson of the farmer’s category. Arnold Puech d’Alissac was President of the Young Farmers of Seine-Maritime (then CDJA 76) from 1993 to 1997. He was national administrator at the CNJA from 1996 to 2001 where he was responsible for European issues. His in-depth knowledge of European institutions therefore logically led him to be elected by his peers to the Presidency of the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) from 1999 to 2001 where he was particularly involved in the policy of setting up young farmers in the European Union against Franz Fischler. His work at CEJA has enabled him to negotiate on a number of agricultural and communication issues. At the departmental level, on June 19, 2003, he was elected President of the Farmers Union of Seine-Maritime (FNSEA 76) replacing Philippe DION, until March 28, 2017. 1st Vice-President of the Regional Chamber of Agriculture since 2007, Deputy Vice-President for Haute-Normandie at the Regional Chamber of Agriculture, Local and Easy President. At the regional level, he has been President of FRSEA Normandie since 2003. He is also a member of the Bureau of the FNSEA, in charge of international and European issues, has chaired the Food Chain Committee since April 2017. Since 2015, member of the European Economic and Social Committee. He is also Vice-President of the World Farmers Organization since June 26, 2020. More information Twitter – @ArnoldPuech