Youssef Brouziyne is one of the lead the Lead Authors of the MedECC Special Report on climate-water-energy-food- ecosystems nexus. He is an International Water Management Institute’s (IWMI) Country Representative¬ – Egypt, and Regional Representative – Middle East and North Africa. He brings significative experience in sustainability stewardship and resilience building across the water and agricultural value chains in North Africa, West Africa, and Southern Europe with multinational agribusiness corporations. He was previously a professor and researcher at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco from 2019-2022, where he managed and contributed to a portfolio of research and innovation projects around climate change impacts on agro-hydrological systems, climate-smart water and crops systems, as well as social and digital innovations for resilient and sustainable water and crops systems.

Currently, Dr Youssef Brouziyne is IWMI’s representative in Egypt and the MENA region. Together with a highly skilled team in the MENA office and a diversified panel of partners, he strives to help stakeholders in the region move towards growth and sustainable development through innovative science-based water and climate solutions. He has a PhD in water and climate change from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, a Master’s in marketing and product development from IAE of Metz-France, a Master’s in integrated sustainable solutions for Mediterranean tree crops from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, and an agronomic engineering degree from the Hassan II institute for Agronomy in Morocco.

Barbara Buchner is Global Managing Director of Climate Policy Initiative. Named one of the 20 most influential women in climate change, Barbara advises leaders on climate, renewable energy, and sustainable land use investments around the world. Barbara is the lead author on CPI’s Global Landscape of Climate Finance which has set the benchmark for climate finance tracking. Barbara also directs the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance (the Lab), a climate finance incubator that leverages public-private collaboration to develop innovative climate finance instruments that resolve financing barriers to renewable energy, urban infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and land use projects in emerging markets. Instruments from the Lab have already mobilized over USD 3.5 billion for sustainable development. In addition, Barbara built and directs the San Giorgio Group, which brings together climate finance leaders to engage on critical issues that require collective effort to accelerate the transition to more sustainable, lower-emission economies.

Barbara is Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance at the University of London SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance, a Program Director of the Climate Change and Energy Program at the Australian National University, is on the Advisory Board of the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, and a member of several influential groups and committees including the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance, the High-Level Consulting Group of the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), the Advisory Committee of the United States Export-Import Bank (EXIM), the Finance Sector Expert Group for the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero and Race to Resilience, and One Planet Lab.

Carlo Buontempo is the director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service at ECMWF. In this capacity he leads a team of scientists and technical experts within ECMWF. He also coordinate the activities of the many contractors and research teams which allow the programme to meet its large and ever expanding global user base. Carlo has been working on climate science and services since the early 2000s first as a post-doc and then as leader of the climate adaptation team, and climate services team at the Hadley Centre. Carlo led international projects related to climate services, authored numerous paper in the field, contributed as author to the last IPCC WG1 report and is an associated editor to the Journal of Climate Services. Carlo currently chairs the Partner Advisory Committee of the Global Framework on Climate Services at WMO, contributes to the WCRP lighthouse activity on My Climate Risk, and is part of the wiring team of the GCOS implementation plan.

Maelis Carraro is the Managing Partner of Catalyst Fund, a pre-seed VC fund and accelerator dedicated to backing tech startups shaping a climate-resilient future in Africa. With a career spanning impact investing and tech, Maelis works closely with startups, investors, DFIs, banks, and philanthropic funders to drive transformative solutions across emerging markets, benefiting both people and the planet. She focuses on investing in and supporting early-stage entrepreneurs building tech- enabled solutions in areas such as fintech, agtech, insurtech, carbon finance, and energy and water access for underserved and climate-vulnerable communities. Having backed over 70 startups across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Maelis has played a vital role in nurturing the innovation ecosystem in emerging markets. Prior to Catalyst Fund, she also worked at the International Finance Corporation, the OECD, Grameen Bank, and impact fund Global Partnerships, where she supported impact investing strategies, inclusive finance product innovation and research on microfinance schemes to enable climate adaptation and resilience. Maelis also co-founded RemitMas, an inclusive fintech startup that empowers immigrants through cross-border remittances, enabling them to save for long-term goals in their home countries. She holds a dual MBA and Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia Business School and the School of International and Public Affairs, and a BA Cum Laude in Political Science and Development Economics from University College London

ORGANIZED BY

CMCC Foundation
Ca’Foscari University of Venice
Union for the Mediterranean