Carsten works on climate and energy policy issues at ICLEI Europe since 2009, with experience in training, energy planning, integrated management and infrastructure, resilience, risk assessment and international networking. He supports local governments in Germany as well as throughout Europe in the development, improvement and financing of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans, Smart City solutions and thermal infrastructure. To this end, he coordinates capacity building of political and technical decision-makers in all processes of urban climate and energy management. Furthermore, he develops market dialogues, public-private and/or civic partnerships and stakeholder engagement strategies and concepts together with public authorities and industry. Other activities include the monitoring of international and European energy and climate policy developments and advocacy on behalf of local governments at the Conference of the Parties (COP). Carsten is expert member on Climate Finance at the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) and part of the Advisory Board of CraveZero. Carsten holds an M.A. in International Development from the University of Vienna, Austria, but his university career also includes the University of Pavia, Italy and the Federal University of Salvador Bahia, Brazil. He speaks German, English and Portuguese.

Steven Nadel is the Executive Director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a non-profit research organisation that works on programmes and policies to advance energy-efficient technologies and services. Steve has been working at the ACEEE for 30 years, first as Deputy Director and Director of ACEEE’s Utilities and Buildings programs, and then as Executive Director since 2001. He played a leading role in the adoption by the Congress of consensus appliance and equipment efficiency standards in 1987, 1992, 2005 and 2007. Prior to ACEEE, he planned and evaluated energy efficiency programmes for New England Electric, a major electric utility. He directed energy programmes for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the largest environmental organisation in the area, and ran energy programmes for a community organisation on housing rehabilitation in the poorest neighborhoods of New Haven, CT. Steve has worked in the energy efficiency field for 40 years and issued over 200 publications on energy efficiency subjects. His current research focuses on decarbonisation strategies and policies, with a focus on buildings and trucking. He has a M.S. in Energy Management from the New York Institute of Technology, and a M.A. in Environmental Studies and B.A. in Government from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

Eduard currently serves a co-founder and COO of GNE Finance, a company aiming to mobilise financing for climate action. Previously, Eduard founded Climate-Aligned Partners, a consulting firm located in Amsterdam that provides Strategy and Financing advisory to SMEs involved in Low-Carbon initiatives. Before that, Eduard spent 6 years developing and funding ESCO projects. Eduard also invests in and advises clean-tech start-ups and collaborates in a number of accelerators in several countries as mentor and trainer on Strategy and Financing matters.Trained as an Industrial Engineer, Eduard holds an MBA from ESADE business school and has executive training in Innovation Management.

Gianluca Periotto has been working in the financial sector for more than 20 years, with experiences ranging from banking to real estate and social housing. He has also worked in several European projects involving international partnerships.Gianluca has a Bachelor degree in Management, a MSc in Financial Management from the University of London and a Master in Management from Bocconi. After his teaching experience at the University of Turin, he spent three years working for Unicredit as Financial Investment Advisory for private clients. Afterwards, he worked for FIAT, where he provided cycle analysis and forecast of main macroeconomic variables for the business sector and participated to many international round tables.In 2003, he started in ATC del Piemonte Centrale, first as Chief Investment Officer, and then as Senior Investment Manager. At the moment, he is General Manager and CFO, involved in all new ventures. ATC is the main social housing provider of Turin Metropolitan Area, managing more than 30.000 dwellings.