As Chairman of the Carbon War Room, he helps develops market-driven solutions to mitigate climate change. He is also a member of the UN’s Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change and heads the Organization of American States Electoral Observation Mission, which is composed of citizens from 15 member states and 4 observer countries to the OAS. Prior to serving as President, he was Minister of Foreign Trade and Minister of Agriculture. He pioneered the linkage between sustainable development and technology. As President he led Costa Rica’s emergence as a world leader in environmental protection, ecotourism, and ICT services – following a landmark $500m investment by Intel in 1997. After leaving government, he helped create and lead the United Nations ICT Task Force. In 2000, he then joined the World Economic Forum and became its first CEO in 2003.

Topics

• Innovation and Competitiveness
• Leadership
• The Economic Opportunity in Addressing
  Climate Change
• Sustainable Economic Development
• Attracting Foreign Investment

Publications

• Key Elements for a 2020 Competitiveness Agenda in the Americas (2010)
• Remarkable Events in Central America: International Perspectives on Sustainability (1996)

Awards

• Sustainability Award in Switzerland, 2003
• Order of José Matías Delgado Grand Silver Cross from the Republic of El Salvador, 1999
• Award of the Climate Institute, Washington D.C., 1998
• Liberty Prize from the Max Schmidheiny Foundation and St. Gallen University in Switzerland, 1998
• First recipient of the Global Prize from the World Bank’s Global Environmental Fund, 1998
• Botanic Research Institute Texas, 1996
• State Botanical Garden in Missouri, 1996
• Kew Gardens Annual Award, 1995

Distinguished Board Member

• Chairman, Carbon War Room
• Chairman, Global Fairness Initiative
• UN Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Climate and Energy
• Trustee, DARA
• Trustee, FRIDE
• Clinton Global Initiative
• Earth Council Geneva

Testimonials

“Feedback from guests was excellent. It seems you could win an election here too!”

“It was an honour to have you in the panel last night. Your contribution for this high level debate was precious.”