H. E. Ban Ki-moon was unanimously elected as the President of the Assembly and Chair of the Council of the Global Green Growth Institute to help GGGI Member States adopt the green growth model—environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive—of development. In addition to GGGI, he serves as Chairman of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation, Chair of the Boao Forum for Asia, and CoChair of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens.

Previously, Mr. Ban served two consecutive terms as the Eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 2007 to 2016. During his 37-year career as a diplomat of the Republic of Korea, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy Advisor to the President, Chief National Security Advisor to the President, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning, and Director-General for American Affairs. He holds a BA in International Relations from Seoul National University and MA in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Sang-Hyup Kim became Director-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) on January 1, 2025, returning to the organization he helped establish in 2012. His 40-year career spans media, academia, and policymaking, dedicated to sustainable development and climate action.

He previously co-chaired Korea’s Presidential Commission on 2050 Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth and has advised KAIST, where he also serves as Visiting Professor. He was President of the Jeju Research Institute, Director of KAIST’s Center for Sustainable Development, and founder of the Coalition for Our Common Future, alongside numerous national and regional leadership roles.

Professor, Ewha Womans University

Heeyeon Kim is a graduate student at KAIST Graduate School of Green Growth and Sustainability and a member of Professor Soh Young In’s IMPACT Lab. Her research centers on climate policy and carbon markets, with a data-driven focus on price dynamics, market design, and the links between fundamentals, regulation, and finance. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ewha Womans University and previously worked at the SK Research Institute, deepening her interest in sustainable business management. Beyond academia, she explores the intersection of climate risk and AI. She participated in the Sustainable Transition with AI (STAI) program in 2024-2025, and in 2025 received the STAI-AWS Award at the “AI for Climate Action” hackathon and the Climate Tech Idea Award at KAIST’s Climate Tech Ideathon.

Ingvild Solvang is the Deputy Director and Head of the Climate Action and Inclusive Development (CAID) Unit in the Investment and Policy Solutions Division (IPSD) in GGGI.

She has nearly 20 years experience working in international development and humanitarian affairs. Based in Southeast Asia for nearly two decades, she has responded to emergencies, while also managing development programs for various organizations worldwide, always with a focus on poverty reduction, gender equality and social inclusion. Prior to joining GGGI’s HQ in Seoul, Ingvild was the Global Lead for Entrepreneurship with CARE’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Team. With her partner, she has also supported the management of ViaVia Jogja, a sustainable tourism social enterprise in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Ingvild has a postgraduate degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Oslo and an MFA in Creative Writing from City University of Hong Kong. She has also studied Gender at SUNY Buffalo and Forced Migration at the University of Oxford.

Karen is a digital transformation expert with a background that combines consulting and corporate experience in the telecommunications and energy sectors. She has led numerous assignments in investigation, fraud prevention, and revenue assurance, while developing strong expertise in risk management, data analysis, and the management of innovation projects.

She has supervised and mobilized multidisciplinary teams — data analysts, developers, and project managers — to design and implement high-impact digital initiatives that enhance organizational performance and strengthen internal control mechanisms.

Today, Karen holds a strategic position within the Ministry of Digital Transition and Digitalization, where she coordinates major national initiatives for the digitalization of public services, with the goal of building a smarter, more inclusive, and citizen-centered administration.

Koeun specialises in environmental governance and the circular economy transition. One of her recent focuses has been implementing circular value chains by bridging policy incentives, viable business models, and digitalisation technologies in high-impact industries, such as electronics. She is a Circular Economy Consultant at the Universal Postal Union (UPU), and previously at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and its team, Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP). Koeun also facilitates the Green Economy and Resources thematic working group at the Children and Youth Major Group (CYMG), which is UNEP’s Youth Constituency.

Robyn is the Executive Director for P4G.

Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 – contributes to green and inclusive growth in low- and middle-income countries by helping early-stage businesses become investment ready and supporting country climate transitions in food, water and energy systems. Since 2018, P4G has funded 75 partnerships that have leveraged more than US $90 million in commercial investment. P4G partnerships have avoided more than 10 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, generated more than 1,000 jobs and positively affected 1.6 million people.

Robyn has spent her career helping organizations develop and advance projects in the areas of clean energy, water, climate, and sustainable development. Most recently she worked in senior management for the non-profits Winrock and Global Communities. Prior to that, she was a business unit leader for the global engineering firm MWH (now Stantec). She also worked at USAID in the Middle East and South Asia, managing energy projects and infrastructure reconstruction. Prior to she was a consultant to the US EPA, US DOE’s EERE, the World Bank and UNDP. She has lived or worked in over 20 countries spanning the US, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

Robyn holds an M.S. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from the University of Georgia, and a B.S. in Biosystems Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Robyn spends her free time with her husband and two young boys, adventuring in the great outdoors hiking, climbing and camping. She used to be a competitive cyclist in the DC area and was the co-founder of the cycling club Artemis, which is focused on promoting women and youth in the sport. Prior to that, she competed in equestrian sports.

Investment Officer, ROA, GGGI

Team Lead, Sustainable Development Officer, United Nations Office for Sustainable Development, DSDG, UNDESA

Shubnur is an emerging youth innovator from Chattogram, Bangladesh. She is passionate about applying biotechnology and sustainability principles to solve pressing environmental challenges. Shunur is a founder and innovator of Planet Pals, which has developed the Algae Air Purifier, a breakthrough innovation that harnesses the natural power of algae to clean polluted air and restore balance to city environments. Drawing inspiration from biomimicry—the way algae and forests act as the “lungs of the Earth”—this innovation transforms a simple biological process into a scalable urban climate technology. She has been engaging peers in community-based pilots and exploring opportunities for scaling through partnerships. Beyond this project, she has been active in climate advocacy and training, empowering young people to take part in decision-making and sustainable action.

Zoë is a founding member of Save the Children EARTHEMBLE, which aims to raise public awareness on climate issues through events like festivals and quiz competitions, and advocate for children’s voices to be heard by policymakers and diplomats. She is a student at Daewon Foreign Language High School in Seoul, South Korea, with a deep passion for environmental engineering and sustainable innovation. Zoë has been actively involved in research, youth-led climate activism, and entrepreneurship – all aimed at creating real-world impact through science and community action.

Francesco Dinmore, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Analyst, GGGI