Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and founder and editor of Encompass, an online magazine dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.

Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.

In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.

The founder and CEO of Thirst, Mina Guli is a global leader, entrepreneur and adventurer committed to making a difference in the world. Following a 15-year career in climate change, Mina established Thirst – a non-profit changing the way we think about water.

Since its launch in 2012, Thirst has educated more than 2 million students in China, has had more than 600,000 participants in its water innovation competitions and now works with more than 1000 qualified volunteers and the support of the Chinese Government.

To bring attention to the global water crisis, in 2016 Mina ran across 7 deserts on 7 continents in just 7 weeks. A self-confessed “non-runner”, en route Mina interviewed water experts, telling the stories of people affected by the crisis and those working to solve it. In 2017 Mina ran in support of the UN’s SDG 6, completing 40 marathons in 40 days down 6 of the world’s great rivers on 6 continents. With media coverage around the world, including CNN, BBC, ITV, ABC and CCTV, Mina’s messages about water reached more than 4 billion people, inspiring a generation of water heroes.

Concerned about the pace of change, in 2018, Mina started #RunningDry – a campaign involving her running 100 marathons in 100 days for 1 reason – to make saving water so famous it’s not just the right thing to do, but the only thing to do. After breaking her leg at marathon 62, thousands of people in over 50 countries and territories rallied in support, together running farther than from the north to the south poles, and building #RunningDry into a movement for change.

Thirst Foundation is running 6 global RUN BLUE activations, each raising awareness around water-related issues. All of the activations are free and virtual so anyone from anywhere can participate. People from over 190 countries and territories have taken part in our previous activations. While Mina is running 200 marathons in just one year.

Mina has been widely recognised for her leadership: named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, one of Australia’s most influential women, and by Fortune Magazine as one of the 50 greatest leaders in the world.

Mina sits on the board of the Antarctic Science Foundation, the Global Water Partnership and the Academy of the $1million Global Teachers Prize.

Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and founder and editor of Encompass, an online magazine dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.

Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.

In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.

Professor Petteri Taalas has been the Secretary-General of WMO since 1 January 2016. He was appointed by the World Meteorological Congress in 2015 for a first four-year term. He is now serving his second four-year term (Jan 2020-Dec 2023).

Before joining WMO he was the Director-General of the Finnish Meteorological Institute 2002-2005, 2007- 2015 (National weather, climate and marine Institute). He has also held positions in international development and scientific fields, including as Director of Development and Regional Activities department of WMO, Geneva 2005-2007, Research professor on Remote Sensing/FMI 2000-2002 and Senior scientist/scientist at the FMI 1986-1999. He has been a lead author of Arctic Climate Impact Assessment until 2002 and a member of the Finnish Arctic board during 2009-2015. He holds a PhD in Meteorology (University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, 1993).

Pedro Gallardo Barrena, fourth generation farmer in Andalusia, southern Spain. The farming activity has about 250 hectares and the main crops are: sunflower, rapeseed, wheat, durum wheat and beans. Born in Puerto Real (Cadiz), he lives with his wife and two sons in the family farm. He has managed a farm since 1996 and he has always been involved in ASAJA where he also acquired technical knowledge about agriculture. His family has been a member of ASAJA for three generations.

Matthias Berninger joined Bayer in January 2019 as SVP, Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability  responsible for the company’s global public affairs practice, and for making Bayer’s approach to  sustainability a key pillar of its business strategy. In his role, he has strengthened Bayer’s global public  affairs practice and leads the development of a coherent global sustainability strategy. Since 2020, an  independent external Sustainability Council is in force and advises the Bayer Board of Management on  the consistent implementation of the company’s sustainability goals.  

Born in Kassel, Germany, Matthias studied chemistry and political science from 1990 to 1994. He was  elected four times as a member of Germany’s Federal Parliament Green Party (1994-2007), where he  focused on trade policy, food safety and renewable energy. Retiring from his Federal Parliament seat in  2007, Matthias joined Mars in Europe to build a public affairs team and globally facilitate the  development of Mars Health and Nutrition Strategy. By 2011, Matthias led the global public affairs  organization and was instrumental in developing Mars sustainability strategy including leadership on  climate change and cocoa sustainability.  

Matthias lives with his wife and children in Washington, D.C. 

The founder and CEO of Thirst, Mina Guli is a global leader, entrepreneur and adventurer committed to making a difference in the world. Following a 15-year career in climate change, Mina established Thirst – a non-profit changing the way we think about water.

Since its launch in 2012, Thirst has educated more than 2 million students in China, has had more than 600,000 participants in its water innovation competitions and now works with more than 1000 qualified volunteers and the support of the Chinese Government.

To bring attention to the global water crisis, in 2016 Mina ran across 7 deserts on 7 continents in just 7 weeks. A self-confessed “non-runner”, en route Mina interviewed water experts, telling the stories of people affected by the crisis and those working to solve it. In 2017 Mina ran in support of the UN’s SDG 6, completing 40 marathons in 40 days down 6 of the world’s great rivers on 6 continents. With media coverage around the world, including CNN, BBC, ITV, ABC and CCTV, Mina’s messages about water reached more than 4 billion people, inspiring a generation of water heroes.

Concerned about the pace of change, in 2018, Mina started #RunningDry – a campaign involving her running 100 marathons in 100 days for 1 reason – to make saving water so famous it’s not just the right thing to do, but the only thing to do. After breaking her leg at marathon 62, thousands of people in over 50 countries and territories rallied in support, together running farther than from the north to the south poles, and building #RunningDry into a movement for change.

Thirst Foundation is running 6 global RUN BLUE activations, each raising awareness around water-related issues. All of the activations are free and virtual so anyone from anywhere can participate. People from over 190 countries and territories have taken part in our previous activations. While Mina is running 200 marathons in just one year.

Mina has been widely recognised for her leadership: named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, one of Australia’s most influential women, and by Fortune Magazine as one of the 50 greatest leaders in the world.

Mina sits on the board of the Antarctic Science Foundation, the Global Water Partnership and the Academy of the $1million Global Teachers Prize.

Mrs. Kumbirai Mlilwana is a Development Professional and Water Engineer with skills and experience in “soft” areas such as multi-stakeholder engagement and communication as well as in “hard” areas such as bulk water supply, hydropower engineering and water resources management (WRM) across Africa. She has private sector and inter-governmental experience.

Her experience includes the design and construction management of water infrastructure, the development of programs in WRM and the water-energy-food security nexus, technical facilitation of multi-stakeholder dialogues, stakeholder coordination and client relationship management. Shamiso holds an Undergraduate and Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Cape Town.

Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and founder and editor of Encompass, an online magazine dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.

Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.

In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.