Kerry, Zeng, Bou And Stern Win Sustainability Honors

John Kerry, a US politician, served in the Senate (1985–2013) and later was secretary of state (2013–2017) in the administration of President Barack Obama. Kerry is one of the world's most effective climate champions. As secretary of state in 2015, he helped negotiate the Paris Agreement on climate change. In 2019 Kerry was a key figure in the creation of World War Zero, an organization dedicated to fighting climate change. In 2020 he was named special presidential envoy for climate in the administration of President Biden. Kerry has been crisscrossing the globe rallying foreign allies and adversaries to make bolder commitments to fight climate change, urging governments and industries to bring concrete plans to boost renewable energy and cut greenhouse emissions by 2030.

Robin Zeng established CATL in 1999 and built it the world's leading company in the field of lithium-ion batteries for consumer electronics. In a new endeavor in 2011 he established CATL, a world leading power battery provider and a global leader of new energy innovative technologies. The company has made continuous breakthroughs in key technologies of EV and energy storage batteries, providing premier solutions and services for new energy applications worldwide. CATL's global market share of power battery ranks first in the world for six consecutive years. It also ranks first in the global market share of energy storage battery production.

Elena Bou co-founded EIT InnoEnergy in 2010 and, since 2011, has served as innovation director and member of its executive board. In her position, she leads the development of major InnoEnergy efforts in creating and accelerating startups and scaleups in the energy field, including the investment process in such ventures. EIT InnoEnergy is a knowledge and innovation community supported by the European Institute of Technology, which has supported since its foundation around 450 companies in the sustainable energy field, focusing on energy storage, sustainable buildings and cities, renewable energies, smart electric grid, energy efficiency, energy for circular economy and energy for transport and mobility.

As an associate professor in the Department of Operations, Innovation, and Data Sciences at the Spanish business school Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE), Elena Bou is active in researching and teaching in the field of knowledge and innovation management. She holds a PhD in management sciences from ESADE and is the author of several publications in the fields of knowledge management, collaborative innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Lord Nicholas Stern is an expert in the economics of climate change. He has been chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science since its foundation in 2008.

Over the past 20 years, he has made an outstanding contribution to international climate policy, and to promoting the transition to sustainable, inclusive, and resilient economic development and growth. His report“The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review,” published in 2006 and commissioned by the British Government, had a broad impact nationally and worldwide on decision-makers and business leaders.

Through his advisory role at the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Economic Forum he improved the understanding of the costs of inaction on global climate change.

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In his research activities, Nicholas Stern focuses on the topics of economic development and growth, economic theory, tax reform, public policy and the role of the state and economies in transition. His many honorary degrees, prizes, citations and publications in the most renowned journals testify to a high level of recognition from his peers.

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