A selection of awards received by Cem Özdemir include the Theodor Heuss Medal (1996), the prize for the “2018 Speech of the Year” from the “Seminar für Allgemeine Rhetorik” (Department for General Rhetoric) at the University of Tübingen, the Ignatz Bubis Prize (2019) and the Dolf Sternberger Prize for Political Speech (2019).

In this capacity, she leads the Ministry’s mission of spearheading the UAE’s drive to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, protect the country’s ecosystems, and enhance its food and water security through developing and implementing effective measures, policies, and initiatives.

Prior to her current role, Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri was appointed as Minister of State for Food and Water Security. Her responsibilities included monitoring national food stocks and water supply, channeling investments in food and water technology innovation, and building international partnerships in this area.

Previously, Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri held the post of Minister of State for Food Security, where she oversaw the development of the necessary infrastructure to achieve the country’s food security objectives in line with the UAE Centennial 2071.

She was previously Minister of State at the Department for Transport from 7 July 2022 to September 2022 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport (DfT) from 17 September 2021 to July 2022.

As the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Natural Environment and Land Use) her responsibilities include: domestic natural environment, wildlife and land use, climate change adaptation, tree planting and forestry, landscapes, including National Parks and AONBs and access including rights of way and coastal paths

Prior to her political career, she was a Programme Manager for investors specialising in renewable energy and sustainable community projects.

Hon Minister of Agriculture Samuel Dalitso Kawale took this position in 2022. Prior to that, he was a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources since 2019. Hon Samuel Kawale also held the position Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. He has been a Member of Parliament since 2014 participating in different leadership positions since he was elected. In addition, Hon Samuel Kawale has extensive experience in development cooperation and communications. From 2003 through 2008, he held various positions as radio producer at Trans World Radio and manager at Plan Malawi.

He holds an MBA from ESAMI in Tanzania (2018) and a B.A in Biblical Studies Biblical Studies and Communications with African Bible Colleges, Lilongwe, Malawi (2003).

Dr. Md. Abdur Razzaque is the Minister of Agriculture for People’s Republic of Bangladesh. He served as Minister of Food and Disaster Management from 2009 to 2012, and then as Minister of Food until 2013. He started his political career in student life. He is Member of Parliament since 2001 and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Finance since 2014. Since 2016, he is a Presidium Member of the ruling political party, Bangladesh Awami League. He participated in the Liberation War of Bangladesh and was a company commander in 1971. Dr. Razzaque completed graduation from Bangladesh Agricultural University in 1971 and a PhD From Purdue University (USA) in 1983. He started his career by joining the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation as a scientific officer and ended as the chief scientific officer in 2001. He is considered as one of the very few experts on Farming System Research and Sustainable Rural Agricultural Development in Bangladesh.

Dr. Juergen Voegele, Vice President, Sustainable Development, World Bank.

 He assumed the position of Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank on April 1, 2020. In this role, he oversees the work of Global Practices and thematic groups that bring together the best expertise from across the World Bank Group and from partners, to help countries tackle their most complex challenges in the area of sustainable development. The practices and groups under his responsibility include Agriculture and Food; Climate Change; Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy; Social Sustainability and Inclusion; Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land; and Water. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Voegele was Global Director of the World Bank’s Climate Change Group and Senior Director of the World Bank’s Agriculture and Food Global Practice. Dr. Voegele is chair of the CGIAR System Council Board, which oversees agricultural research programs tackling poverty, food and nutrition security, and improved natural resource management around the world. Since 2016, Dr. Voegele has served as co-chair of the Global Future Councils of the World Economic Forum. He is also a member of the EAT Foundation Advisory Board since May 2017. Since joining the World Bank in 1991, Dr. Voegele has held several assignments, chairing the Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Board as well as the Environment Sector Board, leading the Agriculture Unit in China, the Agriculture and Rural Development Unit of the Europe and Central Asia Region, and the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank (later recast as the Agriculture and Environmental Services Department). Career highlights include his leadership of the acclaimed Loess Plateau watershed management project in China and managing a multi-sectoral team that disbursed more than $1 billion for 70 projects in response to the global Avian influenza crisis. Those latter efforts were replicated during the 2008 global food crisis.

Dr. Voegele holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics and a Master’s in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Hohenheim, in Germany.