H. E. Mr. Hussain Nasser Lootah
Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality

Engineer Hussain Nasser Lootah was appointed as Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality with effect from 2 February 2006.

A civil engineering graduate from the United States, Lootah began his career as an Engineer with the Federal Ministry for Electricity and Water. He joined the municipality in 1985 as Assistant Head of a Section, and was later promoted to the post of Director for the Drainage Department.

He was appointed Assistant Director General for Environment and Public Health Affairs with the departments of Public Health, Environment, Public Parks & Horticulture and Drainage & Irrigation reporting to him. In 2004, he was transferred to the post of the Assistant Director General for Planning and Building Affairs to look after the departments of the Planning & Survey, Building and Government Housing, Geographical Information Systems Centre and Statistics Centre.

He was promoted on 22 December 2005 as the Deputy Director General of the Municipality.

He also chaired a number of committees in the municipality such as the Technical Committee, Strategic Plan Committee, e-Government Committee, Personnel Committee, and organizing committees of a number of conferences organised by the municipality. He was also instrumental in winning some 30 local, regional and international awards for Dubai Municipality.

As Acting Director General, his duty is to manage the civic body, helped by a team of six assistants who head as many sectors consisting of 20 departments. Three departments and an independent office and section report to him directly.

Mr. Lootah also played a distinctive role in setting up the UAE Engineers Society and was its Chairman from 1992 to 1996.

H. E. Mr. Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer
Managing Director & CEO of DEWA

Mr. Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer graduated from the United States of America in 1984, he has more than 23 years of experience in Dubai in the field of communications, energy and water. In 1991 he was appointed as the Director General of the Dubai Electricity Company. In 1992 he became Director-General of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, which was a joint venture of Dubai Electricity Company and the Water Department.

He played an important role towards the merger and was successful in creating high economic value through his continuous efforts.

Mr. Al Tayer, during the last 10 – 15 years has many achievements and initiatives to his credit in terms of energy production capacity as well as expansion of infrastructure.

DEWA, under the direction of Mr. Al Tayer, has managed to achieve financial stability and growth. Today DEWA is not dependant on financial aid from the government and is self sustainable to execute various projects to meet the growing demand for energy and water and continuously exceed customer satisfaction.

Mr. Al Tayer has also dedicated his time and effort to continuously enhance the technical capabilities and solutions for DEWA. He has introduced latest technologies in various sectors through innovative systems and modern methods. In the due course he has developed and established the annual exhibition of the Authority, named "Technology exhibit, Water, Energy and the Environment" and achieved a prominent place on the international arena.

Moving on, Mr. Al Tayer was appointed the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and is currently a member of the Executive Council of Dubai and Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Al Tayer is also a member of the Council of Economic Affairs of the Emirate of Dubai, a member of the Higher Committee of the electric linkage UAE, member of the Board of Directors of DUBAL, and Chairman of the Board in the Emirates Central Cooling Systems (Empower), and a member of the Supreme Committee of Dubai Quality Award, Vice President of the Higher Committee for the Zayed International Prize.

Mr. F.W. De Klerk
Winner of The Nobel Peace Prize 1993, Former President of South Africa

FW de Klerk was one of the main architects of South Africa’s constitutional democracy. During his presidency (1989-1994) he played a central role in initiating and managing the transformation process that helped to resolve centuries of inter-community conflict and create a basis for peace between South Africa’s many and varied communities.

FW de Klerk is well qualified to play a constructive role in the new South Africa:

He has well-established relationships with leaders in all South Africa’s communities;

He has extensive contacts with past and present international leaders;

He is well positioned to encourage South Africa’s advantaged and minority communities to commit their resources and talents more actively to addressing the challenges confronting the country - and particularly the problem of poverty;

He is a regular and active participant in the international debate on divided societies and the management of political change;

He has retired from active party politics, but is still eager to serve the causes of national reconciliation and constitutional democracy for which he worked during his presidency; and In his early seventies he is still relatively young, active and healthy. Frederik Willem de Klerk was born in Johannesburg on 18 March 1936, the son of Senator Jan De Klerk, a senior Cabinet Minister. His school years were spent mainly in Krugersdorp, where he matriculated at Monument High School. He attended the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and graduated in 1958 with BA and LLB degrees (cum laude). During his university years he was actively involved in student affairs.

Mr De Klerk joined a firm of attorneys in Vereeniging that he helped to develop into one of the leading law firms outside South Africa’s major metropolitan areas. At the same time he played a prominent role in numerous community activities. In 1972 he was offered the Chair of Administrative Law at Potchefstroom University, but had to decline because of his decision to enter active politics. In November 1972 he was elected as Member of Parliament for Vereeniging.

In 1978 and shortly after his 42nd birthday, after only five and a half years as a back-bencher, he was appointed to the Cabinet. During the following 11 years he was responsible for the following portfolios consecutively:

Posts and Telecommunications and Social Welfare and Pensions;
Sport and Recreation;
Mining and Environmental Planning;
Mineral and Energy Affairs;
Internal Affairs, as well as the Public Service, and National Education, (the portfolio that he held when he was elected as State President).

On 1 July 1985 Mr De Klerk became Chairman of the Minister’s Council in the House of Assembly. He became Leader of the House of Assembly on 1 December 1986.

Mr De Klerk was elected leader of the National Party in the Transvaal in March 1982 and leader of the National Party on 2 February 1989. On 15 August 1989, after the resignation of President P W Botha, Mr De Klerk became Acting State President, and after the general election of 6 September, was inaugurated as State President on 20 September 1989. Mr De Klerk served as State President until President Nelson Mandela’s inauguration on 10 May 1994. During this period he initiated and presided over the inclusive negotiations that led to the dismantling of “apartheid” and the adoption of South Africa’s first fully democratic constitution in December 1993.

After leading the National Party to the second place in South Africa’s first fully representative general election of 27 April 1994, Mr De Klerk was inaugurated as one of South Africa’s two Executive Deputy Presidents. He held this post until June 1996 when his Party withdrew from the Government of National Unity. From then until his retirement from active politics on 9 September 1997, Mr De Klerk was the Leader of the Official Opposition. Mr De Klerk has received numerous national and international honours and honorary doctorates. In 1981 he was awarded the South African Decoration for Meritorious Service.

In 1992, he received the Prix du Courage Internationale (The Prize for Political Courage) and was co-recipient of the UNESCO Houphouet-Boigny Prize. He was also awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Spain during the same year. In July 1993, together with Mr Nelson Mandela, Mr De Klerk received the Philadelphia Peace Prize and on 10 December the same year was the co-recipient, also with Nelson Mandela, of the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2002, President Thabo Mbeki bestowed on FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela the order of Mapungubwe: Gold in honour of their exceptional contribution in the process of peace, national reconciliation and nation building in South Africa.

In January 2000 Mr De Klerk published his autobiography “The Last Trek – a New Beginning” and the same year established the FW de Klerk Foundation. He makes numerous speeches around the world and actively participates as an elder statesman in international conferences on the promotion of harmonious relations in multi-communal societies, the future of Africa and South Africa and the challenges facing the world during the new millennium.

He is also the Honorary Chairman of the Prague Society for International Co-operation in the Czech Republic; a Member of the Assembly of the Parliament of Cultures in Istanbul and plays a substantial role in Forum 2000, a think-tank initiated by former President Vaclav Havel and Nobel Laureate Eli Wiessel. In addition, he serves on the advisory boards of the Peres Centre for Peace in Israel and the Global Panel in Germany.

Mr De Klerk has established the Global Leadership Foundation in March 2004, a foundation that is registered in Switzerland with operational headquarters in London. Its objective is to play a constructive role in the promotion of peace, democracy and development. The organisation assists national leaders who face complex economic and political challenges by providing confidential advice, especially but not exclusively in the developing world and emerging markets. A number of internationally respected former leaders and experts has joined Mr De Klerk in this new initiative.

Mr De Klerk lived on a farm outside Paarl about 60 kms from Cape Town where he and his wife Elita also produced their own wine. He recently moved to Cape Town. He enjoys reading, the outdoor life and golf.

H.E. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem
Chairman of Dubai World

A holding company that manages and supervises a diversified portfolio of businesses and projects in Dubai, Dubai World contributes to the rapid economic growth across the globe through a variety of sectors, including Transport & Logistics, Dry Docks& Maritime, Urban Development and Investment and Financial Services.

The company was launched to continue expanding Dubai’s aggressive growth both domestically and abroad. It is a powerful economic engine with a collection of diverse and successful companies including: DP World, Economic Zones World, Drydocks World, Dubai Maritime City, Limitless, Nakheel, Istithmar, Tejari, and TechnoPark, among others. Dubai World is also a major shareholder in Kerzner, Island Global Yachting, and additional strategic partners, Mr. Bin Sulayem was born
in the UAE in 1955. He is a BS graduate in Economic – Temple University Philadelphia - USA. His educational background, expertise and leadership vision have spearheaded a number of groundbreaking developments and offerings:

• Led DP World to buy the UK’s P&O group for US$6.8 billion in March 2006, making it the largest acquisition in the industry’s history. It propelled DP World to become one of the top three marine terminal operators in the world and built the widest industry network which today spans 42 terminals in 22 countries.

• Developed Jafza (Jebel Ali Free Zone), a remarkable network of nearly 6000 companies from 120 countries, paving the way for industrial development in the Middle East.

• Established Nakheel, a real estate and tourism property development firm, responsible for building the three iconic developments of The Palm, the world’s largest man-made islands being constructed off the coast of Dubai. Heralded as
“the eighth wonder of the world” and visible from the moon, this successful project has attracted international acclaim. It was followed by The World, a prestigious 300 island development shaped to form a map of the globe, and Dubai Waterfront, considered the most ambitious reclamation project in the world comprising over 250 master planned communities, launching recently and meeting with great success.

• Set-up Istithmar (which means Investment), a holding company and major investment house focusing on private equity and real estate, to deliver exceptional returns for shareholders. Istithmar is comprised of a diversified portfolio of investments in consumer, financial services, industrial, tourism and hospitality, and the medical sectors in markets across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

• Pioneered the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), establishing a commodity marketplace in Dubai to provide industry-specific market infrastructures and a full range of facilities for the gold and precious metals, diamonds and colored stones, energy and other commodities industries.

• Founded Limitless, an integrated, international real estate developer, aiming to become an international industry leader.

Along with serving as the Chairman of Dubai World, Mr. Bin Sulayem holds other positions that leverage his innovative management skills. He is the Chairman of Tejari, an on-line B2B marketplace enabling buyers and sellers to transact and share information about a variety of goods and services, and the Chairman of the merged Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation (PCFC), which manages and regulates all the associated Government issues.

On the international front, Mr. Bin Sulayem also contributes to various educational, humanitarian and related initiatives, and is a member of the World Economic Forum.

Mr. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem’s positions and awards include:
• Chairman & Head of Board of Directors of Dubai World, Chairman of DP World, Chairman of Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation, Nakheel LLC., Dubai Waterfront Company, Tejari, Limitless, Istithmar and Dubai Multi Commodities Centre
• Chairman of the Board of Ports & Free Zones
• Elected as a “Global Leader for tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum
• Named “Chief Executive of the Year 1991” at the Gulf Business Awards
• Awarded “Al Majalla Business Personality of the Year 1992”
• Awarded The Lifetime Achievement Award from Lloyd’s List Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Awards 2006
• Awarded Middle East Logistics’ Hall of Fame Award 2007
• Regular Participant at the World Economic Forum (Davos – Switzerland)
• Member of the Board of Executive Council, Government of Dubai 2003
• Member of the Board of Executive Economic Council, Government of Dubai 2003
• Member of the Board of Dubai Chamber of Commerce 28-4-1991
• Member of the Board of Investment Corporation, Government of Dubai 2006
• Member of the Advisory Council of Environmental Institute for Golf

Christopher O’Donnell

Chris O’Donnell is Chief Executive Officer for Nakheel, and in his role, he directly oversees all company operations and developments, and plays a key role in the strategic direction of the company. He reports to Nakheel’s Executive Chairman.

Chris has over 30 years’ experience in the property industry across a broad spectrum of areas, including Construction, Project Management, Development Management, Funds Management and Asset Management.

Before joining Nakheel in June 2006, Chris spent five years as Managing Director of Investa Property Group in Australia where, under his leadership, the Australian Stock Exchange listed company increased its funds under management from A$800 million to A$6.2 billion.

A number of transactions were conducted during this period including a hostile takeover of Principal Office Fund (A$1.9bn) in 2003 and the acquisition of one of the largest residential property companies in Australia, Clarendon Property Group Pty Limited (A$645m) in 2005.

Chris has also held other senior executive positions with prominent Australian organisations including Lend Lease,
Leighton and Westpac Banking Corporation. With a keen personal focus on sustainability and environmental issues, Chris was appointed a Director of the Green Building Council of Australia in 2004 and, during that year, was recognised by the NSW Government Department of Energy Utilities and Sustainability named as the Green Globe Ambassador.

Qualifications and Associations:
Diploma of Business (Real Estate Management) (DipBus)
New Zealand Certificate in Building (NZCB)
Fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD)
Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (Affiliate) (AIQS (Affil))
Fellow of Australian Property Institute (FAPI)

Paul Hawken

Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author. Starting at age 20, he dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. His practice has included starting and running ecological businesses, writing and teaching about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulting with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. He has appeared on
numerous media including the Today Show, Larry King, Talk of the Nation, CharlieRose, and has been profiled or featured in hundreds of articles including the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Washington Post, Business Week, Esquire, and US News and World Report. His writings have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Resurgence, New Statesman, Inc,Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Mother Jones, Utne Reader,
Orion, and over a hundred other publications.

He is author and co-author of dozens of articles, op-eds, papers, as well as six books including The Next Economy
(Ballantine 1983), Growing a Business (Simon and Schuster 1987), and The Ecology of Commerce (HarperCollins 1993). The Ecology of Commerce was voted in 1998 as the #1 college text on business and the environment by professors in 67 business schools. His book, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (Little Brown, September 1999) co-authored with Amory Lovins, has been read and referred to by several heads of state including President Bill Clinton who
has called it one of the five most important books in the world today. His books have been published in over 50 countries in 27 languages and have sold over 2 million copies. Growing a Business became the basis of a 17-part PBS series, which Mr. Hawken hosted and produced. The program, which explored the challenges and pitfalls of starting and operating socially responsive companies, was shown on television in 115 countries and watched by over 100 million people. His latest book was published by Viking in May 2007 and is entitled Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came Into Being, and Why No One Saw it Coming. (www.blessedunrest.com)

Paul has founded or co-founded several companies including some of the first natural food companies in the U.S. that relied solely on sustainable agricultural methods. He presently heads the Pax Group, a research and development corporation focused on energysaving technologies that apply biomimicry to engineering and fluid dynamics. Paul is also
the executive director of the Natural Capital Institute (www.naturalcapital.org), a research group located in Sausalito, California. The main project of Natural Capital Institute is the creation of the first open source platform for global social change, WiserEarth (www.Wiserearth.org). The acronym WISER stands for World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility. Some of the first natural food companies in the U.S. that relied solely on sustainable agricultural methods. He presently heads the Pax Group, a research and development corporation focused on energysaving technologies that apply biomimicry to engineering and fluid dynamics.

Paul is also the executive director of the Natural Capital Institute (www.naturalcapital.org), a research group located in Sausalito, California. The main project of Natural Capital Institute is the creation of the first open source platform for global social change, WiserEarth (www.Wiserearth.org). The acronym WISER stands for World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility.

Raymond S. Bradley

Raymond Bradley is a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Director of the Climate System Research Center, with over 30 years of experience in research on climate variations. He completed his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Colorado, Boulder and a D.Sc at Southampton University, England. In 2006 he was awarded a D.Sc., honoris causa, by Lancaster University, England, and in 2007 he received the Hans Oeschger Medal of the European Geosciences Union. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and a Foreign Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.

Dr. Bradley has been an advisor to various government and international agencies, including the World Bank, U.S., Swiss, Swedish, German and U.K. National Science Foundations, NOAA, the National Research Council, the Inter - Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the US-Russia Working Group on Environmental Protection, and the International Geosphere Biosphere Program
(IGBP). He has testified in the US Congress before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, chaired by Senators McCain & Kerry, and has briefed Congressional staff members and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick on global warming issues.

Dr. Bradley has written or edited eleven books on climatic change, and authored more than 160 articles on the topic.

Jerry Yudelson

Jerry Yudelson is widely recognized as one of the leading green building experts in the United States. As founder and principal at Yudelson Associates, a consultancy based in Tucson, Arizona, Jerry provides high-level sustainability
consulting to major design, construction and development organizations throughout the U.S.

Jerry has written eight books on green buildings, with two more scheduled for release in 2009. His books run the gamut from basic introduction to green building terminology to technical information on green building process, to European green building trends, to green building marketing and greening the retail sector. He is the most widely published and quoted author on green buildings.

In addition to his writing, Jerry keynotes 10 to 20 conferences each year, sharing his knowledge of the business and progress of green buildings, green products and green development. He also conducts research studies for national trade and technical organizations, as well as consulting with many leading corporations on their sustainability initiatives. Since 2006, he has spoken to professional and business conferences in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., Germany and Dubai, UAE.

On behalf of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), he chaired the Steering Committee for Greenbuild 2004 through 2008, the largest green building conferences in the world. As a national faculty member for the USGBC, he trained nearly 3,500 people in the LEED rating system from 2001 through 2008.

Yudelson’s recent books include Green Building through Integrated Design (2008), Choosing Green: The Home Buyer’s Guide to Good Green Homes (2008), Green Building: A to Z, The Green Building Revolution and Marketing Green Building Services: Strategies for Success. He regularly writes for many magazines and journals, including Building Design & Construction, Environmental Design & Construction, HPAC Magazine, Home Energy Magazine, Consulting-Specifying Engineer and the Marketer, published by the Society for Marketing Professional Services. He also writes regular columns for two online newsletters, www.igreenbuild.com and the U.K.’s Building magazine’s sustainability site, www.building.co.uk.

Yudelson holds an undergraduate engineering degree from the California Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in water resources engineering from Harvard, and a master’s in business administration with highest honors from the University of Oregon.

In 2007, the International Council of Shopping Centers named Jerry its first “Research Scholar for Real Estate Sustainability.” In 2006, the U.S. General Services Administration named him a “National Peer Professional.” His work was
honored by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance when he was named the 2004 “Green Building Advocate” of the year. Also in 2004, the Sustainable Industries Journal named Jerry as one of the top 25 Green Building Leaders in
the Pacific Northwest.

Jerry is a former national Board member of the U.S. Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org) and a founding national Board member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (www.aashe.org). He is a full member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (www.ashrae.org) and the Association of Energy Engineers (www.aeecenter.org)

Eng. Essa Al Haj Al Miadoor
Assistant Director General

Eng. Essa Al Haj Al Miadoor graduated from the University of Utah in the USA in 1985. Eng. Al Miadoor has been working with the Dubai Municipality for over 20 years, and is currently holding the position of Assistant Director General for the Planning and Engineering Sector at the Dubai Municipality. He has held senior positions over the years in many Dubai Municipality Departments; these include being the Assistant Director General for the General Projects, Director of the Buildings Department, Director of the Contracts and Purchase Department, and Director of Drainage and Irrigation Department.

Given his vast experience in the many departments, Eng. Al Miadoor plays an important part in a number of technical committees within and outside Dubai Municipality; currently he is the Chairman of the Green Building Committee overseeing the implementation of the New Green Building Regulations for Dubai. Some other committees he plays an active part include, being a member of the Higher Leadership Committee at Dubai Municipality, a member of the Thermal Insulation committee, Contracts Development Committee, and a member of the Technical Committee.