Jury

He was, for many years, till he was elected as DG of ISA, a member of the Prime Minister of India’s Council on Climate Change, and co-chair of the global Energy Transitions Commission and the Clean Cooling Initiatives of the One Planet Summit. He was a leading Indian and G-77 climate change negotiator (2006-2012) and was the Indian spokesperson at the Paris climate negotiations (2015).
Dr Mathur was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Merite by the President of France in recognition of his outstanding commitment to preserving the environment and coping with energy- related challenges.

Dr Mathur’s experience has led him to be a strong proponent of policy interventions based on convergence of private and public interests, and to consider perseverance and adjustments as keys to policy acceptance and sustainability.

He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, of the National Academy of Engineering, and of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He is a member of the Board of E-Cubed, and a member of the Advisory Boards of Lightrock Energy Acceleration Fund, PowerRoll, and Cenergist. He also chairs the Indian Task Force to Prepare a Roadmap for Energy Sector Education.

With over 40 years of experience in clinical care and research, Dr. Swaminathan has dedicated her career to translating research into impactful health programs. As Secretary to the Government of India for Health Research, her efforts were focused on integrating science into health policy-making, enhancing research capabilities in Indian medical institutions, and fostering global partnerships in health sciences.

Dr. Swaminathan received her academic training in India, the UK, and the USA, and has authored over 480 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. She is a Fellow of the US National Academy of Medicine, the Academy of Medical Sciences (UK), and all major science academies in India. She holds honorary doctorates from prestigious institutions including Karolinska Institute, EPFL Lausanne, and the McGill University, Canada. She currently co-chairs a global commission “Our Common Air” and serves on the Kofi Annan Commission on Food Security.  She holds adjunct professorships at Karolinska University (Sweden) and Tufts University (USA).

Currently, Dr. Swaminathan serves on the boards of Alliance Bioversity, Population Foundation of India, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and Women Lift Health, among others. She is a member of the Governing Council of the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission, member of One Health and Climate Change Strategic Committee, Government of Tamil Nadu and Chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

During her tenure as WHO’s first Chief Scientist, Dr. Swaminathan established the Science Division focusing on research, quality assurance of norms and standards, and digital health. She played a pivotal role in coordinating global scientific efforts and was instrumental in setting up Covax to ensure equitable vaccine distribution to Low and Middle-Income Countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her current focus is on addressing the health impacts of climate change, especially on women and children and food system transformations to strengthen nutrition security in India and regionally.

He has lived on three continents and served clients in 15 countries, including China, India, Indonesia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Rajat is passionate about Sustainability and helping companies take effective measures to remove carbon from across their business processes. He helped set up India’s National Solar Mission, often considered to be one of the country’s biggest contributions to the decarbonisation movement.

Rajat has worked with leading companies in the metals, chemical, infrastructure, mining, power, oil, and telecommunications sectors. He brings expertise in operational transformations and change programs with a special focus on digital enablement. Recently, he led the build-out of McKinsey Digital globally, for our Energy and Materials sector, and in the process, directly helped three of them become World Economic Forum digital industry 4.0 lighthouses.

Rajat has also served clients on business building (including digital businesses), marketing, organisation, and strategy. He leads McKinsey’s relationships with three of India’s top five conglomerates, serving them across the globe. He has led several projects with the Indian government, working across multiple ministries such as those for aviation, railways, roads, and shipping, and has also worked with NITI Aayog.

Rajat is committed to building long-term relationships with Indian companies based in emerging markets and helping them transform into global leaders. For example, his involvement with a leading Indian metal company spans 25 years of building better operations, creating a stronger performance culture, and driving marketing excellence across Asia, Europe, and India. Today, the company is a global leader in its industry.

He has also published work on poverty, carbon abatement, and water in India; been a jury member for several awards; and served on industry and government committees on sustainability. He is on the board of the Indian think tank CSTEP and the governing board of the Childline India Foundation.

Rajat leads McKinsey’s social-responsibility efforts as the chair of the board of Generation, the world’s largest demand-driven skilling initiative, and is a member of the McKinsey Global Institute advisory council.

Rajat was awarded gold medals for securing first place in both his engineering and MBA degrees at two of India’s top schools (BITS Pilani; IIM, Calcutta).

With a focus on multi-stakeholder partnerships and cross-sector collaboration, WCF serves as a trusted global network where policy ambition, private capital, and innovation meet to deliver tangible results.

Before founding WCF, Jens held senior roles at PwC, Cision PR Newswire, and Mitsubishi Electric. He also co-founded the Climate Investment Coalition under the Foundation’s umbrella, a pioneering effort for collaborative finance for the green transition. He continues to develop coalitions that drive progress across sectors such as food, mining, and in emerging areas like nature investment.

A frequent speaker at major global forums such as TED Countdown Summit, Web Summit, and Climate Weeks in Rio, London, and New York, Jens actively champions practical solutions to turn ambition into impact bridging sectors and regions across the globe.