The speakers

Janez Potočnik
Commissioner for the Environment, European Commission

Mr Janez Potocnik is the European Commissioner for the Environment. Between 2004 and 2010 he was the European Commissioner for Science and Research. Mr Janez Potocnik has also been the Minister for European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia between 2002 and 2004 and the Head of the Negotiating Team for the Accession of Slovenia to the EU. Mr Potocnik has an additional background within the field of economic research and has, amongst other prominent positions, upheld the position of Director of the Institute of the Macroeconomic Analysis and Development, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Dr Rainhardt Freiherr von Leoprechting

President, Eurocommerce & Senior Executive Advisor to the Management Board, Metro Group

Dr Rainhardt Freiherr von Leoprechting joined Metro Group in 1999, working as Divisional Manager at Metro AG then moving to the post of Divisional Manager for public affairs and communications at Real. In 2004, he moved back to Metro AG where he became Divisional Manager for corporate relations, reporting directly to the CEO of Metro Group. He is also a member of the Supervisory Board of two German retail companies, Real Holding GmbH and Zweite real SB Warenhaus GmbH.

Dr von Leoprechting, a 58 years old German national, has a legal background: he graduated in law and business administration and qualified as an attorney at law in 1982. Before joining the Metro Group, he was managing director of a family retail and wholesale business.

Dr von Leoprechting has been an active and committed member of the EuroCommerce Board and Steering Committee since 2004 and became Vice President of EuroCommerce in 2005. He is also a member of the business group of the European Retail Round Table, which he has chaired since 2007. In addition, Dr von Leoprechting holds positions on several trade associations representing retail in Germany and other European countries.

His main fields of experience include:
• Communication and image building
• Sustainable development / corporate social responsibility
• Taxes and the fight against administrative burdens
• Employment, training and education
• International trade issues
• Supply chain issues
• Consumer protection issues
• Internal market
• Payment systems

Dick Boer
Chief Executive Officer, Ahold

Dick Boer (August 31, 1957) is a Dutch national. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer, Ahold on March 1, 2011. Mr. Boer joined Ahold in 1998 as CEO of Ahold Czech Republic and was appointed President and CEO of Albert Heijn in 2000. In 2003, he became President and CEO of Ahold the Netherlands, responsible for the banners Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall&Gall. On May 10, 2007, Ahold's shareholders appointed him to the Corporate Executive Board of Royal Ahold NV as Chief Operating Officer Ahold Europe.

Prior to joining Ahold, Mr. Boer spent more than 17 years in various retail positions for SHV Holdings in the Netherlands and abroad, and for Unigro N.V.

Mr Boer is president of the European Retail Round Table (ERRT), and a member of the executive board of The Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW).

He is also member of the advisory board of G-star and a member of the supervisory board of AMS Sourcing B.V.

Ahold is an international retailing group based in the Netherlands, with powerful consumer brands in Europe and the United States. At the end of 2010, it had 2,970 stores, 213,000 employees and € 29.5 billion in sales.

Marion Sollbach

Head of Sustainability, GALERIA Kaufhof GmbH – Member of METRO GROUP

Born 1967 in Cologne, biologist.

Ms. Sollbach 1987-1994 studied biology in Cologne. Following her training as an eco-auditor at an Environment Institute she worked as environmental consultant in the health care sector and as sales person in a recycling company. She has been working for METRO GROUP since 2002. In autumn 2010 she moved to Metro's subsidiary, the department store chain GALERIA Kaufhof as Head of Sustainability.

She is responsible for the development and implementation of Galeria Kaufhof sustainability strategy and the dialogue on sustainability issues with stakeholders. Ms. Sollbach chairs the sustainability council of Galeria Kaufhof and is a member of Metro's Sustainability Board.

Her expertise particularly in the environmental field she brings in to European and German association work. She chairs the environment and logistics committee of the European trade association EuroCommerce and the environment committee of the German trade association HDE. Since March 2009 she co-chairs the European Retail Forum on sustainable consumption.

Soledad Blanco
Director for Sustainable Resources Management, Industry and Air, Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission

As Director, she is responsible for development and implementation of sustainable production and consumption policies, sustainable resources management and waste policies, with particular emphasis on resource efficiency and lifecycle impact of products. Her responsibility also extends to the prevention and control of industrial emissions to air, water and soil, air pollution, urban environment and noise.

With a background as a Nuclear Physicist, she joined the European Commission in 1987 and before joining DG Environment in 2000, she worked in other policy areas such as Energy, Public Health and Social Affairs.

Monique Goyens
Director General, BEUC

As Director General of BEUC Monique represents 42 independent national consumer associations in 31 European countries acting as a strong consumer voice in Brussels, ensuring that consumer interests are given weight in the development of policies and raising the visibility and effectiveness of the consumer movement through lobbying EU institutions and media contacts. Having a background in law she has published numerous articles in scientific journals on consumer and European law.

Prior to BEUC, Monique led the Belgian Commission Universitaire pour le Développement with international and national donors and partners in developing countries. She had been BEUC's Senior Legal Adviser and contributed to the promotion of consumer interests through research as Project leader for European Affairs at Centre de droit de la consommation–UCL.

Ulrike Sapiro
Environmental Sustainability Director, Coca-Cola Europe

Ulrike Sapiro is 'Environmental Sustainability Director' for the Coca-Cola Europe Group since 2007 to manage key group-wide environmental strategies and projects with focus on the areas of water stewardship, climate protection, sustainable packaging, sustainable sourcing and environmental consumer communication.

Her remit includes driving environmental performance within the company and the European bottling partners across the European group and to drive environmental strategies for the region.

Ulrike also leads external engagement on Environment, notably environment-focused partnerships with leading non-governmental organizations in Europe as well as engagement with European public policy makers, industry and other stakeholders on European environment policy. She is chair of the Environment Committee at UNESDA; vice-chair of the executive committee of EUROPEN and chair of the SCP-Rountable mirror group 2 in FooddrinkEurope.

During the previous six years, Ulrike worked for Thames Water Plc, an international private water operator, in public affairs and stakeholder engagement positions on UK, European and international level. Ulrike holds a Masters degree in Political Science and post-graduate certificates with the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry.

Marie Vallée
Executive Director, FSC France

Marie Vallée is FSC France executive director and has been working for FSC France since 2007. She has a background in forest management and she has previously worked as a consultant in natural ressources management. Amongst other missions, she contributed to a study for the European Commission on Undisturbed forests in Europe. She will be representing FSC on behalf of Mr Andre de Freitas, FSC International Executive director and Mr John Hontelez, FSC Chief Advocacy Officer.

FSC is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world's forests. Established in 1993 as a response to concerns over global deforestation, FSC is a pioneer forum where the global consensus on responsible forest management convenes and through democratic process effects solutions to the pressures facing the world's forests and forest-dependent communities. Within this forum, voices from the Global North and South, from organizations big and small, assemble to define environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management and identify the tools and resources that will effect positive, lasting change. FSC certification provides a credible link between responsible production and consumption of forest products, enabling consumers and businesses to make purchasing decisions that benefit people and the environment as well as providing ongoing business value. FSC is nationally represented in more than 50 countries around the world.

Jeremy Wates
Secretary General, European Environmental Bureau

Jeremy Wates is the Secretary General of the European Environmental Bureau, Europe's largest federation of environmental organizations comprising 143 member organizations from 29 European countries.

Prior to taking up his present post in May 2011, Jeremy served for more than a decade as Secretary to the Aarhus Convention with the Geneva-based United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The Aarhus Convention is the world's most farreaching legally binding treaty on access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters.
During the 1990s, Jeremy led the campaign by the European ECO Forum, an NGO coalition, to persuade governments to start work on a treaty on environmental democracy and then coordinated the input from civil society organizations into the official negotiations over the Aarhus Convention text.

In the 1980s, he founded the Irish environmental organization Earthwatch, the Irish member of Friends of the Earth International, and led the organization for more than a decade.

Jeremy holds an MA Honours Degree in Philosophy and Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University, UK.