Session Leader: Stewart Elgie 

Stewart Elgie is a professor of law and economics at the University of Ottawa, and director of the University’s interdisciplinary Environment Institute. He received his Masters of Law from Harvard, and his doctorate (J.S.D.) from Yale. He is also the founder and chair of Smart Prosperity Institute (formerly Sustainable Prosperity), Canada’s premiere green economy think tank and policy-research network. His research involves environmental and economic sustainability, with a particular focus in recent years on market-based approaches.

Elgie started his career as an environmental lawyer in Alaska, litigating over the Valdez oil spill. He returned to Canada and founded Ecojustice, now Canada’s largest non-profit environmental law organization; he was counsel on many precedent setting cases, including four wins in Supreme Court of Canada on constitution and environment issues. He was later hired by Pew Trusts as founding executive director of the multi-stakeholder Canadian Boreal Initiative. Prior to his faculty position at University of Ottawa (2004), Elgie held appointments at several Canadian universities (U.B.C., Alberta, York). He has served on or chaired many advisory bodies in the environment/sustainability area. In 2001, Elgie was awarded the Law Society of Upper Canada medal for exceptional lifetime contributions to law – the youngest man ever to receive the profession’s highest honour.

Presenter: Royal C. Gardner 

Royal C. Gardner is Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy at Stetson University in Florida, USA. An internationally recognized expert in wetland law and policy, he served as Chair of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands from 2013-2018. Recent projects include testifying before a World Bank arbitration panel, advising the Government of Oman regarding wetland policy, and coauthoring amicus briefs on behalf of aquatic scientific societies. A recipient of the National Wetlands Award for Education and Outreach (2006) and the Society of Wetland Scientists President’s Service Award (2018), he has lectured in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. His research and scholarship focus on U.S. and international wetland legal and policy issues, with an emphasis on biodiversity offsets. He is the author of Lawyers, Swamps, and Money: U.S. Wetland Law, Policy, and Politics and a lead author of the Ramsar Convention's Global Wetland Outlook.

Presenter: Manuel Piñuela

Dr Manuel Piñuela is a nature advocate, technology and science entrepreneur, and MIT Technology Review Innovator of the Year under 35.

He is Co-founder of Cultivo, Drayson Tech. and SENS.L. Experienced in private equity, venture investment, IPOs, M&A and technology commercialisation.

Manuel believes that the climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our times and creating Cultivo allows him to contribute to one of the many solutions that are needed. He wants to ensure future generations benefit from nature and works tirelessly to contribute to meet the Paris Agreement goals.

Presenter: Amrei von Hase

Amrei is an ecologist working on biodiversity conservation, risk and impact assessment and application of the mitigation hierarchy including biodiversity offsets/ ecological compensation. She has a PhD from the University of Cape Town.Between 2009 and 2019 Amrei was Science Lead for the international multi-stakeholder Business and Biodiversity Offset Programme (BBOP), hosted by Forest Trends. She led the scientific development of BBOP’s widely regarded work on best practice in the mitigation hierarchy and achieving no net loss (NNL) of biodiversity or a net gain (NG). To ground this in practical experiences, she has worked closely with private and public sector development projects (e.g. infrastructure, mining), and with lenders and policy makers across the world. Amrei continues offering independent specialist advice to clients including companies planning and implementing development projects in line with international standards and governments developing sound biodiversity and mitigation policies.