Walter Leal Filho (BSc, PhD, DSc, DPhil, DEd, DL, DLitt) is a Senior Professor and Head of the Research and Transfer Centre "Sustainable Development and Climate Change Management” at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany, and Chair of Environment and Technology at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He is the initiator of the Word Sustainable Development Symposia (WSSD-U) series, and chairs the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme. Professor Leal Filho has written, co-written, edited or co-edited more than 400 publications, including books, book chapters and papers in refereed journals.
Climate scientist Prof. Dr. Daniela Jacob is Head of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), a scientific organizational entity of Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, and visiting professor at Leuphana University, Faculty of Sustainability. She holds a PhD in meteorology, was Lead Author of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) and Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC Special Report “Global Warming of 1.5 °C”. Her research interests focus on regional climate modelling, the hydrological cycle, and adaption to climate change. She is member of the European Commission’s Mission Board on “Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation”.