H.E Ms. Mashfee Binte Shams is a Bangladeshi diplomat and former Rector of the Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy. She previously served as Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Nepal and as Secretary (East) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, becoming the first woman to reach the rank of Secretary in the Ministry.

Ms. Shams joined the Bangladesh Civil Service (Foreign Affairs cadre) in 1991 as part of the 9th batch. Over her distinguished career, she held a number of important positions, including Director General for South Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dr. A. K. Enamul Haque is an accomplished academic and development professional with extensive expertise in economics, environmental studies, and sustainable development. He is currently the Director General of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and serves on the White Paper Committee on the State of the Economy of Bangladesh. He is also Director of the Asian Center for Development and the Economic Research Group and has been an Academic Advisor and SANDEE Fellow at ICIMOD, Nepal, since 2001.

Dr. Haque has held several senior academic and leadership roles, including Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at UCSI University (Bangladesh Branch), Dean of Business and Economics and Professor of Economics at East West University, and Director of the Insight Institute of Learning. He has also contributed to national policy as a member of the Panel of Economists for the 9th Five Year Plan of the Government of Bangladesh and the Panel of Advisors for the FBCCI.

A prolific researcher and author, Dr. Haque has published widely on climate resilience, economic development, and environmental sustainability. His work reflects a strong commitment to advancing knowledge and shaping policies that address critical challenges in Bangladesh and South Asia.

Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji is a two-time former Prime Minister of Bhutan, serving from 2002 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2008. He has held several key leadership roles, including Chairman of the Royal Monetary Authority (2007–2008), Speaker of the National Assembly (1997–2000), and Minister of Works and Human Settlement prior to his second term as Prime Minister in 2007.

Lyonpo Kinzang has a long association with ICIMOD, having served on its Board of Governors in 2014, representing both the Royal Government of Bhutan as well as an independent member. From 2019 to 2023 Lyonpo also served as the chair of ICIMOD’s Programme Advisory Committee.

Dr. Lopen Karma Phuntsho is a thought leader, author, and changemaker. He teaches Buddhist philosophy and Bhutan Studies in Bhutan and abroad. His work has received extensive media coverage including by BBC, Forbes, BBS, Kuensel, The Bhutanese, Science, Radio Free Asia, Oxford Today, Times of India, India Today, Tricycle and Channel News Asia. He finished his full monastic training before he joined Oxford.

He has worked as a researcher at Cambridge University, CNRS, Paris and University of Virginia, and is currently Writer for Tsadra Foundation. He is the author of over 250 articles, essays and books including The History of Bhutan. Describing a pracademic, he has managed research projects for more than 20 years, and his current work focuses on the study of Bhutan’s social cultural changes. He is a member of over dozen academic and advisory bodies, and the President of the Loden Foundation, a leading educational, entrepreneurial and cultural initiative in Bhutan. In 2024, he became the first Bhutanese recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for transformational leadership, often called the Nobel prize of Asia.

Prof. Dr. Xu Jianchu is the Country Representative of ICRAF, Founder of Mountain Futures, Global Lead for Bioeconomy and China Director at CIFOR-ICRAF, Principal Scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, and Distinguished Professor at both the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. An ethnobotanist by training, he works on coupled social–ecological systems and land-use change, with a strong interdisciplinary background in landscape restoration, agroforestry systems, and circular agriculture. He graduated in horticulture from Nanjing Agricultural University (1986), earned his MS in ethnoecology from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (1990), and a PhD in agronomy from China Agricultural University (2002).

He founded the Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge (CBIK) in Southwest China, pioneering work with indigenous communities on cultural survival, natural resource management, community livelihoods, and watershed governance. With a strong interdisciplinary background in landscape restoration, agroforestry, and circular agriculture, he has become one of the world’s most influential scientists.

Prof. Xu has been ranked in the top 1% of global scientists by Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers in both plant and animal sciences (2017, 2023) and is listed among Reuters’ Top 1,000 World’s Top Climate Scientists. His awards include the Innovations in Sustainability Science Award (Ecological Society of America, 2019) and the World Food Prize’s Top Agri-Food Pioneer Award (2025).

As Editor-in-Chief of Circular Agricultural Systems, he has published more than 500 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals such as Nature, Science, PNAS, Fungal Diversity, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Global Environmental Change, PLOS Biology, and Conservation Biology. His research has been cited over 47,500 times, with an h-index of 97.

Currently, he leads Mountain Futures, a global initiative that fosters knowledge innovation and sustainable solutions for smallholders in mountain regions worldwide.

Prof. Dr. Shichang Kang is Professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Director General of the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE), CAS. His research focuses on cryospheric changes, environmental chemistry of snow, ice, and the atmosphere, as well as paleoclimate and environmental variability reconstructed from ice core records across the Tibetan Plateau.

He has published over 700 peer-reviewed papers and books, with more than 40,000 citations and an h-index of 96 (Google Scholar). Dr. Kang is a recipient of the State Council Special Government Allowances and the National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation Award. He has served as a council member of the International Glaciological Society, a member of the Scientific Steering Group of the Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) project and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology. Over his career, he has led or co-led more than 40 major research

projects and organized over 40 field expeditions to extreme high-elevation environments of the Tibetan Plateau, including Mount Everest, as well as to Antarctica and the Arctic.

H.E. Ambassador Shyam Saran is a former Foreign Secretary of India and has also served as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Nuclear Affairs and Climate Change. Since retiring from government service in 2010, he has held several key leadership roles, including Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board under the National Security Council (2013–2015) and head of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (2011–2017), a leading policy think tank on international economic issues.

He currently serves as Life Trustee of the India International Centre, is a member of the Governing Board of the Centre for Policy Research and the Institute of Chinese Studies, a Trustee of WWF India, and a member of the Executive Council of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He is the author of How India Sees the World.

Ambassador Saran has been widely recognized for his contributions to diplomacy and public service. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, in 2011, and in 2019 was conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Emperor of Japan for his role in strengthening India–Japan relations.

Dr. Shailesh Nayak is the Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, and Life Trustee of the India International Centre, New Delhi. He previously served as Chair of the Earth System Science Organisation and Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Earth Sciences (2008–2015), and was Chancellor of the TERI School of Advanced Studies, Delhi.

A geologist by training, with a PhD from M.S. University of Baroda, Dr. Nayak began his career at ISRO in 1978, where he pioneered national projects on ocean colour, coastal zone management, snow and glacier studies, and water resources. He later became Director of INCOIS, establishing the Indian Ocean Tsunami and Storm Surge Early Warning System and advancing ocean advisory services.

His research focuses on the blue economy, sustainable development, and science diplomacy. Dr. Nayak is a fellow of India’s leading science academies and international bodies, and has received multiple honours, including the Padma Shri (2024). He has published nearly 200 papers and delivered over 200 invited talks globally.

Dr. Bindu N. Lohani was Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development until June 2015. Prior to that, Dr. Lohani was Vice-President (Finance and Administration) of ADB. He was The Secretary of the ADB Board, Director General of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, and Chief Compliance

Officer. Before ADB, he was a faculty at the post graduate International Institute at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok (AIT), and had also served in the Government. Dr. Lohani’s experience and expertise is in sustainable development and climate change, and in green infrastructure development and financing.

Presently, he is serving as Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of University of Nepal. He is a Distinguished Adjunct Faculty and Board member at AIT and engaged in several other advisory Think tanks and Boards in Asia.

Dr. Lohani holds a Doctoral degree in Environmental Engineering and Management. He has been awarded Honorary Doctoral Degrees by Universities in Australia, India and the Philippines. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) of United States and a Diplomate of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. He has been awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by Nepal Engineer’s Association and the “China Green Award” in China. He is inducted to the “AIT Hall of Fame”, honored by Her Royal Highness of Thailand.

Ms. Bandana Rana is a leading figure in Nepal’s women’s movement, with over three decades of experience promoting women’s rights and gender equality through organizations and networks she has founded and led. Her work spans grassroots, national, regional, and global levels, focusing on combating gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls. She has extensive experience in advocacy, aligning programs with United Nations frameworks including CEDAW, the International Conference on Population and Development, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

As a broadcast journalist for two decades, she has led media initiatives to challenge gender stereotypes and shift public mindsets. Rana has convened numerous dialogues to strengthen partnerships between government entities and women’s organizations and served as Chair of the National Women’s Commission of Nepal. She is the former Vice Chair and presently a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). She received the 2016 Woman of Distinction Award from the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York. She was also a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Group on the Global Study on UNSC Resolution 1325 and of UN Women’s Global Civil Society Advisory Group (2012–2015).

H.E. Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani has 40 years of foreign policy, bilateral, and multilateral experience as a career diplomat, having served as Foreign Minister of Pakistan and previously as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Belgium, Luxembourg, the E.U, Australia, and Acting High Commissioner to India.

Ambassador Jilani also served as Foreign Secretary of Pakistan from 2011 to 2013. On 14 August 2025, Ambassador Jilani was awarded the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, one of Pakistan’s highest civilian honours, for his outstanding contributions to public service and diplomacy. In 2018, the Government of Pakistan nominated Ambassador Jilani as a member of the Experts and Eminent Persons Group (EEP) of the ASEAN Regional Forum. He served as a member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs from 2019-2023. An expert on Pakistan-India relations, Ambassador Jilani has been closely associated with the Pakistan-India peace process.

Ms Aisha Khan is the founder & head of the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change & Mountain and Glacier Protection Organization. She has over 25 years of experience at the policy and community level to strengthen climate action. She uses inclusive and participatory practices that promote social, ecological, and democratic equity to support her interventions.

Ms. Khan’s work focuses on serving unserved and underserved communities, taking a people-centric approach to strengthen local stewardship and deliver projects to strengthen the adaptive resilience of communities and ecosystems with a focus on the HKH region and the need for working together to protect the cryosphere.

Ms. Khan is on the Board of Directors of national and regional organizations and provides expert advice on climate change-related adaptation and mitigation challenges. She is well versed in the Conference of Parties (COP) negotiations and has attended several COPs and other international climate conferences. She contributes articles to newspapers and magazines and takes part in national and international discourse on climate change.

Ms. Khan has been recognized for her contribution in international climate diplomacy and global environmental cooperation and awarded The Bright Award for Environmental Sustainability at Stanford University, 2019, The National Order of Merit by the Government of France with the Rank of Officer, 2021 and the “Tamgha-i-Imtiaz” – Pakistan Civic Award for public service in 2023.