IMPACT Forum 2026

Valentin Batteiger coordinates the future aviation fuel research at Bauhaus Luftfahrt, a think tank with a long-term focus on future mobility and future air travel. His research interest is on various pathways that enable large-scale renewable fuel supply for aviation. 
He explored the perspective of power-to-liquid pathways for more than a decade. On the biofuel side, he coordinates the EU Horizon Europe project CIRCULAIR that develops technologies to convert abundant agricultural residues into jet fuel via a coupled advanced biofuel and power-to-liquid pathway (www.project-circulair.eu). Valentin represents Bauhaus Luftfahrt in several networks including the aireg initiative (https://aireg.de). 

Alexandre Beaux is part of Aerospace Carbon Solutions, a GE Aerospace business. He serves as the customer and partner-facing lead for the Innovation Unit, a team of experts focused on ensuring the airline industry’s resilient and sustainable future through advanced technology. One of the main focuses of his team today is incubating solutions that help airlines decarbonize in a cost-effective way. Aerospace Carbon Solutions is also a thought leader in contrails avoidance, leveraging highly precise and accurate weather prediction capabilities to support aviation’s net-zero transition. Over his 20-year career in aerospace, Alexandre has held roles in marketing, sales, revenue and partner management. He began his career at Continental Airlines after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA. 

Nicolas Bellouin is Professor of Climate Processes at the University of Reading (UK), and Chair in Aviation and Climate at Sorbonne Université in Paris (France), where he leads the Climaviation research project on the non-CO2 effects of aviation. Nicolas’ expertise is in the radiative forcing of climate change, especially from particles of pollution. He was awarded the Edward Appleton Medal by the British Institute of Physics in 2024. He was one of the lead authors of the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in August 2021. He is a member of the European Aviation Safety Agency’s Aviation Non-CO2 Expert Network. 

Dr Mark Bentall has been working for Airbus for over 28 years and is currently Head of R&T Programme for Technology & Engineering.

A globally operational technologist, Mark is responsible for the Airbus Research and Technology portfolio, ensuring alignment with the company’s strategic goals. This portfolio includes internal activities and external engagements with academia, institutional research organisations and industry partners, with alignment and funding from National and European research frameworks. He is also responsible for Airbus’ Global Technology Footprint located in North America and Asia.

In 2025 Mark was Chair of the Jet Zero Taskforce Task and Finish Group : the pathway to implementing contrail avoidance – reducing climate impacts, uncertainty, and articulating trade offs for industry and government.

Mark holds BEng/MEng degrees in Electronic and Computer Engineering and a PhD in Telecommunications from Cardiff University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS) and Member of the Institute of Engineering (IET).

Jason Burnett is the chair of the board of trustees of The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The Packard Foundation is one of the largest and longest-serving climate funders globally, having invested over $1billion in climate-related strategies in the past 15 years. The foundation co-founded several of the large climate organizations including ClimateWorks. Jason has worked in this space in a variety of roles over almost three decades. Most recently he co-founded and leads Sponge, a direct air capture company that captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using a fraction of the energy and cost required by others, to produce non-fossil hydrocarbons such as eSAF.  

Previously, Jason was the CEO of Crosswalk Labs, a company that tracks greenhouse gas emissions across the U.S. to help local communities make more effective climate mitigation decisions and track progress towards their climate goals. Jason Burnett served as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA from 2012 to 2016 and as a Carmel-by-the-Sea city councilmember from 2010-2012. During his time as mayor, he was also elected by his fellow local mayors to serve as president of the Monterey Peninsula Regional Water Authority where he led the effort to develop a sustainable water supply for the six Monterey Peninsula cities. Prior to that he served as the associate deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where he coordinated energy and climate change policy across the EPA and led the first development of greenhouse gas regulations for the United States. 

Jason Burnett has testified before and been interviewed by Senate and Congressional committees and has been quoted in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, AP, CNN, ABC, C-SPAN, and NPR on climate change policy. 
 
Jason Burnett holds a Master of Arts in Earth Systems and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University. He is an avid gardener, woodworker, and cook, and lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Melissa Burnett, and their son, Sebastian Burnett. 

Freya Burton is a senior leader at LanzaTech, where she has worked for nearly 20 years across a wide range of roles spanning R&D, communications, human resources, and executive leadership. She currently leads Global Policy, Government Relations, and External Relations, overseeing the company’s engagement with policymakers and stakeholders worldwide. 

Freya has played an active role in the Jet Zero Council in the United Kingdom, contributing to the development of policy frameworks supporting sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and recycled carbon fuels. Her work spans both the UK and the European Union levels, where she collaborates with industry groups, NGOs, and other stakeholders to help inform, guide, and advance legislation on carbon capture and utilization (CCU) for fuels and chemicals. 

With a career that began in research and development, Freya brings deep technical knowledge alongside strategic policy expertise, helping shape regulatory environments that enable the commercialization and scale-up of recycled carbon solutions globally. 

Jacqueline Castle is Chief Technology Officer at the Aerospace Technology Institute, where she is
accountable for the ATI’s Technology Strategy to ensure UK Aerospace remains at the forefront of
global aerospace and firmly on the path to a sustainable future.
Prior to joining the ATI, Jacqueline spent more than 25 years in the Aerospace Industry at Airbus.
She was the UK Chief Engineer for the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, with responsibility for the
wings, landing gear and fuel system. Prior to this she held positions as the UK Chief Engineer for the
A380 aircraft, the A330neo development, lead A380 and A350 landing gear engineering and headed
up the Wing Design Authority organisation.
Jacqueline is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the
Royal Aeronautical Society. She is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from the University of the
West of England and gained an MSc in Aerospace Design from the University of Bristol, where she is
Professor of Practice at the Faculty of Engineering

Ben Chapman is a Director in the ICF aviation sustainability team and supports ICF clients with aircraft sustainability and asset management. He manages ICF framework contracts with the EU supporting aviation sustainability policy and leads ICF expertise in aircraft emissions and their impacts, environmental labelling, sustainability reporting, and developing decarbonization plans. He further supports the wider ICF aviation team clients with SAF, aircraft valuations and asset management. Prior to joining ICF in 2019 he managed the Ascend by Cirium London ​valuation team and is an ISTAT certified appraiser.

Oliver Colman sits within WTW’s Alternative Credit and Carbon Credit Insurance team, where he works closely with corporates, financial institutions, and carbon project developers to structure innovative risk mitigation solutions that support decarbonisation strategies and carbon credit procurement. He has extensive experience helping clients navigate carbon market exposure, including long‑term offtake structures, financial and counterparty risks associated with carbon transactions. 

Oli began his career at Lloyd’s, before joining Willis where he spent over eight years in credit and political risk Insurance, servicing some of the industry’s biggest financial clients. In addition to his client work, he also advises and mentors insurtech and venture-backed startups through accelerator programmes, such as the Lloyd’s Lab, contributing to the development of innovative insurance and risk transfer solutions.  

Oli holds a Masters in Finance from London Business School, a BA (Hons) in Finance, Accounting and Management from University of Nottingham, and an Advanced Diploma in Insurance (ACII). He is also a FINMA Swiss-licensed insurance broker and European-regulated (FSMA) Responsible for Distribution (RD) insurance intermediary.  

Tom Conlon is Professor of Finance at University College Dublin where he leads all aviation finance and leasing activities. His research interests are in sustainable finance, asset pricing and risk management, with a focus on using finance to promote sustainability in aviation. He is a regular speaker at industry conferences on issues relating to aviation sustainability.  Tom is Co-Chair of the Impact Science Working Group.

 Climate & Sustainability Manager, UK Export Finance | Aviation Decarbonisation Lead | Clean Energy & Transition Finance

As both an Aerospace Broker and ESG lead for Global Aerospace, Charlie will provide context on both ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) as well as Aerospace policy and placement.  

With her background as an Aerospace Broker, Charlie will also be discussing how we strategically negotiate and implement complex placements and provide insights on coverage across our range of Aerospace clients which include: Airports/ANSPs, products manufacturers, refuellers and other aviation service providers. 

The Department for Transport is responsible for setting the UK’s national aviation policy including on the delivery of a greener sector. Greg Easter is a DfT Civil Servant who has worked on a range of technology related policy areas in the Aviation and Policing sectors.

Seb Eastham is an atmospheric scientist and aeronautical engineer who seeks to understand what the true environmental impacts of aerospace activity are and what we can do about them. He develops and applies novel numerical models of the atmosphere, ranging from the scale of a single exhaust plume up to the global Earth system, to provide new understanding of those impacts and guide the development of new solutions to support a growing and sustainable aerospace sector. 

Patrick Edmond is Chief Commercial Officer at Future Energy Global, which is working to build a SAF ecosystem by aggregating demand for SAF and SAF credits from aircraft operators and corporates, securing offtakes from suppliers, and bringing external investment into the SAF space to accelerate production ramp-up. Patrick holds an MS in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, an MSc in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University, and an MBA from Purdue University. Before joining Future Energy Global, Patrick led the commercial and strategy functions for a number of airlines and airports, founded the aviation strategy and sustainability consultancy Altair Advisory, and served as advisor to a number of startups in the fields of travel technology and electric aviation. He is based in Ireland. 

Jeroen is Director Mergers, Acquisitions & Holdings at KLM. He has an MBA from the University of Groningen and has over 20 years of experience in the aviation sector, working across M&A, network and schedule planning, product management and revenue management. He started his career in Transavia, a wholly owned KLM subsidiary where he worked for close to 13 years before transitioning into his role at KLM in 2018. He is a non-executive director at SkyNRG, board member at a number of KLM subsidiaries and active in the SAF space since 2019. 

Lev is a partner in the Climate Projects group at Philip Lee LLP.  Both Lev and the firm are ranked in Chambers Global Market Leaders for Climate Change.  Prior to Lev’s work on climate related matters, he spent six years as an aircraft finance and leasing lawyer in London and Singapore.  Lev’s current practice focuses on advising project developers, investors and offtakers on all matters relating to global carbon markets, engineered carbon removal projects and sustainable aviation fuels.

Michael Halaby is Head of Aviation Advisory at MUFG Bank, Ltd. He has 20+ years experience of providing strategic capital raising advice in aviation and to other industries, and in advising on ESG strategies.

Tom Harrison is Head of Decarbonisation, leading the development and delivery of strategies that enables Manchester Airport Group to transition to a low‑carbon future. With a background in sustainability and infrastructure, he specialises in turning net‑zero ambitions into practical, scalable action, driving cross‑functional programmes that embed sustainability into core business operations while delivering measurable outcomes. Tom is passionate about tackling the complex challenge of aviation decarbonisation through innovation, collaboration, and clear strategic direction, and is committed to accelerating decarbonisation across the sector and wider economy. 

Wouter Hertzberger is a banking lawyer (advocaat) based in Amsterdam where he heads the banking team. He has a broad range of experience in structured finance transactions with a focus on project finance in the energy and infrastructure sector, asset finance and restructuring.Wouter’s experience includes acting for the sponsor and lenders on energy projects ranging from oil and gas to renewables, road and port projects, and accommodation projects. His asset finance practice has a focus on shipping, offshore and export credit finance transactions. He regularly advises lenders on restructuring matters particularly in the energy and infrastructure sector. Wouter has a dual qualification in the Netherlands and the United States. He graduated from the University of Leiden and holds a LLM degree from Columbia University in New York.

Kenza Hindi is an investment professional at Macquarie Asset Management, based in London and working within the Green Investments team. She holds a Double Degree MSc in Corporate Finance & Banking and a Master’s in Management from EDHEC Business School. 

Her work focuses on the team’s energy transition strategy, primarily through Macquarie Green Energy Transition Solutions (MGETS), Macquarie’s first dedicated energy transition fund targeting opportunities beyond mature renewables. 

Kenza was part of the Macquarie investment team that led the acquisition of a majority stake in SkyNRG during 2022–2023 and has continued to support the company’s growth from an asset management perspective. A key milestone included SkyNRG’s Final Investment Decision and Financial Close on DSL-01, its first Sustainable Aviation Fuel production facility. 

She has collaborated closely with SkyNRG across several financing and project development workstreams, including the landmark non-recourse project finance raise for DSL-01 — the first greenfield SAF plant to secure project financing — as well as the successful equity raise involving the Dutch pension fund APG and Macquarie Asset Management, which closed in early 2026. 

Robert Höglund is a co-founder of the carbon removal data provider CDR.fyi, Head of CDR and Climate strategy at the impact firm Milkywire, a member of the EU Expert Group on CDR and has been a member of several Science based target initiative expert advisory groups. 
 
He has written several pieces of research about aviation and carbon removal, presenting the message that carbon removal should be allowed as a mitigation solution on the same terms as SAF for aviation decarbonization. 

Steve Kelly is President and General Manager of 1PointFive International, responsible for developing 1PointFive’s Direct Air Capture (DAC) and CCUS business in locations outside North America.  1PointFive, a subsidiary of Occidental (Oxy), works with partners across aviation, technology and other sectors through the deployment of decarbonization solutions and is currently deploying its first commercial scale DAC plant in Texas. 

Steve joined Oxy in 1995 and has held increasingly senior positions in Qatar, Houston and Oman, most recently as President and GM of Oxy’s businesses in Qatar and Oman from 2012 to 2022. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Dolphin Energy Ltd.

Ger (Shigeru) Komori joined SMBC Aviation Capital in January 2025, now acting as SVP Climate Solutions.  He is on a secondment from Sumitomo Corporation, one of the shareholders of SMBC AC. He has over 30 years’ experience in aircraft leasing and financing, and before joining SMBC AC, he worked as Head of Sustainability Solutions at Commercial Aviation SBU (Strategic Business Unit) of Sumitomo. Ger holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in the field of Information Science from Kyoto University, Japan 

Environmental Defense Fund president Fred Krupp has guided EDF for three decades, overseeing its growth from a small nonprofit with a budget of $3 million to one of the world’s most influential environmental organizations, with an annual budget of more than $300 million and 1000 employees. EDF works across the globe, including in the United States, China, India, and Europe. 

In 2023, Krupp worked through the global climate talks, COP28, to help secure commitments from 50 oil and gas companies, representing 40% of global oil sales, to reduce their methane pollution by 90% by 2030. As a leading voice on climate change, energy and corporate sustainability, Krupp appeared on the TED stage in 2018 to announce plans to launch MethaneSAT, a satellite that measured and mapped planet-warming methane emissions from the oil and gas industry worldwide. A historic achievement from an environmental NGO, it orbited the Earth for roughly 12 months, ushering in a new era of climate action — and accountability for corporate and national commitments. He was also a key advocate for the overhaul of America’s chemical safety laws in 2016 and the passage of historic climate investments in 2022.  

Krupp has pioneered innovative approaches to harnessing the power of the marketplace to protect the environment and has led EDF’s groundbreaking corporate partnerships with FedEx, KKR, McDonald’s and others. He helped GM develop its plan to sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2035. Most recently, Walmart announced it achieved the goal it set in partnership with EDF to cut a billion metric tons of climate pollution, equivalent to Japan’s annual climate emissions.

With over 15 years of experience across the aerospace and aviation value chain, Will began his career at Airbus, holding various engineering positions before moving into strategy. First, at the Aerospace Technology Institute, funding future aerospace technology through startups to OEMs. Next, he led Strategy and M&A workflows at Smiths Detection, before moving into Aviation Finance and Consulting at IBA Group. Will heads up Sustainability & Markets advisory at IBA, bringing together sustainability issues with market, economic, and operational realities. 

James McMicking is the Chief Strategy Officer at ZeroAvia, leading strategy, programme management, R&D funding and external affairs.  Prior to joining ZeroAvia, James was Chief Strategy Officer at the Aerospace Technology Institute where he was deeply involved in developing UK aerospace technology strategy and leadership of the ATI R&T program.   His multifaceted career also spans engineering and business management consulting across several sectors, including automotive and aviation industrie.

Damien Meadows is the Advisor on European and International Carbon Markets at the European Commission. As a lawyer and Head of Unit, he has been involved in drafting, negotiating and implementing market-based policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions since 2000. In particular, he has worked on EU emissions trading system that gives economic incentives over the last 15 years for tackling climate change, and on the REACH law that comprehensively reformed EU chemicals regulation. He has lengthy experience of UN climate negotiations from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement and, before joining the Commission, he was a solicitor in the UK.

Hemant Mistry has over 30 years’ experience in aviation, including technology application, commercial strategy and regulatory reform. He leads IATA’s Net Zero Transition activities to support decarbonization of the industry, working across airlines, governments and the supply-chain. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Hemant has been responsible for IATA’s work on securing financial support for airlines and supply chain partners.  Prior to this Hemant was IATA’s Director ofInfrastructure and Fuel where he worked with governments, airports, ANSPs and jet fuel suppliers to build opportunities for partnership, pricing & efficiency improvement, as well as effective capacity development.  Before joining IATA, Hemant worked as a Senior Associate for Booz Allen Hamilton, a global management consultancy, where he led competition and regulatory assessments for the European Commission and performed safety audits for national aviation authorities. Hemant’s first employment was with UK National Air Traffic Services where he helped develop ICAO standards and recommended practices for new aviation technologies and operational concepts. He was sponsored by the UK Civil Aviation Authority and is a graduate of the University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology.   

Glenn has three decades’ experience in the aviation sector, including senior roles at Emirates, British Airways and IAG creating and leading their Corporate Venture Capital division. As the Director of Hangar 51, he pioneered a highly successful accelerator, incubator, and ventures fund collaborating with start-ups and VCs globally.  Glenn is the former chairman of the IATA Digital Council (320 international airline members) and oneworld Digital Board. Glenn’s responsibilities included serving as IAG’s Chief Technology Officer, with responsibility for the group’s information technology strategy.  Glenn is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for IT, Non-Executive Director and Strategic Digital and Business Transformation Leader, bringing over 40 years of cumulative experience in strategy, sustainability, venture building, corporate innovation & digital transformation.  He also holds several technology patents and is an active angel investor and non-executive director on several boards. As a Partner in SkiesFifty, Glenn leads the investment process and deal flow pipelinem and serves as the point of coordination with leading industry bodies. 

Adam Morton joined the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) as Head of Technology – Sustainability and Strategy in 2022. In this role, he coordinates ATI workstreams on aviation decarbonisation, low-carbon fuels, and wider climate change. He personally led ATI work developing the world’s first Non-CO₂ Emissions Technology Roadmap, pulling together inputs from across equipment manufacturers, airlines, airports, fuels companies, service providers and academia.  

Before ATI, Adam held a number of senior positions in Rolls-Royce.  Most recently, this was as Group Head of Environmental Technology leading their decarbonisation roadmap and product sustainability strategy.  Other senior positions at this engine manufacturer include Head of Energy Technology and Group Head of Innovation.  

He is a past Chair of Sustainable Aviation, a coalition of 40+ airports, airlines and aerospace companies providing leadership on aviation sustainability matters, nationally and internationally. In the early stages of his career, he was also a Partner in the international infrastructure consultancy Mott MacDonald undertaking project work in Europe, S America, Asia and Africa. 

With over 20 years of leadership in the aviation and energy sectors, Arnaud brings deep industry expertise and a track record of innovation. Arnaud is the co-founder and CEO of ATOBA Energy, the midstream sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) aggregator accelerating the aviation industry energy transition. Previously, as Chief Operating Officer of Universal Hydrogen, he spearheaded the development of the aviation hydrogen value chain and launched a pioneering energy aggregation to unlock the hydrogen market for mobility.

Earlier in his career, Arnaud held executive positions at Safran and Zodiac Aerospace —global leaders in aerospace systems and equipment—, where he led major initiatives in engineering, program management, and corporate strategy. He began his career at Airbus, contributing to advanced aircraft design. A graduate of École Polytechnique in France and UCLA Anderson in California, Arnaud is recognized for his ability to drive collaboration, a true sense of urgency, and bold solutions in the pursuit of sustainable aviation.

Shashank Nigam is on a mission to build trust in travel. He’s the #1 bestselling author of SOAR and Sustainability In The Air. He earned his wings consulting for over 150 airlines and airports over 18 years.  

Rose Oates is a Senior Associate in the Renewable Fuels team at BloombergNEF, based in London. She covers advanced biofuels and e-fuels markets, the policies shaping them and their role in decarbonizing the transport sector. Before joining Bloomberg, Rose was a researcher at Imperial College London, where she completed a PhD in Material Science. 

 Charlie leads International Business Development at Isometric, partnering with corporate buyers, carbon removal suppliers, and intermediaries to deliver the world’s most rigorous carbon credits to the global market. 
 
Prior to Isometric, Charlie spent a decade building and leading commercial teams at high‑growth technology companies in the UK and US. In Austin, Texas, he directed international expansion and enterprise sales strategy for a UK tech firm, successfully establishing and scaling its US operations. He has since returned to London, where he continues to work at the intersection of climate and technology. 

• Aerospace engineer with >20 years of experience
• With Deutsche Aircraft since 2021, leading “Sustainable Flight” – with the objective to make the D328eco and any future aircraft of Deutsche Aircraft the most climate-friendly possible, taking into account the real operational world of regional aviation
• Initiated and led the world’s first 100% zero aromatics FT-SPK flight project (UpLift-CLIM0ART) in a Dornier 328 Turboprop
• Did advanced design of aircraft (Airbus) and of engines (MTU Aero Engines), and business development for small engines (MTU as well)
• Spent two years as a consultant with McKinsey (Strategy, Product Design, Organisation)
• PhD in aerospace (on climate-friendly aircraft design) from TU Munich (in cooperation with Airbus’ Future Projects Office in Toulouse), Engineering diploma from Ecole Centrale Paris

Matt Prescott is a Director at Iken Associates where he also leads its Transport practice, and an Honorary Professor of Practice at University College London where he is part of its Air Transport Systems Laboratory. Matt works across aviation decarbonisation and sustainability including policy, regulation, fuels, technology and infrastructure and was formerly head of carbon strategy at a major hub airport.

Lahiru Ranasinghe is Director of Sustainability at EasyJet. An experienced aerospace professional with expertise in airline strategy, network planning and sustainability. He has been in the airline industry for over a decade with commercial and strategy roles at British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet. Prior to joining the airline industry he completed a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering and started his career as an engineer working on commercial aircraft. 

Volker Ratzmann is Senior Advisor Public Affairs at DHL Group. Previously, the trained lawyer served as Executive Vice President Corporate Public Affairs. Earlier in his career, he held positions as State Secretary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the German Federal Government and was a Member of Parliament in Berlin for the political party Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.

Sheila Remes retired as vice president of Environmental Sustainability at The Boeing Company in April 2024. She has held a number of roles in her 30 years at Boeing including vice president of Strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and a variety of roles in Marketing, Sales and Engineering. 

In addition to her time at Boeing she also had 10 years experience at two different airlines. America West, where she supported the technical side of operations as an engineer and United, where she supported the commercial side of the airline. 

Sheila currently serves on the board of directors for the World Affairs Council of Seattle and Forest Ridge of the Sacred Heart School, the advisory board for International Aviation Women’s Association and UCLA Institute for Carbon Management.  In addition, she volunteers with Citizen’s Climate Lobby and IMPACT for Sustainable Aviation. 

Her passion is around supporting and developing teams and individuals in their career journeys as well as supporting women and girls in getting into STEM fields.  

She and her husband have two children.  Their son graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and is now consulting and their daughter graduated with a degree in public health and is pursuing a graduate degree as a nurse practitioner. 

Deniz Rhode is an Associate Researcher on the Aviation team at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). His work focuses on aviation decarbonization, particularly non-CO₂ impacts such as contrails, alongside operational and policy measures to reduce climate impact. He performs propulsion, trajectory, and climate impact analyses across flight phases, including ground operations, to assess mitigation potential and system-level trade-offs, and contributes to sustainable aviation policy and KPI design in the EU and other regions. He is the lead modeler of TurboMAP, a framework used to simulate engine behavior across design and off-design conditions using publicly available data, and JETSTREAM, a platform that integrates global flight operations with emissions and climate impact analysis.

He also specializes in sustainable aviation technologies, including alternative fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen, and hybrid-electric systems. Prior to ICCT, he worked at Georgia Tech’s Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL), collaborating with Airbus, Boeing, Gulfstream Aerospace, GE, and Delta Air Lines. He led a project on onboard thermal catalytic cracking of ammonia for aviation applications, later continued with NASA and other partners. Deniz holds degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech (M.S.) and TU Delft (B.Sc.).

George Robinson is Head of Policy at Isometric and leads the company’s policy engagement. Before that he worked in the UK Government for 10 years where he was most recently Deputy Director for the Cabinet Office. 

Nikhil Sachdeva is the Former Head of Aviation Sustainability at Roland Berger. Nikhil led Roland Berger’s work into how the aviation sector can transition to climate neutrality, from sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to hydrogen to electrical propulsion, to addressing non-CO2 effects, as well as the commercial and technological implications for the aerospace, aviation and fuels sectors. He specialises in strategy and implementation projects, having worked with major airlines. aerospace OEMs, investors, suppliers, as well as governmental bodies. Nikhil holds a Masters in Engineering from Imperial College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Jimmy Samartzis is the Chief Executive Officer of LanzaJet, Inc., a global leader in sustainable
fuels technology and production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel
from low carbon intensity, renewable, and waste-based sustainable sources. Throughout his
25-year career, Jimmy has driven pioneering changes in companies across industries and
in government. He is a transformation-focused leader who has an innate ability to motivate
teams, partners, funders, and governments to pursue, adopt, and execute on change efforts
that enable economic growth, energy security, and national security. Jimmy’s relentless
commitment to ensure there is focus on innovations to enable an improved future has
accelerated progress in the global clean energy transition.
Since its inception as the founding CEO of LanzaJet, Jimmy is leading the company and the
technology through development, commercialization, and operational execution of the
world’s first and only commercial-scale ethanol-based Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) biorefinery.
LanzaJet is supported by a world-class group of strategic investors including Airbus, British
Airways, Groupe ADP, LanzaTech, Microsoft, Mitsui & Co., MUFG, Shell Oil, and Southwest
Airlines, along with financial participation from All Nippon Airways, Breakthrough
Energy, the US Department of Energy, and the UK Department for Transport.
Jimmy’s leadership is enabling LanzaJet to develop opportunities in more than 25 countries
representing five continents. LanzaJet is collaborating with its strategic investors and with
third-party licensees on multiple projects across the globe, working its way towards a goal of
1B gallons of sustainable hydrocarbon production using LanzaJet’s ATJ technology. LanzaJet
has announced projects in the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, India,
Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Recognized for its impact and innovation, LanzaJet has
been named to the TIME100 Most Influential Companies list, the FORTUNE Most Innovative
Companies list, the MIT Technology Review’s 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch list, and
as the S&P Global Rising Star Company among other accolades.
While in the airline industry, his contributions enabled pioneering test flights on sustainable
fuels, the first commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel refinery, and a global industry
agreement to catalyze a reduction in aviation emissions and adoption of low-carbon
intensity fuels presented to and approved at the United Nations. Additionally, he led a global
coalition of stakeholders across the value chain to break down the barriers associated with
the commercialization of sustainable fuels.
He currently serves on the Board of Advisors of the Energy Policy Institute at the University
of Chicago (EPIC) and previously on the Board of Directors for the Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory, a global leader in high-energy particle physics. With his lifelong commitment
to empowering youth, he supports his alma mater by serving on the Board of Trustees of
Loyola Academy and several other nonprofit organizations. Jimmy previously served as
chief executive of a multi-billion-dollar business unit at United Airlines with nearly 10,000
employees, as well as in various other senior executive functions at the airline. He has served
as an executive advisor to clients globally through his work with top consultancies including
Oliver Wyman, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Slalom. He served the President of the United
States at The White House and at the US Department of Labor, and worked in the Mayor’s
Office for the City of Chicago.

Gaurav is a Professor and the Pritzker Endowed Chair in Sustainability at the Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Gaurav has published over 225 peer-reviewed journal publications and has an h-index of 68. He is the Director of UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management (ICM): a cross-campus technology translation institute. Gaurav is the CTO/Co-Founder of Equatic Inc., the Grand Prize Winner of the Temasek Foundation’s 2021 Liveability Challenge, the Co-Founder of Concrete-AI Inc., the Co-Founder of Nextli Technologies Inc., and the Founder of CarbonBuilt Inc., a Grand Prize Winner of the 2021 NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE. Gaurav has served as an expert providing: a) testimony to the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and the California State Senate, and b) strategic consulting, core R&D, and innovation support to Fortune500 corporations, government agencies, foundations, and industry organizations globally. Gaurav earned his B.S. (2006), M.S. (2007), and Ph.D. (2009) from Purdue University. Gaurav is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute, the American Ceramic Society, the American Concrete Institute, and the U.S. National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

Joerg Schirrmacher serves as Head of International Project Finance and deputy to the division head of Asset Finance at Helaba and is responsible for the origination and structuring of all Project Finance transactions within the UK & Ireland as well as in the North American market with a view to grow the Helaba franchise internationally. He is also tasked with the development of future business segments which assist the bank’s efforts to support the energy transition and new mobility concepts to facilitate the economy’s decarbonisation.

Prior to his current role Joerg held several positions in the Bank including an assignment tothe Dublin office, where he served as Head of Credit, and the London office, where he was responsible for originating new business in the Project Finance department. Before assuming the current role he served for about ten years as Head of Transport Finance.

In total he has twenty-eight years of Corporate Finance experience including credit analysis to origination and structuring as well as restructuring non-performing loans.

Joerg also serves on the board of Impact on sustainable aviation, which he helped to found in 2022 and which is a not-for-profit organization to support the aviation industry in its decarbonisation efforts.

Joerg earned an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and also holds a Bachelor’s degree (Diplom-Kaufmann) in Business Administration from Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University, Frankfurt.

Soichiro Sekito, who entered DBJ in 2004, is leading DBJ London team as Head of Corporate & Structured Finance in charge of European Clients and all of DBJ’s infrastructure, Energy and Transportation projects in EMEA region. Prior to his current position, he was co-head of Global Aviation team leading EMEA airlines/lessors/European airports projects and aircraft investments. Previously, he was leading infrastructure and transportation projects in Europe such as airports, rail, road and telecom sectors as well. As to investment side, Soichiro got involved with cross-border investment, including VC investments, LP investments, and buy-out investments and served as an external director in the investees. Aside from his DBJ roles, he has experience having been seconded to ING Bank N.V., where he engaged in natural resource – related project finance (offshore, oil & gas, mining) as well as a leveraged buy-out. He obtained a bilingual (English & Spanish) MBA from IESE Business School in Spain.

Giulia Squadrin is a business development manager at Argus Media in London, contributing to strategy and business development for European biofuels, with a focus on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). 
Giulia previously produced daily assessments for hydrotreated biofuels as part of Argus Media’s editorial team, where she worked on the analysis of the European biofuels market, including regulatory changes and data management. 
Prior to joining Argus, Giulia worked with international organisations in Geneva for a year and completed a master’s degree in International Affairs at Middle Tennessee State University. 

As Director Strategic Analysis & Transformation at the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority, Jan Petter is responsible for identifying and ramping up efforts in areas of future importance. Key areas when engaging in emerging issues are the development of new competencies, national and international collaboration, and paving the way for research and innovative technologies and solutions. He is committed to the work on sustainable aviation and is responsible for the established International Test Arena in Norway, including a Regulatory Sandbox for future technologies.

Jan Petter has broad operational and strategical experience within aviation, both military and civilian.

Nathalie Stubler had worked for 30 years in the Air France KLM group before joining Safran in 2023. She began her career at Air Inter in 1992 as a Research Engineer in the Programs and Strategy Department. From 1997, she held several positions within Air France, first in the Flight Programs Department, then in the Commercial Department. In 2007, she was appointed as Air France’s Delegate for Sustainable Development, and in 2010 became Director of Revenue Management and Pricing. She joined the Air France Executive Committee in 2013 and became Director of Strategy and Network for the Air France KLM Group. From 2014 to 2015, she served as Chief of Staff to the CEO of the Group. In 2016, she was appointed President of Transavia France, and in 2023, carried out a mission for the Group CEO on Air France KLM’s decarbonization strategy. In September 2023, she became Chief Sustainability Officer at Safran and a member of the Group Executive Committee.

Jan Toschka has been Chief Executive Officer of Zaffra BV, based in Amsterdam, since 2024. Zaffra is a sustainable synthetic fuels venture backed by low-carbon technology leaders Topsoe and Sasol. Jan holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Hamburg and brings over 25 years of international leadership experience in the energy and downstream oil industry, with deep expertise in strategy, sales, and marketing across global markets.
Jan built his career at Shell, where he rose through a series of senior leadership roles spanning trading, wholesale, and mergers and acquisitions across Europe before taking on global responsibility. As Director of Shell Marine, he led the company’s worldwide marine fuels business across more than 40 countries. He subsequently served as Director Mobility DACH, overseeing Shell’s network of approximately 2,600 service stations across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland,
strengthening the company’s market-leading position in the region. Most recently, as President of Shell Aviation, he ran one of the world’s largest aviation fuels businesses. Today, as CEO of Zaffra, Jan is focused on building a next-generation energy company dedicated to accelerating the decarbonisation of aviation through scalable and innovative fuel solutions

Shivam Trivedi is an investment professional with more than a decade of experience in energy and carbon markets. Until beginning of this year, he led Conductor Capital’s Environmental Products investment strategy, overseeing projects from origination and structuring through to execution and ongoing management, with a focus on high-impact projects and enterprises active in compliance and voluntary carbon markets.

Before joining Conductor Capital, Shivam built his expertise at Shell, in roles spanning upstream engineering, commodities trading, and later on at a downstream energy utility that helped him develop a deep understanding of the entire energy and renewables value chain. His core strengths lie in structured finance, mergers and acquisitions, and commodities trading, combining technical insight with commercial acumen to deliver investments that achieve strong returns while creating lasting climate impact over the cycle.

Shivam holds a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur.

Theye Veen is the Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of SkyNRG, a leader in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Since its inception in 2009, SkyNRG has focused on reducing the aviation industry’s reliance on fossil fuels. The company engages in R&D, advisory services, sells SAF to airlines, corporates, and travelers, and is developing production plants in Europe and the U.S. Prior to SkyNRG, Theye served as CFO at Spring Associates, a strategy consulting firm in Amsterdam. He holds a master’s degree in business economics from the University of Amsterdam. 

Alina Viehweber is a Manager in ICF’s Sustainable Aviation practice, based in London. She works with airports, airlines, governments, and investors to develop and implement strategies that reduce environmental impact while supporting long-term growth. 

With a background in environmental engineering, she leads complex, multi-stakeholder projects across sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), climate risk, ESG strategy, and circularity, with a particular focus on airport decarbonization. Her work includes SAF strategy and investment analysis, policy and market assessments, procurement support, and airport initiatives such as climate risk assessments and net zero pathway development. 

Prior to ICF, Alina worked as an environmental engineer, where she led enterprise-wide sustainability programs focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and resource consumption. 

Robert White is the Global Head of ESG for Financial Sponsors and EMEA ESG Market Solutions at Natixis CIB, based in London. In this role, he leads three core pillars of the bank’s sustainable finance strategy: (1) designing sustainable and thematic investment solutions in close collaboration with Global Markets teams, (2) championing and coordinating ESG and sustainability insights for financial sponsor clients with a specific focus on the challenges of investing in private markets, and (3) leading Natixis CIB’s sustainable finance activities for UK and Nordic clients.

With over 20 years of experience in financial advisory, banking, and project finance, Robert is deeply committed to advancing environmental and sustainable finance. He previously served as the Managing Director and Head of the Green & Sustainable Hub Americas, where he played a pivotal role in navigating the evolving landscape of green finance and significantly enhancing Natixis’ reputation as a leader in sustainable financing in the region.

Robert is actively engaged in industry initiatives, serving as Co-Coordinator of the Climate Transition Finance Working Group, which produced the influential Climate Transition Finance Handbook within the ICMA Principles. He has also co-chaired the ICMA Green Enabling Taskforce. His contributions extend to the Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Technical Expert Group, where he was instrumental in developing the Australian taxonomy for climate change mitigation.

Positioned at the forefront of critical areas such as transition planning, regulatory developments, and the creation of innovative global market solutions, Robert is dedicated to aligning sustainability goals with client needs in an ever-evolving landscape.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences & Psychology from the University of Edinburgh.

James Wood is an experienced climate change communicator, campaigner and strategist. James has worked in media relations, corporate engagement and policy advocacy, on topics ranging from renewable energy, electric vehicles and aviation climate action, at UK, EU and UN level. This includes a period working for WWF on fuels and carbon markets in ICAO from 2014-17. In 2023, James set up a new aviation portfolio at the European Climate Foundation, which he continues to manage, supporting partners across Europe to advance politically resilient policy solutions to promote contrail avoidance, zero emission aircraft and sustainable e-kerosene. 

Richard Wynne is a Managing Director for BCA’s product marketing team,  responsible for coordinating marketing’s activities related to sustainability and product development. Prior to assuming his current position, he was an Airplane Sales Director in the Northeast Asia region with responsibility for All Nippon Airways and Skymark Airlines of Japan. 

Previously, Wynne led the regional marketing teams for the Europe region from late 2021 through 2023 and for mainland China and Hong Kong from 2018 through 2021. Earlier he was a sales director in the North American region with multiple cargo airline accounts. Since joining Boeing in 1999 he served as customer leader for both the 717 and 787 programs and managed BCA’s public policy team in the late 2000s, where the team was engaged in some of the industry’s earliest outreach and activity in what were then called “biofuels.”

From 1996 to 1999, Wynne worked with United Airlines in fleet engineering and route planning. He began his career in commercial aviation in 1990 as a marketing and aircraft performance analyst with British Aerospace.

Wynne earned an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Kentucky. He has two daughters and lives with his wife in Seattle.

Sola Zheng is a Senior Researcher on ICCT’s aviation program team. Her work focuses on the environmental impacts of commercial aviation and related policymaking processes. Specifically, Sola has conducted in-depth analysis of aircraft fuel efficiency, flight emissions inventory, and travel demand response to carbon pricing . She currently leads research projects on net zero decarbonization roadmap and aviation carbon market. Sola holds a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University.

Ulrike Ziegler is the President of impact’s Board of Directors. A lawyer by training, she held senior positions at UniCredit Bank AG as Global Head Aviation and at ING Germany as Head of Aviation.