keynote speakers
Paul Addison
Director of Policy and External Affairs, Great British Energy
Paul Addison is a member of the Great British Energy executive leadership team and is responsible for shaping and delivering GBE's policy agenda and external affairs activity to enable delivery of its mission. Previously, he was a policy adviser to the Opposition Treasury Team in the run up to the General Election, shaping infrastructure, planning and investment policies. He designed the policy for a 10-year national infrastructure strategy and the formation of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authoirty through his leadership of the Major Capital Projects Review in 2024, undertaken for Labour. Paul spent a number of years working for Siemens and more recently lead public policy and engagement for Arup and Yorkshire Building Society. At Arup, he established the Urban Transport Review which advocated for a UK wide National Transport Strategy. He also directed the campaign calling for a new rail link connecting the West Midlands and the North West following the announcement of the cancellation of HS2 to Manchester. In 2021, he was awarded the Freedom of the City of London and has won several awards for campaigns like Made Smarter, a government programme supporting small manufacturers to adopt digital technology. He also founded the coalition of Building Societies that launched UK Savings Week in 2022.
Khalifa Ebrahim Al Mehairi
Chief Strategy & Investment Officer, TAQA Transmission
Khalifa Al Mehairi is the Chief Strategy & Investment Officer at TAQA Transmission. Mr Al Mehairi has over 15 years’ experience in the energy sector across diverse functions, including asset management, program management, project delivery, governance, regulations and business development. An alumnus of the American University of Sharjah School of Civil Engineering, Mr Al Mehairi also holds a Master's Degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK, and an Executive MBA from INSEAD.
Andreas F. Brandt
Partner, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP)
Andreas F. Brandt, Partner, based in Copenhagen, is an experienced driver of M&A processes, partnerships, and negotiations in industrial groups. Mr. Brandt is a partner in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and the co-head of the Advanced Bioenergy Fund. Before joining CIP he was the leader of group support functions and group general counsel in Grundfos a large international group and prior to that he held the position of Director for the Partnerships and Contracts in Ørsted. Furthermore, Mr. Brandt has a strong teaching experience and has worked more than 10 years as an external legal M&A advisor in Denmark and in New York, and he holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Copenhagen.
Chief Head of Energy Supply, International Energy Agency (IEA)
Dr Christophe McGlade
Christophe McGlade is the Head of Energy Supply at the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA). He joined the IEA in 2015 and leads the supply and climate analysis within the World Energy Outlook (WEO) series. The World Energy Outlook is the IEA’s flagship publication and one of the world’s most authoritative sources for strategic insight on energy and environmental trends. As part of this work, Christophe was the lead author for the IEA special reports on Net Zero by 2050: A roadmap for the global energy sector, and The Oil and Gas Industry in Net Zero Transitions. Christophe holds a PhD in energy and resources from University College London (UCL) and a BA and MSci from Queens' College at the University of Cambridge in Theoretical and Experimental Physics.
Consul General Li Nan
Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Belfast
Mr Li has served as Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Belfast since September 2024. Born in Henan Province, China, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China (MFA) in 1994 and served as Third, Second, and First Secretary at the Chinese Embassy in Zambia, the Department of Information, the Chinese Embassy in the United States of America, and the MFA Policy Department. Between 2008 and 2014, Mr Li was appointed as Deputy Division Director and Division Director of The General Office, before serving as Counsellor, Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa in 2014 – 2021.
Professor David Rooney
Academic Director, CASE and Dean of Internationalisation and Reputation, Queen’s University Belfast)
Professor is Academic Director of the Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy (CASE) and Dean of Internationalisation and Reputation in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast. A Chemical Engineer working on systems approaches to deliver multiple aspects of the Net Zero transition, he has expertise in a range of areas relating to renewable-energy systems and their integration into society and businesses. He has over 250 scholarly outputs with regional and international partners in areas spanning materials for fuel cell and battery applications, anaerobic digestion, gas separation, catalysis and circular economy. His work is used to advise business and government on Net-Zero pathways and technologies. Most of his recent work focuses on the opportunities for evolving rural economies to avail of the opportunities which lie at the agritech-renewable energy and manufacturing interfaces.
Dr Amanda Slevin
Co-Director, Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action, Queen’s University Belfast
Dr Amanda Slevin is an environmental sociologist and Co-Director of the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action, Queen's University Belfast. She works as a Lecturer in Climate Policy, Politics and Sustainability, a cross-university position shared between QUB's School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, and the School of Biological Sciences. Amanda's policy- and practice- engaged research focuses on multi-level climate action; energy conflicts and just transition; community and stakeholder participation in decision-making. She deliberately combines her academic research, knowledge and skills with over 25 years’ practical experience in community development, adult and community education, and youth work to make theoretical and empirical contributions to our transition towards a more sustainable future.
