Press Conference #VIS2021

James Ellsmoor is the Founder & CEO of Island Innovation, a communications agency focused on the need of island communities. He has a passion for sustainable development and renewable energy, particularly applications for rural and isolated communities. Last year he ran the inaugural Virtual Island Summit, which brought together 4,000 participants from Scotland to Samoa to share stories about their communities. James has always used technology to advance his mission, allowing him to live and work anywhere and manage a team spread over 4 continents. Island Innovation focuses on bringing together NGOs, the private sector, universities and government with projects covering topics including lithium extraction, climate change and public policy.

H.E Dr Walton a Webson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations.

H.E. Dr. Walton Webson holds a Bachelor of Science degree, a Master of Science in Management of Non-Profit Organizations, a Post Graduate Diploma in Organizational Development from the New School for Social Research, and a DM in Management from Case Western Reserve University. He worked for several international nongovernment organizations including: Sight Savers International of the (UK), The Caribbean Council for the Blind, (Antigua and Barbuda), Hellen Keller International of New York and Perkins International where he worked from 1992 to 2014 and was the organization’s Chief Executive from 2011. Dr. Webson is an Antiguan diplomat. He has served as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York of Antigua and Barbuda since 2014.

Since at the United Nations, Ambassador Webson served as President of UNICEF, 2017 and was Vice President of its Board in 2016. Ambassador Webson chaired the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence of Colonial Countries and Peoples also known as the Special Committee on decolonization or C-24 in 2018. He was appointed by the President 72nd session of the UN General Assembly to co-facilitate with the Ambassador of Japan the high-level meeting on tuberculosis which took place in September 2018 and was appointed by the President of the UN General Assembly in 2019 to be a co-facilitator on the Steering Committee on Accessibility and continues to chair that committee on the reappointment from the president of the 74th session of the General Assembly.

Ambassador Webson is an innovator and a leader. He founded the Friends of Vision at the United Nations; a group responsible for advocating for eye health to be included in universal health care. He was successful in getting eye health for the first time included in a UN resolution on UHC.
Ambassador Webson with the Ambassadors of Denmark and the UAE formed the informal group of the Presidents of the UN agencies to coordinate the work of the Funds and Programmes of the United Nation agencies.
He was the lead sponsor on two resolutions affecting the lives of persons with disabilities around the world and is considered as a champion on disabilities issues and a leading voice on issues of Small States.

Ambassador Webson served in 2020 as the President of the board of the United Nations Development Programmed (UNDP, UNOPS AND UNFPA). He is the current co-chair of the UN Steering Committee on the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and has had the honor to lead the CARICOM Caucus at two General Assemblies over his first four years at the UN.
In 2017, Ambassador Webson was the lead voice of the initiative for raising pledges in support of global response to the needs of the Caribbean to Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The UN sponsored activity attracted more than 2.1 billion dollars in pledges.
He continues to sit on several UN committees including committees responding to the challenges of COVID19.
Ambassador Webson led Antigua and Barbuda’s team on the negotiations on the resolutions of the SDGs 2015. He also led the Antigua and Barbuda’s team at the 2016 meeting on climate change and he has led several climate change meetings for Antigua and Barbuda since his appointment at the United Nations.
Ambassador Webson has spearheaded several initiatives on Antigua and Barbuda including: a para-transit programmed for persons with disability, the Antigua Barbuda Science Park, driving solar energy in support of the Department of Environment, the diaspora response to Hurricane Irma and Maria and support to areas of sports, education, gender issues and youth development.
Ambassador Webson is a published author and has recently contributed in The Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health: vision beyond 2020 and in the ICEVI journal 2021.

Ambassador Webson is married with three children.

Alexis Chalot is director of the business line “Islands & Microgrids Projects” within EDF Renewables (which develops, finances and operates renewable energy projects in remote areas such as islands and deserts).

“By replacing thermal generators with renewable energy, microgrids projects yield significant savings and huge CO2 emission reduction in remote area.”
He is a Board Member at ECOSUN Innovations (which offers a range of portable solar generators for electrification in isolated areas) and prior to his current position, he was Investment Director at EDF Pulse Croissance (a corporate Venture Capital fund) and Board Member at EDF Store & Forecast (which develops and markets a software solution for the energy optimization of local electricity systems through energy forecasting and storage).

Alexis served as Board Member at Neot Offgrid Africa (a platform supporting and accelerating Africa’s energy transition) and at Zinium (which develops and produces a clean Zinc-Air rechargeable battery for stationary use).

Alexis holds a Master in Finance from the EDHEC Business School and has been working in the energy field for the last 16 years.

Dr. Kathryn Mengerink leads a team of ocean experts in developing and implementing blue prosperity programs, including marine spatial planning and blue economy projects. She works in partnership with governments, NGOs, and ocean experts across the globe. Kathryn brings more than 20 years of ocean expertise to her work combining marine science, law and policy to inform decision making.

Previously, she founded and led the Environmental Law Institute’s Ocean Program for ten years. Under her leadership, the Ocean Program launched a number of law and policy projects related to ecosystem-based ocean management, marine spatial planning, fisheries management and enforcement, ocean and coastal restoration, marine protection, deep seabed mining and more. During this time, Kathryn also served as a lecturer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and an advisor to its Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation.

Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Texas A&M University, Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a J.D. with a certificate in Environmental Law from University of California, Berkeley.

Francesco Sindico is the Founder and Co-Director of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. He is also Associate Professor (Reader) in International Environmental Law at the University of Strathclyde Law School. He leads the EILEAN initiative at SCELG where he researches about law, islands and sustainability. As part of his work on islands he has collaborated with the Scottish Government in the implementation of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 and is now a member of the National Islands Plan Delivery Group. He has coordinated with Island Innovation a global survey on Islands and COVID-19 and is also co-leading with Island Innovation and the University of Prince Edward Island the COVID-19 Island Insights series. Francesco is also very active in the climate law field and is the Founder and Co-Director of the Climate Change Litigation Initiative (C2LI). He has also worked extensively on international water law, an area where he provides legal advice to international organisations and governments before international courts. You can find more about Francesco’s island related work here