SPEAKERS BIOGRAPHIES
Alphabetical order
Dr. Florika Fink-Hooijer is the Director-General of the Environment Department of the European Commission. Having occupied various senior management positions in the European Commission, Florika is recognized for her strong management and leadership skills and her in-depth experience in EU policy making & shaping. A lawyer by training, Florika brings a proven record of accomplishment in foreign external and security policy as well as in humanitarian aid and disaster risk reduction. She has extensive experience in leading complex inter-institutional and intergovernmental negotiations. In her current role, she is responsible for implementing the European Green Deal objectives in particular the areas of Circular Economy, Biodiversity and Zero Pollution.
Ms. Eliana Muchachasoy is a Colombian artist, belonging to the indigenous Camëntsá community of Sibundoy, Putumayo. Her work merges indigenous tradition with contemporary artistic expressions, focusing on cultural preservation and respect for nature. Through her art, Eliana provides a deep insight into her community, reflecting its worldview, rituals, and ancestral wisdom. Her work has been exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally, and she currently promotes local art from the BENACH gallery in her territory. She holds a Master's degree in Fine Arts from the National University of Colombia.
Ambassador Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva is the head of Brazil’s Mission to the European Union. He is a career diplomat since 1991. He has served in Geneva, Santiago, La Paz, Madrid and Ottawa. In Brazil, he has worked at the Division for International Trade, at the Office of the Presidency, as Director of the Economics Department and as Secretary of Bilateral and Regional Negotiations in the Americas. In this last role, he was also National Coordinator for MERCOSUR and Coordinator for the National Commission of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization. He took up his duties as head of Brazil’s Mission to the European Union on August 5th, 2022.
Ms. Camila Polo Florez is a career diplomat of Colombia with 24 years of experience. She currently serves as Chargé d'Affaires a.i. at the Colombian Embassy in Belgium. Her experience has focused on multilateral affairs, serving as Alternate Representative of Colombia to the United Nations office in Vienna, focusing on industrial development, drugs and crime affairs. She worked for the Secretariat of the Andean Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Her expertise also includes regional integration, notably with organizations like the Pacific Alliance and CELAC. She holds a bachelor's in Economics and two master's degrees in International Relations, International Cooperation, and Migration.
Ambassador Vaqif Sadıqov began his career as an assistant professor before joining Azerbaijan's diplomatic service in 1992. He led the Political-Military Affairs Division until 1995, when he was appointed Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to key UN agencies. In 2004, he became Deputy Foreign Minister, handling relations with UNESCO and other international organizations. He was later appointed Ambassador to Italy, Malta, and San Marino in 2010, and Azerbaijan’s Permanent Representative to UN agencies in Rome. In 2016, Sadıqov became Azerbaijan's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva. Since 2021, he has served as Ambassador to Belgium and Head of Mission to the European Union.
Dr. Janice Weatherley-Singh has been the Director of WCS EU since 2014. She oversees all of WCS’s engagement with the EU institutions relating to policy engagement and fundraising in support of WCS’s global conservation goals. Originally from the UK, Belgium has become her adopted nationality and home, having lived there since 2003. She began her career working on an agri-environmental research project in Mexico before working on project development for a local Wildlife Trust in the UK. She then moved to Brussels to work for IUCN on EU biodiversity policies, followed by a position with A Rocha International to support work on conservation policies and the development of global conservation programmes, and has also undertaken short consultancy contracts for organisations such as WWF. In 2019, she obtained a PhD in tropical forest governance and REDD+ as an external student with Wageningen University in the Netherlands. She also has a BSc in Geography from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in Rural Resources and Environmental Policy from the University of London.
Mr. Peter Wittoeck holds the position of Director of Climate Change at the Belgian Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, where he has been employed since 1996. He holds a degree in industrial engineering (Industrial Engineering College CTL Ghent, Belgium) and environmental management (Ghent University, Belgium) and has been working on subnational, national, European and international environmental policy since the beginning of his career in 1990, in various capacities. Since 2003, Peter serves as head of a dedicated team of climate policy experts, civil servants committed to preparing and implementing Belgian, European and international climate policy, in close dialogue with all other actors in the field. Peter has been heading the Belgian delegations to the UNFCCC negotiations for 20 years and represents Belgium in the Working Group for International Environment Issues (Climate Change) of the Council (Environment) of the European Union, which he chaired during the Belgian Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2024.