The Round Table Chair

The Chair of the OECD Round Table on Sustainable Development is Ms. Connie Hedegaard, former EU Commissioner for Climate Action from 2010 to 2014. Prior to this, Ms. Hedegaard was Minister for Climate and Energy, and Minister for the Environment in Denmark, hosting the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009. Ms. Hedegaard succeeds the Rt Honourable Simon Upton, who founded the Round Table on Sustainable Development in 1998, and Mr. Brice Lalonde.

Round Table Participants

Ministers from OECD member countries, key partners* and selected partner countries are invited to attend Round Table meetings depending on the topic. Given the cross-cutting nature of sustainable development issues, ministers with a range of portfolios have participated, including ministers of Finance, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Trade, Labour, Development Assistance and Environment, as well as EU Commissioners of Trade, Development and Environment. Among partner countries, Algeria, Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal and Ukraine have been represented at ministerial level.  

Intergovernmental organisations represented at the Round Table vary according to the topic. Previous sessions have included heads or senior representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Council for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development (UNCSD), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank.

The private sector is keen to participate because of the excellent opportunity to receive first-hand information from policy makers and to bring ideas and interests to the table. Business has been represented at the highest levels, including the CEOs of Shell, Suez, Lafarge and Alcan amongst numerous others.

Stakeholders from civil society also participate in Round Table meetings. Representatives vary depending on the theme and have included the World Wide Fund for Nature, the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Numerous other NGOs, such as The World Conservation Union, Greenpeace, the Pew Centre on Global Climate Change, the Marine Stewardship Council and the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements have also attended.

* Brazil, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa