Risk Tipping Points – Where Hope Lies

Prof. Dr. Shen Xiaomeng works as UNU Vice-Rector in Europe (UNU-ViE) and Director of the UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). As the UNU Vice-Rector in Europe, Prof. Shen facilitates collaboration between UNU and stakeholders in and outside of the United Nations; contributes to high-level policy development with other United Nations entities and regional/national bodies; and guides UNU outreach efforts to Geneva-based UN entities, the European Commission, and European academic and research institutions. As the Director of UNU-EHS, Prof. Shen is the chief academic and administrative officer of the Institute and oversees its direction, organization and programmes. From 2011 onwards, Prof. Shen worked with the then International Bureau of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung; BMBF) at the Project Management Agency of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt-Projektträger; DLR-PT). Prof. Shen holds a BA degree from the Beijing Foreign Studies University, a MA degree from the University of Bonn and a PhD degree from the University of Bonn/UNU-EHS, with a focus on flood risk perception and communication in different cultural contexts.

Prof. Dr. Zita Sebesvari is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of social-ecological risk assessments, ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR), and ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), with a focus on low-lying coastal areas, such as river deltas. An ecologist by training, she holds a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) in Environmental Science from the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg, Germany. She also holds a M.Sc. in History, and has a great interest in inter- and transdisciplinary research design and project implementation. Prof. Sebesvari is author or co-author of around 70 publications, and served as a Lead Author of the IPCC Special Report on Ocean and the Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCCC, Chapter 4 and Summary for Policymakers; 2019). In her personal capacity, Dr. Sebesvari is member of the European Commission expert group Mission Board for Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation since September 2022. At UNU-EHS, she has held the position of Head of the Environmental Vulnerability and Ecosystem Services (EVES) Section from 2017 – 2022; prior to this, she worked as a Senior Scientist at UNU-EHS for several years.

Melissa Fleming is Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications at the United Nations, having taken up her post in September 2019. Ms. Fleming leads the UN’s Department of Global Communications, which is responsible for informing global audiences about the state of the world and engaging them to build support for the Organization’s work and goals. In this role, Ms. Fleming oversees the UN’s strategic communications operations, including its multilingual news and digital media services, public outreach programmes, and global campaigns. Under her leadership, the UN Department of Global Communications engages in far-reaching efforts to address misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech. She is leading on the development of a Code of Conduct for Information Integrity on Digital Platforms. Previously, Ms. Fleming served 10 years at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as Head of Global Communications. Prior to that, she was the Spokesperson and Head of Media and Outreach at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). She also headed the Press and Public Information team at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Ms. Fleming is a TED speaker, the author of the book, A Hope More Powerful than the Sea, and the host of the award-winning UN podcast, Awake at Night. Ms. Fleming holds a Master of Science in Journalism from the College of Communication, Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in German Studies from Oberlin College.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. René Haak joined the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in 2005. He previously served as Head of the Division Global Change and Climate Research and Head of the Business and Economics Section and Deputy Director at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ, Tokyo), where he worked between 1999 and 2005. Between 2011 and 2014, Dr. Haak was the head of the science and technology section at the German Embassy in Beijing. He has given lectures at the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany), European University Viadrina (Germany), Hosei University (Japan), Nishogagusha University Chiba (Japan), Tsinghua University (China), and the University of Hawaii at Manoa (USA). He has a Ph.D in engineering from Technische Universität Berlin (Germany).