Our board

KS Venkatagiri

Chairperson, GreenPro (India)

Mr. Venkatagiri is the Executive Director of CII-Godrej GBC – Confederation of Indian Industry’s centre of excellence on green businesses. He is an expert in green concepts and is leading a team of over 90 green professionals. Under his leadership, the centre is offering services to Indian industry in the areas of green buildings, green companies, green products, energy management, renewable energy, and other related sectors. He played leadership role in conceptualizing and launching the ecolabel GreenPro in India. Venkatagiri holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and has been associated with Confederation of Indian Industry since 1993.

Yulia Gracheva

Vitality Leaf (Russia)

The director and head of the Certification Body, NP Ecological Union, Yulia joined the GEN board in 2017. She has worked for NP Ecological Union for 12 years and has been responsible for establishing the procedures and developing the criteria in the growing Vitality Leaf ecolabelling Type 1 programme from the beginning. Yulia graduated from Saint Petersburg State University as a specialist in ecology in 2004 and then obtained a Ph.D. in biology in 2010. She is also a member of the Russian Standardization Technical Committee on Green Technologies and Green Innovative Products and participates in the working group on Green Product Procurement (GPP) implementation in Russia.

Katherine Larocque

EPEAT Program

Katherine has over 13 years of experience as a sustainability professional, providing customized sustainability advice and solutions to a wide variety of organizations and industries ranging from multinational food and beverage companies, and technology sector clients, to small non-profits. Katherine plays a critical role in ensuring the credibility of the EPEAT Program, and supports manufacturers as they seek to increase the availability of sustainable electronics globally.

Prior to joining the Global Electronics Council, Katherine lead the extended producer responsibility and recycling efforts at a large global retailer. Having served as the Secretariat Manager of the Global Ecolabelling Network for several years, Katherine has a deep appreciation and understanding of the very important role ecolabels play in increasing the production and consumption of more sustainable products.

Katherine holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science from Queen’s University. She resides in Ottawa, Canada.

Svetlana Perminova

All-Ukraine NGO Living Planet

Director of the Center for Environmental Certification and Labeling of the Living Planet NGO (since 2008) – Ecolabelling program Green Crane. Ecologist (specialty “Ecological safety”, “Ecology in construction”), I have been working in the field of environmental protection since 2004, engaged in research in the field of environmental safety and environmental impact assessment. In 2006, she received a grant from the President of Ukraine for gifted youth – the creation and implementation of a geographic information system (GIS) for managing the environmental security of the region (Kherson region).

Since 2008, she began working at the Center for Environmental Certification and Labeling NGO Living Planet as a certification specialist. Since 2011 – Director of the Center. I participate in working groups on the development of criteria, international cooperation and project implementation in areas such as environmental management systems, eco-labels, sustainable public procurement, sustainable consumption and production. Member of the National Technical Committee 82 “Environmental Protection” on life cycle assessment, environmental management systems, environmental labels and declarations.

Expert in Living Planet projects implemented in partnership with UNEP – EU EaP, GIZ to support the development of energy efficient and sustainable public procurement in the construction sector. OSCE expert on chemical safety issues.

Qiuming (Fallight) Xu

TÜV Rheinland (Germany)

Mr. Xu is the General Manager responsible for the business development of Sustainability Services at TÜV Rheinland. He is a standardization engineer and an EFFAS (the European Federation of Financial Analyst Societies) Certified Environmental Social and Governance Analyst (CESGA®). Mr. Xu holds a Diploma in Green and Sustainable Finance from the Chartered Banker Institute (UK), a Master of Business Administration from the University of Manchester and a Bachelor of Arts from the Nanchang University. He is an RSA Fellow and also an ICRS Fellow.

Tao Yan

China Environmental United Certification Center

Acting as Deputy General Manager/ senior engineer of China Environmental United Certification Center (CEC), I have been working in the field of environmental protection more than 20 years, mainly engaging in China Environmental Labelling Program (CEL), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Environmental Management System (EMS) etc. I participated in EMS mechanism establishment in China from 1997-2002. I was once fully responsible for certification implementation of ecolabel business and GENICES re-audit preparation as auditee in 2018. Now I am in charge of international cooperation, scientific research, information and publicity management etc. in CEC. In addition, I served as the representative of MAC member of UNEP “One Planet Network CI-SCP Programme” on behalf of CEC, and also the member of Standardization Committee of China Certification and Accreditation Association. I can work in English and have completed hundreds international CDM verification project independently. I also participated in German training and learned in Germany for 1 year. China Environmental Labelling program has been developed into one of the biggest and most successful eco-label program in the world, and been adopted into China GPP policy since 2006. CEL passed GENICES peer review in 2012 & 2018 and signed bilateral MOU with 13 GEN members. CEC successfully organized 2014 and 2019 GEN AGM in China. Meanwhile CEC has established cooperation widely with international organizations such as UNEP, ICLEI, IISD, GIZ, ISEAL and IGPN. By undertaking GEN Board member, IGPN secretariat, Co-lead of SPP program of UNEP One Planet Network, and core level member of Asia-Pacific GPP network, CEC has been committed to promoting the collaborative development of ecolabel and SPP. Additional, Ms. Xiaodan ZHANG representing CEC, served as GEN Board Member for 10 years and gave us a great. example.

Dr. Wijarn Simachaya

Thailand Environment Institute

DR. WIJARN SIMACHAYA is the current President of Thailand Environment Institute (TEI), the Secretary-General of Thailand Business Council for Sustainable Development (TBCSD), a Chairman of Circular Economy Sub-committee under National Agenda BCG Economy Model and a President of Thai Sustainable Consumption and Production Network (Thai SCP Network) . His various responsibilities in the past were natural resources and environmental plans, strategy development, pollution control plans as well as international cooperation on natural resources and environmental issues. He was also a representative of the ministry of various agencies like UN, Sub-regional, and ASEAN /ASEAN Plus 3 Forums. He had played an important role to develop the ASEAN Haze-Free Road Map by 2020, and Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Plastic Debris in ASEAN region, endorsed by ASEAN Summit in June,2019.

Hiroyuki Kobayashi

Treasurer, Eco Mark Program (Japan)

Mr. Hiroyuki Kobayashi works in Promotion Section of Eco Mark Office following he was engaged in Criteria & Certification Section developing criteria as well as supporting a company that wishes to apply for Eco Mark, which is only Type1 Ecolabelling program in Japan for more than 30 years. He is in charge of international activities of Eco Mark such as Mutual Recognition Agreement known as MRA, dissemination of Eco Mark program internationally and is a regional chapter of the Working Group 2 on Type I Ecolabels of the Consumer Information for SCP program of One Planet Network led by UN Environment. He also serves as General Affairs Office for Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) which is International network organization of Type1 Ecolabelling.

Our Secretariat Team

Kate Harris

Secretariat

Kate Harris is an experienced designer, coach and facilitator of Leadership Development programs for senior leaders in the Public Service and across all sectors.

She is a social ecologist who is also a passionate Secretariat of the Global Ecolabelling Network and Non-Executive Director of the Living Future Institute of Australia.

Kate has held previous CEO positions including Good Environmental Choice Australia and the Centre for Sustainability Leadership. She is also the Chair of Standards Australia – environmental communication and involved in the international redesign of the international ecolabelling standard.

With an extensive background in helping high performing individuals, organisations and communities create a better future through sustainable development, Kate brings all these foci to her work. Kate has expertise in leadership development, sustainable development, strategic foresight and organisational leadership. She believes passionately in human potential to create meaningful change which she brings to all her positions.

P.O Box 1807
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

Email: secretariat@globalecolabelling.net

Phone: +61 2 5110 2202, ext. 100

Karena Li

Communications and Events Project Officer/Marketing Manager

Karena Li is the communications and events project officer/Marketing Manager at Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN). She supports the secretariat in their role while also communicating with members, creating social media post and supporting the creation of events. She enjoy meeting and working with new people to support them in creating important events. She has a passion in events and communications and have enjoyed providing support in World Ecolabel Day, Annual General Meetings, Member Meet-ups and The UNEP Ecolabelling Training Programme.

Korey Gunnis

Writer

My name is Korey Gunnis and I am currently living in the beautiful environment of the Blue Mountains, NSW. I have significant experience working in the community and government sector, and I currently work for a not-for-profit organization in the Blue Mountains. I have previously completed a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning, and a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology). I am passionate about sustainability and that the natural environment is protected to help ensure the current & future health of the planet. I am also the volunteer grants writer for the Global Ecolabelling Network.

General Affairs Office

Japan Environment Association (JEA)

TMM BLDG. 5F, 1-10-5

Iwamotocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo,

101-0032 JAPAN

TEL: +81-3-5829-6286

FAX: +81-3-5829-6281

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