H.E. Mr. Aleksi Aleksishvili, Chair (Georgia) 

Mr. Aleksi Aleksishvili is the Minister of Finance of Georgia. Prior to his current appointment, he served as the Minister of Economic Development. In his previous positions, he served as the Deputy-Minister of Finance and the First-Deputy Minister of Finance.

During the period of 1999 ・2001, while assisting Mr. Zurab Zhvania ・head of Parliament ・Mr. Aleksishvili worked with leaders of the Parliamentary majority: Mikheil Saakashvili, Z. Nogaideli, and Mikheil Machavariani.. 

Mr. Aleksishvili graduated from Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Economics, with the major in Economic Relations. After graduation from the University he spent 3 years at Tbilisi Economical Relations Institute. From 1994 to 2001 he was the President of the Young Economists Society (NGO) of Georgia. 

Mr. Aleksishvili holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Duke University. 

His native language is Georgian; he speaks Russian and English.

Mr. Azanaw T. Abreha, Vice-Chair (Ethiopia) 

Mr. Abreha is a First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the United Nations serving as the delegate of Ethiopia to the ECOSOC and alternate representative of Ethiopia to the Second Committee and the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly. He was elected Rapporteur of the Second Committee of the 59th Session of the General Assembly.

Mr. Abreha served as the New York Coordinator for the Group of Economic Experts of Africa in 2003. He was elected Vice-President of the Joint Executive Boards of the United Nations Development Programme and of the United Nations Population Fund in 2001. 

Prior to his posting in New York, Mr. Abreha worked in the Policy and Planning General Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia (1994-1998) and in the Macroeconomic and Policy Analysis Department of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (1988-1994).

Mr. Abreha attended various conferences of the United Nations in the economic and social fields, including the third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, the International Conference on Financing for Development and the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Mr. Abreha holds a BA degree in Economics from the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

Mr. Javad Amin-Mansour, Vice-Chair (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

Mr. Amin-Mansour is First Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations. Prior to his posting in New York, Mr. Amin-Mansour served as Deputy Director for International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1998-2001, he was posted as Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office in Geneva. From 1993 to 1998, he served as Deputy Director for International Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Amin-Mansour has participated in numerous United Nations conferences and meetings, including meetings of the Conference of Parties of the Convention to Combat Desertification, meetings of the Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, meetings of the Council and Assembly of Global Environmental Facility, meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, as well as many regional events. He played an active role in many of these meetings, having served as the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Group of Experts on Articles 27 & 28 of the UNCCD during COP6, and Vice-Chairman of the UNEP Working Group on the Compliance with and Enforcement of International Environmental Agreements. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of Ramsar Convention on Wetlands;

Mr. Amin-Mansour is author of numerous articles on United Nations and on international environmental issues. He holds a Master Degree in the field of Government and Politics with focus on International Relations from St. John's University in New York and a Certificate on International Law from the same university. He obtained his Bachelor Degree in the field of International Relations from International Relations College in Tehran and an Associate Degree in the field of Electricity from Khojeh-Nasir Tousi University in Tehran.

Mr. Adrian Fernandez Bremauntz, Vice-Chair (Mexico) 

Dr. Fernandez was appointed President of the National Environmental Institute (INE) in March 2005. Prior to assuming his current post, he was the General Director For Research on Urban, Regional and Global Pollution at the INE. Between 1992 and 2000, Dr. Fernandez worked as General Director for Environmental Management and Information at the Mexican Ministry of Environment where he was responsible for setting air quality standards and policies as well as the development of environmental indicators. Dr. Fernandez has been a consultant for the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Program and a guest lecturer in several courses offered by Harvard University, among other international universities. 

He holds a doctoral degree in Environmental Science and a master's degree in Environmental Technology from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London, UK and has carried out post-doctorate research at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Mr. Yvo de Boer, Vice-Chair (Netherlands) 

Mr. Yvo de Boer is currently Deputy Director-General for the Environment and Director for International Environmental Affairs in the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. He has been active on international environmental issues over the past 10 years. Initially he focused mainly on the climate change negotiations both before and after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. In that period he was a vice-President of the UNFCCC. Subsequently he assisted former Minister Jan Pronk in his role as Special Envoy of the Secretary General for the WSSD. Mr. Yvo de Boer is actively involved in the work of a large number of international conventions. He is a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, the Environment Policy Committee of the OECD, the Management Board of the European Environment Agency and the Boards of Directors of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program and the Centre for Clean Air Policy.

Previously, Mr. Yvo de Boer has worked on both domestic and international human settlements issues (the latter as a staff member of the UN Centre for Human Settlements) and in the area of communication.