2nd World Hydrogen Summit

H.E. João Pedro Matos Fernandes

Minister of Environment & Energy Transition

Portugal

H.E Michał Kurtyka

Minister of Climate & Environment

Poland

He is a graduate of the prestigious Parisian École Polytechnique and a scholarship holder in the field of quantum optics of the National Institute of Standards and Technologies, located near Washington, D.C., where he worked under the leadership of Nobel laureate in physics William D. Phillips. During the course of his studies, he also specialised in economics, with particular focus on market organisation, studying under Professor Jean Tirole, the 2014 Nobel laureate in economics. In the field of international economics, he studied at the University in Louvain-la-Neuve and he acquired his master’s degree at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics. He defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Warsaw. He was a lecturer in the field of change management, economics, market organization and industrial strategy at the University of Warsaw, the Collegium Civitas and the Oxford Programme On Modern Poland. He is a co-author of the concept of implementation of effective changes in an enterprise, described in the book Change Management. From Strategy to Action, as well as the author of the book From Restructuring to Modernisation. Delayed Transformation of the Polish Power Sector in 1990–2009.

He began his professional career in the Office of the Committee for European Integration, in the team of Minister Jan Kułakowski – responsible for conducting accession negotiations with the European Union – where he led the analytical team and was directly responsible for the field of energy and transport. Later, he oversaw the modernisation of many Polish companies by supporting them in adapting to the challenges of the European and global markets. He was a promoter of European cooperation in the area of industrial change and adjustment of the European industry to the challenges of globalisation at, among others, the European University of Labour and the Dublin Foundation.

He is the author of the government programme for electromobility development in Poland, which was described for the first time as a concept in the book written in 2013–2015, together with Professor Leszek Jesień, New Electricity and New Cars.

Starting 1 January 2016, he served as the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Energy, where he was directly responsible for the technological development and implementation of innovations in the energy sector, implementation of climate and energy policy in the fuel and gas sector, conducting international relations with countries and international organisations. He was also responsible for supervision of the state’s participation in the biggest Polish energy companies in the oil and gas industry, such as Orlen, Lotos and PGNiG. He was the originator of “The Electromobility Development Plan”, and thereafter he guided the creation of the Act on Electromobility and Alternative Fuels, thanks to which these forms of transport will be able to develop dynamically.

On 27 April 2018, he was appointed as Government Plenipotentiary for the Presidency of COP24 – the United Nations Climate Summit in Poland. On 2 December 2018, he became the COP24 President, which ended with a success. At the 24th UN climate summit, the international community agreed on the Katowice Rulebook, implementing the Paris Agreement.

From July 2018, he held the position of the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Environment.

On 15 November 2019, he was appointed as the Minister of the newly established Ministry of Climate.

Bart Biebuyck

Executive Director

FCH JU

Max Correa

Head of the Fuels & New Energy Division

Ministry of Energy, Chile

Max is currently the Head of the Fuels and New Energy Division at the Ministry of Energy, Chile. His Division is comprised of three Units: Hydrocarbons; Wood Fuels; and New Energy, the later responsibly of promoting the development of a green hydrogen industry in the country.

Before joining the Ministry of Energy, Max served as the Executive Director of the Solar and Energy Innovation Committee at the Chilean Economic Development Agency, Corfo. During his tenure, the Committee's work has been largely focused on increasing international collaboration and on the promotion of green hydrogen and other energy innovations as critical elements of Chile's energy transition.

Max previously worked at Corfo as Deputy Director of Strategy and Sustainability, supporting the Executive Vice President (CEO) in defining and implementing the institutional strategy, and providing prospective and exploratory information to identify upcoming trends. During this period, Max led a team to draft and promote the creation of the largest Technological Institute ever created in Chile - the Clean Technologies Institute - which will have a strong industrial focus on development, scaling and adoption of technological solutions in solar energy, low emissions mining and advanced materials derived from lithium and other minerals. The Institute will receive a public subsidy of up to US$190 million with an additional 30% of the total budget to be financed by the private sector.

Prior to Corfo, Max worked as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Andes Iron, an iron ore mining company that owns two world-class IOCG Ore Deposits along the Andes Coastal Range.

His experience also includes working as an associate to the Energy and Corporate Group of Chile's largest full-service law firm, Carey & Co.

Max is on the Board of Directors of the Chilean Natural Resources Information Centre, CIREN (part of the Ministry of Agriculture) and as City Councilor for the Municipality of Zapallar; a well preserved seaside area in central Chile. He also contributes to several conservation initiatives, most notably to Corporación Bosques de Zapallar (http://bosquesdezapallar.cl/), Chile’s first Land Trust devoted to preserve a unique Mediterranean forest located in the country’s central coast.

Max graduated from Universidad de Chile, Faculty of Law and holds an MPhil in Environmental Policy, Department of Land Economy, from Cambridge University in the UK and undertook a Certificate Program in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He was awarded with a joint full scholarship by the UK Government's Chevening scheme, the Cambridge Overseas Trust and British Gas Group.