Carlos M. Duarte (Lisbon, 1960) is the CEO of the Global Coral R&D Accelerator Platform.  Duarte’s research addresses the effects of global change on marine ecosystems and the development of ocean-based solutions to global challenges. He developed evidence-based strategies to rebuild the abundance of marine life by 2050, and leads efforts to solve the coral reef crisis. Building on his research showing mangroves, seagrasses and salt-marshes to be globally-relevant carbon sinks, he developed, working with different UN agencies, the concept of Blue Carbon as a nature-based solution to climate change. His research, across all oceans, depths, organisms and ecosystem types, has led to more than 1.100 scientific papers. Duarte is ranked as the top marine biologist and the 12^th most influential climate scientist worldwide (Reuters), and has received multiple accolades. On April 16 2025, he was presented by the Emperor of Japan with the Japan Prize 2025 for his “contribution to our understanding of marine ecosystem in a changing earth, especially through pioneering research on Blue Carbon”. He serves as Chief Scientist at E1 and is heavily involved with sustainability in sports.

More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_M._Duarte 

Gareth Williams is Professor of Marine Biology and Director of Research Impact at Bangor University's School of Ocean Sciences, UK. His work focuses on the effects of local and global human impacts and biophysical gradients on coral reefs across multiple trophic levels (microbes to sharks) and scales (individual reefs to entire ocean basins). Much of his work incorporates remote coral reefs free from direct local human impacts, providing key replication at the unimpacted end of an intact-to-degraded ecosystem spectrum. By surveying across extensive geographical areas, his research group address broad questions pertaining to: 1. the human and biophysical drivers of coral reef ecosystem structure and function, 2. climate change impacts to coral reef ecosystems, and 3. the spatial ecology of coral reefs. His recent works have highlighted the impacts of global warming and local human pressures on reef structure and function, the importance of coupled land-sea policies (like wastewater management and fisheries governance) for supporting reef persistence under climate change, and the need to better quantify ocean-reef connections to improve our models and predictions of reef futures.

David Obura chairs the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and is Founding Director of CORDIO East Africa. After 30 years of research on coral reef vulnerability to climate change and their importance to society, his focus is now on linking local to global challenges to help society pivot towards a safe and just future.

Professor David Suggett is Director for the KAUST Coral Restoration Initiative (KCRI) at Shushah Island, Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest reef restoration effort – and a Professor in Practice at KAUST. He is a world leading expert in coral biology and how corals shape the functioning of reef systems, from scales spanning coral reef microbes to human-ecological interactions. Prior to moving to KAUST in 2023, he was a Professor at University of Technology Sydney, where he established and led the "Future Reefs" Program, Australia's largest team dedicated to unlocking how the environment and climate change influence corals of the Great Barrier Reef – a major focus of which was developing and applying novel technologies for resolving how corals function. This work led to a world-first partnership between researchers and tourism (the largest economic asset to the Great Barrier Reef) to restore degraded sites at scale, the "Coral Nurture Program", which he co-founded and led for 4 years. Work through the Coral Nurture Program has led to innovative methods to propagate and plant coral for reef restoration, and in recognition as a global model for successful targeted reef restoration, become an official Actor for the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration in 2022. He has contributed to numerous international committees and workshops for studying and conserving coral reefs, and has served the Coral Restoration Consortium - the international body dedicated to advancing knowledge on reef restoration – in several capacities since 2020. He has been a leading advocate for restoration activities as effective tools within wider reef management frameworks, and where his current role positions global efforts to develop and deploy innovations needed to transform restoration cost-efficiencies and scalability.