What kind of new normal? Addressing the health and climate crises simultaneously

Els Torreele is a leading figure in the global effort to increase the access of the world's population to suitable and affordable medical treatments. Until recently, she directed the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access Campaign where she worked to push the development of medicines, vaccines and diagnostics that address shortfalls in global health provision. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, she has argued for treatments such as a vaccine to be supplied widely and affordably based on the principles of equity and need. Previously, she was a founding member of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) where she directed several medical R&D projects from discovery through to clinical trials. She has also worked for the Open Society Foundations in New York, leading their work on transparency, accountability and civil society voices in policies that shape access to medical innovation.

Carlota Perez is a pioneering scholar on the role of innovation in long-run economic and social change and the interaction between technology and institutions. Her 2002 book Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages had a great influence on our understanding of role of finance in the emergence and diffusion of technological revolutions and the connection of this to financial crises. She is currently working on Beyond the Technological Revolution, a four-year research project which builds on her past work by further examining the role that government, business and civil society play in realising the potential of technological revolutions. Her career began in the Venezuelan civil service and she has been a consultant for many governments and multilateral organisations, including UNCTAD, UNIDO, the OECD and the World Bank, as well as major international corporations like IBM, Cisco and ING Bank.

Antonio Andreoni is Associate Professor in Industrial Economics at University College London (UCL) and Head of Research at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). He is also Visiting Associate Professor in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, SARChI Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg. His work on industrial systems and innovation, development and governance, financialisation and corruption and industrial policy have appeared in leading international journals, including the Cambridge Journal of Economics, Development and Change, Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Oxford Review of Economic Policy and Energy Policy. Antonio has also worked on research and policy issues for the World Bank, OECD, DFID, GIZ, UNIDO, UNCTAD, ILO, UNDP, UNECA, UNU-WIDER, and governments in South Africa, Tanzania, Italy and the UK.