Born and brought up in the ex-mining village of Kelty, Fife, Claire Baker was first elected to the Scottish Parliament representing the Mid-Scotland and Fife region in 2007. She is Scottish Labour spokesperson for Drugs Policy, having previous held shadow cabinet posts in Justice; Culture and External Affairs; and Environment and Rural Affairs.

Claire is Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Economy and Fair Work Committee and a Member of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. Before being elected, Claire worked in the voluntary sector and trade union movement. A graduate of Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities, she is a published author on the American poet Sylvia Plath.

Political Career

Member of Parliament in 1994; Central Committee Member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was subsequently made Deputy Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party; Nuwara Eliya Development Committee Chairman for 15 years; Walapane Divisional Development Chairman; Chairperson of Nuwara Eliya Cricket Association.

Committees

Committee on Parliamentary Business

Sectoral Oversight Committee on Youth, Sports, Arts and Heritage (Eighth Parliament of the D.S.R. of Sri Lanka)
Liaison Committee (Eighth Parliament of the D.S.R. of Sri Lanka)

Select Committee of Parliament to study and report to Parliament its recommendations to ensure Communal and Religious Harmony in Sri Lanka (Eighth Parliament of the D.S.R. of Sri Lanka)

Ministerial Consultative Committee on Power, Energy and Business Development (Eighth Parliament of the D.S.R. of Sri Lanka)

Ministerial Consultative Committee on Wildlife & Forest Conservation (Ninth Parliament of the D.S.R. of Sri Lanka)

Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Security (Ninth Parliament of the D.S.R. of Sri Lanka)

Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Security (Ninth Parliament of the D.S.R. of Sri Lanka)

Carolyn Trench-Sandiford is a leading advocate, in media, conferences and forums, for healthy and reformed governance and planning frameworks that are designed to reduce gender and spatial inequities, to eliminate economic and social disparity, and to improve the quality of lives of vulnerable populations and marginalized communities.

In her work, she champions the Sustainable Development Goals, and partners with public and private sector and civil society organizations, academia and community groups to deliver on SDG11-safe, inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable communities. Professionally, Ms. Trench-Sandiford is eminently qualified in the fields of Planning and Planning and Environmental Law.

Carolyn is the President of the Belize Association of Planners and the Caribbean Planners Association, and is a Vice-President of the Commonwealth Association of Planners. She is also a member of Caribbean 2030 Leaders Network, a regional think and do tank, with a mandate to improving the Caribbean’s socio-political and economic trajectory, and has served as a member of the Physical and Environmental Planning Sub-Sector Committee of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and of the Advisory Committees of the Caribbean Network for Urban Land Management and the Urban Planning Programme of the University of Technology. She is also recognized as a UN Global Evaluation Expert.

Born on 22nd January, 1971 Hon. Viam Pillay MP is the Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Waterways & Environment.

He has been a Member of the Fijian Parliament since October 2014 and the Honourable Member is
the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs which mandated by the Fijian Parliament to look into matters related to health, education, social services, labor, culture and media. In 2020, he was elected as the Pacific Regional Champion of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD).

His passion for public service and vision for a Better Fiji are shaped by his experiences and influences. He is driven by the desire to have a positive influence within the community and Fiji as a whole.

Propelled by hope and hard work, Hon. Viam Pillay focused his role within his community on building teams and plan to create growth that works for the farmers and villages, and the fair economic opportunity for everyone; on respect for and promotion of freedom and diversity; and on a more democratic government that represents all of Fiji.

Hon Pillay is married with three children. He reside in the Western side of Viti Levu in Fiji.

Vanessa Corkal is Senior Policy Advisor, Canada Energy Transitions at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Based in Ottawa, her work focuses on energy and climate change mitigation ambition, with particular focus on Canadian federal policy related to oil and gas pathways, just transition, and fossil fuel subsidies and public finance. Vanessa is interested in capacity building for government and civil society partners to develop and implement effective and equitable solutions to the climate crisis. Prior to joining IISD, Vanessa conducted research at the Prairie Climate Centre (University of Winnipeg) and worked for the federal First Nation Adapt funding program. She holds a Master of Climate Change from the University of Waterloo. In addition to her climate change work, Vanessa has nearly a decade of documentary film, journalism and non-profit experience.