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Georgios Kostakos holds MA and PhD degrees in International Relations from the University of Kent, UK, and a Mechanical Engineering degree from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. He served on the secretariat of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP) as Senior Adviser and Acting Deputy Executive Secretary (2010-2012), and on many other positions at the United Nations, the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), the University of Athens, The Hague Institute for Global Justice and the Salzburg Global Seminar. Highlights of his career include UN field missions to South Africa, Mexico, Haiti and Bosnia & Herzegovina (1994-1996); spearheading the establishment at the University of Athens of a “Master’s Degree in Southeast European Studies”, bringing together ten Universities from different countries of Southeastern Europe with EU support (1999-2000); serving as Assistant Secretary of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (2000-2003); contributing to the preparation of the 2005 World Summit as member of the UN Secretary-General’s Strategic Planning Unit (SPU); working with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to prepare the High-level Event on Climate Change (New York, 24 September 2007) and subsequently serving as climate change focal point in the Secretariat of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) (2007-2010). An independent consultant based in Brussels, Belgium, since August 2012, Georgios has been one of the founders of the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS) and is currently serving as its first Executive Director. Georgios’ areas of expertise include global governance and sustainability, climate change, UN reform, conflict resolution, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. He maintains a current affairs blog: www.kostakos.net