Stuart Mark Howden is Director of the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University. He has researched climate impacts, adaptation, and emission-reduction for food security, energy, water resources and urban systems. He has partnered with many industry, community, and policy groups. A major contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 1991, he is now a Vice-Chair of the IPCC. He shared the 2007 Nobel Prize with Al Gore and IPCC colleagues.

Michael Smith has been a Research Fellow or Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University since 2006. He has co-authored or contributed to over 200 publications on climate change, including Climate, Energy and Water: Managing Trade-offs, Seizing Opportunities (Cambridge University Press, 2015), Factor Five (Routledge, 2010), Cents and Sustainability (Routledge, 2010), Whole System Design (Routledge, 2009), and Natural Advantage of Nations (Routledge, 2005).

Karen Hussey is an Honorary Professor with the Centre for Policy Futures at the University of Queensland. As an academic, Karen's research and teaching focused on the policy, institutional and governance arrangements needed to address issues including climate change, water resource management, waste management, biodiversity conservation, and the 'trade-environment' nexus. Karen currently works in the Queensland Government.

Peter Dawson is a consultant and writer and former senior officer for the Australian Government. He has worked on international trade, industry development, technology transfer, and government procurement policy. He has consulted internationally on Small and Medium Enterprise development for the World Bank and other agencies, mainly in Indonesia.