Panel: Regulations & Opportunities – UPDATE from IMO, EU and others

Sofia Fürstenberg Stott started FMA in 2017. A micro-consultancy, FMA develops and implements ESG strategies for smaller shipowners and adjacent stakeholders. FMA are members of Getting To Zero Coalition and advisors to the Ammonia Energy Association, and in various outfits supporting the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Sofia has previously lead innovation programmes at Maersk, developed pioneering exhibitions and conferences for Nor-Shipping, and advised shipowners on greener solutions, with DNV. She has more than 15 years experience in the shipping industry, having worked and lived in Oslo, Singapore and Copenhagen. She co-chairs WISTA Tech & Futures Committee and is Board member of WISTA Sweden. She has a background as Chemical Engineer from Lund Institute of Technology, and is a 2015 graduate of the Blue MBA, Copenhagen Business School.

Torsten Thiele focuses on ocean governance, marine conservation and sustainable finance, drawing on over 20 years experience in project and infrastructure finance with leading financial institutions. He is Founder of Global Ocean Trust, Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam and Senior Advisor to the IUCN Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility and advises governments and other bodies on policy, biodiversity and innovative blue finance.

Recent publications address blue infrastructure and nature-based solutions, innovative High Seas funding mechanisms, blue bonds, deep sea governance and ocean, climate and biodiversity linkages. Torsten Thiele holds graduate degrees in law and economics from Bonn University, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School and an MPhil in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge.

Federica has 10 years of experience in helping companies implement social and environmental standards in the supply chain. She is a social auditor, consultant and a trainer. She worked many years for the certification and inspection company SGS in Hamburg before funding her own consulting company, Etika, in 2021.

At Etika, she supports companies complying with sustainability regulation and standards, especially when it comes to human rights due diligence laws. She has trained more than 200 company representatives on sustainability topics and worked on around 50 consulting projects.