Dr Janez Potočnik, Economist
Dr Janez Potočnik (1958) is an economist graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
He served as Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development in Ljubljana. He was appointed Head of Negotiating Team for Accession of Slovenia to the EU and served as Minister responsible for European Affairs.
In 2004 he joined the European Commission as Commissioner responsible for Science and Research. In that period among others, he introduced ERC – European Research Council. In 2010 he became Commissioner for Environment when he proposed the first Circular Economy package in EU policy space. After the mandate he was appointed as a Co-Chair of UNEP Environment International Resource Panel.
He is also Partner at SYSTEMIQ and one of the founders of the Systems Transformation Hub.