2022
The Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for Norwegian foreign policy, the promotion of Norway’s interests internationally and the foreign service, which includes more than 100 embassies, permanent missions and delegations, and consulates general.
Ms Huitfeldt comes from Jessheim, Norway, and has a Master’s Degree with specialisation in History. She has worked as a researcher at the research foundation FAFO. She has been particularly engaged in efforts to promote security policy, equality and climate. Hobbies include running, cross-country skiing, literature and theatre.
From 2013 to 2021 Ms Huitfeldt chaired the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. She was Minister of Labour from 2012 to 2013, Minister of Culture from 2009 to 2012 and Minister of Children and Equality from 2008 to 2009. She was elected to the Storting (Norwegian parliament) in 2005 and has been a member since then.
Ms Huitfeldt is married and has three children.
Political appointments
2021– Minister of Foreign Affairs
2013–2021 Chair of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence
2013–2021 Chair of the Parliament’s Enlarged Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee
2012–2013 Minister of Labour
2009–2012 Minister of Culture
2008–2009 Minister of Children and Equality
2005–2009 Vice Chair of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Education and Research
2005– Member of the Storting
Political positions
2019– Member of the Board of The Progressive Alliance
2019– Leader of Akershus Labour Party
2017– Member of the Board of The Party of European Socialists (PES)
2007–2019 Head of the Norwegian Labour Party women’s network
2002– Member of the Labour Party Central Executive Committee
1999–2000 Vice President of the International Union of Socialist Youth
1996–2000 President of the Labour Youth League (AUF)
Other posts
2001–2005 Member of the Board of Save the Children Norway
2000–2005 Researcher, FAFO
As Prime Minister, Rudd led Australia's response during the Global Financial Crisis. Australia's fiscal response to the crisis was reviewed by the IMF as the most effective stimulus strategy of all member states. Australia was the only major advanced economy not to go into recession. Rudd is also internationally recognized as one of the founders of the G20, which drove the global response to the crisis and in 2009 helped prevent the crisis from spiraling into a second global depression.
As Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Rudd was active in global and regional foreign policy leadership. He was a driving force in expanding the East Asia Summit (EAS) to include both the U.S. and Russia in 2010. He also initiated the concept of transforming the EAS into a wider Asia-Pacific community to help manage deep-rooted tensions in Asia by building over time the institutions and culture of common security in Asia. On climate change, Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2007 and legislated in 2008 for a mandatory 20 percent renewable energy target for Australia. Rudd launched Australia's challenge in the International Court of Justice with the objective of stopping Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. Rudd drove Australia's successful bid for its current non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and oversaw the near-doubling of Australia's foreign aid budget.
Rudd is Chair of the Board of the International Peace Institute. He is a member of the IMF Managing Director’s External Advisory Group and the Global Leadership Council for Sanitation and Water for All. He is a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, a Distinguished Fellow at Chatham House in London, a Distinguished Statesman with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Paulson Institute in Chicago. Rudd is a member of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization’s Group of Eminent Persons. He serves on the International Advisory Board of the Schwarzman Scholars program at Tsinghua University. Rudd is proficient in Mandarin Chinese. He remains actively engaged in indigenous reconciliation.
Most recently, Ms. Adam headed the private sector arm of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), established within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Based in South Korea, she played a key role in building the mandate of the GCF Private Sector Facility and rapidly scaling its portfolio to US$ 2.1 billion in three years across Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. She previously was CDC Group’s Managing Director of Africa Funds and had a 17-year career with the International Finance Corporation, serving as a Chief Investment Officer among other roles. US-born and raised in Somalia and Tanzania, Ms. Adam holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management, and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, Summa cum laude from Clark University.
To contribute to a thriving future and drive inclusive growth, he is member of the Executive Committee, Chair of the Food & Nature program for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), member of the steering committee of IMAGINE Food Collective, a nature champion and member of the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF). He was a Commissioner of the Business and Sustainable Development Commission (BSDC), and also serves as Chair of the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). In 2021, he was elected President of NHO, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise. Previously, Mr. Holsether has held a range of executive and senior position in large industrial companies.
Mr. Holsether has a BSc degree, specializing in Finance & Management, from the University of Utah, USA.
Ylva has 25 years of business experience, including as a marketing professional with Orkla, consultant with McKinsey & Company and equity analyst at KLP Asset Management.
She is a senior associate at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, board member of Lærdal Medical and member representing the public on the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission.
Ylva has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.
Previous positions of responsibility include Member of Council on Ethics for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, board member of the recycling company Norsk Gjenvinning, board member of the family office CentraGruppen, member of the BMO GAM Responsible Investment Advisory Council and board chair of WWF-Norway
Nick Butler is internationally known for his perspectives on the relationship between energy and power with focus on global trends and how these influence industry.
Butler is a visiting professor at King's College London and the founding chairman of the Kings Policy Institute. He chairs Promus Associates, The Sure Chill Company and Ridgeway Information Ltd. Butler is a partner with Stan Greenberg in Climate Policy and Strategy - a business working on public attitudes to the climate agenda on both sides of the Atlantic.
From 2007 to 2009 he was chairman of the Cambridge Centre for Energy Studies. He was a special adviser to the former British prime minister Gordon Brown (2009-2010) and served as a non-executive director of Cambridge Econometrics from 2010 to 2018. He is a partner with Stan Greenberg in Climate Policy and Strategy - a business working on public attitudes to the climate agenda on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2018 Butler was appointed to the expert panel of advisers for The Faraday Institution, which works on the development of batteries and energy storage. Having served as a Member of the Strategic Advisory Council of the Norwegian state company Equinor (formerly Statoil), Butler is currently editor of the Energy Agenda for the Norwegian-based energy organization ONS.
An instant bestseller, her first book “Island of Blood” released by Penguin sold out in six days, creating publishing history. She received many awards, including the coveted American George Polk Award for her coverage in CNN of Kabul’s takeover by the Taliban. She won the Chameli Devi Jain Award for her “sensitive portrayal of the human condition”. She is Contributing Editor for the "The Week" magazine, a Board Member of the Switzerland-based Women’s International Network as well as the Vienna-headquartered Women Without Borders.