SIDA’s Spring Conference brought members together to explore how the accelerating climate emergency is shaping global justice responses and development practice. With a keynote address, panel discussions and interactive workshops, the event created space for shared learning, practical reflection and networking, focusing on Scotland’s role and responsibilities in an increasingly complex global context.
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Speakers and Facilitators
Alex Gordon
Manager of Policy & Development, Women's Environment and Development Organization
A human rights advocate and Manager of Policy & Development at the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), Alexandria Gordon leads technical work on adaptation, contributes to climate finance strategies, and supports WEDO’s resource development. They lead WEDO’s adaptation advocacy within the UN climate process and manage the Gender Just Climate Solutions Scale Fund, regranting and engaging community- and frontline-led solutions across the globe. Their cross-disciplinary background spans youth leadership, global health, and international development, grounding their work in intersectional justice and grassroots collaboration.
Anthony Dane
Co-Founding Director, Southern Transitions
Anthony is a just transition and climate change specialist and entrepreneur with experience spanning think tanks, consulting, clean energy and just transition startups, academia, and the mining industry. He is Co-Founding Director of Southern Transitions, a think-and-do tank focused on unlocking whole-of-economy, whole-of-society just transitions in the Global South. He was a contributing author to South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan and is a member of the Just Transition Lab. Anthony is supporting the development of just transition frameworks for the Government of the Philippines and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He provides technical support to African negotiators under the UNFCCC Just Transition Work Programme, supported the South African government during its G20 Presidency, and brokers partnerships aimed at delivering just transition implementation at scale.
Dr Clive Mitchell
Head of Terrestrial Science, NatureScot
Clive is Head of Terrestrial Science at NatureScot and leads their approach on climate-nature. In NatureScot Clive has worked as a geologist, delivering operations in Orkney, on climate, energy, sustainable development, corporate strategy and resource management. In the 2000s he was seconded to the UK Sustainable Development Commission as team leader for climate, energy, transport and buildings policy. He is an Associate Lecturer for the Open University teaching final year courses on Earth Systems and the environment, including climate, nature and food systems. He’s a member of the Climate Working Group for the Convention on Migratory Species and sits on the steering group of the Sustainable Scotland Network, and advisory group for WWF Scotland.
Dr Francesco Sindico
Professor of International Environmental Law, University of Strathclyde
Francesco is a Professor of International Environmental Law at the University of Strathclyde Law School in Glasgow, Scotland. He is also the Co-Chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Environmental Law Climate Change Law Specialist Group where he co-leads the Cities and the Ocean/Islands clusters. He was Counsel for IUCN in the Advisory Opinion on State Climate Change Obligations before the International Court of Justice. He provided advice to the government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in the Silala case before the same Court. Francesco is also the Founder and Director of the Climate Change Legal Initiative (C2LI) – www.c2li.org. He is an elected member of the International Water Resource Association (IWRA) Executive board and leads the IWRA Islands Water Congress Series. Francesco has collaborated and provided advice to governments and international organisations, including the Scottish Government where he led the Carbon Neutral Islands Project from 2021 to 2024. Francesco has published extensively on a wide range of areas of public international environmental law, including climate change law featuring a 2021 Springer book Comparative Climate Change Litigation: Beyond the Usual Suspects and a 2024 edited collection by Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Climate Change Litigation.
Frances Guy
CEO, Scotland's International Development Alliance
Frances has been the CEO of Scotland’s International Development Alliance since 2021. She was born and educated in Scotland, Italy, and Canada before embarking on an international career that has taken her principally to the Horn of Africa and the Arabic speaking world, including Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. Frances worked for Christian Aid between 2014 – 2017 as head of their Middle East team based in London. Most recently she was gender team leader for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) regional office in the Arab states. She was Representative for UNWomen in Iraq between 2012 and 2014 and before that she had a long career in the British Diplomatic Service during which she served as British Ambassador to Lebanon (2006 -2011) and to Yemen (2001 -2004).
Gertrude Siame
Programme Specialist, Caritas Zambia
Gertrude Siame is a Programme Specialist for the Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation Programme at Caritas Zambia. With experience in project management, implementing climate change and emergency preparedness and response activities, Gertrude is also a trainer for village savings using the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) Methodology. Gertrude has participated in negotiations at national, continental and global spaces, specifically at UNFCCC advocating for agro-ecology, food systems transformation agenda and loss and damage. Gertrude holds a Master’s degree in Development studies, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Development studies, and a Diploma in Development Education with a focus on Training for Transformation (TFT).
Sarah Hand
International Development Leader
Sarah is an international development leader with SRHR / HIV expertise. From 2014 to 2025 she was the CEO at Avert, a high impact international digital health literacy organisation based in the UK. She delivered a successful localisation strategy in 2025, transferring all Avert’s digital and financial assets to organisations in Kenya and Zimbabwe, setting them up to carry the work forward and then closing the UK office.
Satwat Rehman
Co-Chair, Just Transition Commission
Satwat is the Chief Executive of One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), the leading charity working with single parent families in Scotland providing expert advice, practical support and campaigning with parents to make their voices heard to change the systems, policies and attitudes that disadvantage single parent families. Satwat has more than 30 years’ experience in the voluntary and public sector in Scotland and England, working in the fields of equalities, education, employability, economic development/regeneration and early years and childcare. Justice and Equity have been central to all her work. Since joining OPFS in 2011, she has been a member of several commissions and advisory groups and is currently co-chair of the Just Transition Commission and a member of the National Advisory Council for Women and Girls. She is on the Boards of Child Poverty Action Group, and Future Economy Scotland.
Stephen Mwangi
Researcher, locally controlled forest business, IIED
Stephen Mwangi is a researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development dedicated to advancing locally controlled forest business models that strengthen the livelihoods and resilience of smallholder farmers. His work focuses on supporting farmer-led organizations across Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa to develop equitable, sustainable, and climate‑resilient forest and farm enterprises. Through applied research and capacity development, Stephen generates evidence and learning that help ensure farmer-led innovation shapes policy and practice in climate justice, rural development, and community‑based natural resource management. His approach is grounded in collaboration, lived experience, and a commitment to amplifying the leadership of forest and farm producer organizations (FFPOs) driving transformative change on the frontlines of the climate and biodiversity crises. With a focus on forests and prosperity, Stephen and colleagues work to improve livelihoods and justice for those living in and around forests, and ensure forests and biodiversity are managed sustainably in ways that help climate change adaptation and mitigation. More of our work can be found here: Forests | International Institute for Environment and Development.
Line Christensen
Advocacy and Communications Manager, SCIAF
Line Christensen is Advocacy and Communications Manager at the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF). In her role, she works to amplify the voices of SCIAF’s partners in the Global South, ensuring their perspectives shape debates and decisions that affect their lives. She engages with policymakers in Scotland on issues such as debt justice, the circular economy, and global solidarity.
Jonathan Dames
Emergency Lead, SCIAF
Jonathan Dames is Emergency Lead at SCIAF. With a background in emergency response where patience, pragmatism and practical application are very much to the fore, he has worked with UNHCR, DFID and the Norwegian Refugee Council for 20 years, now managing SCIAF relations with the Caritas emergency network.
Kaisie Rayner
Director, A Future Worth Living In
Kaisie Rayner is the Founder and Director of A Future Worth Living In, a pioneering organisation dedicated to guiding financial institutions in understanding and implementing sustainability practices as they invest in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
With a robust background in finance and organisational development and over 25 years of experience in the finance sector, Kaisie is striving to drive systemic change. Her career has been focused on transforming financial systems to align with societal goals, advocating for a shift toward sustainable and impactful investment practices. She shares her insights on the value and influence of finance, the necessary adjustments for a sustainable future, and how financial institutions can and should play a crucial role in shaping a better world.
Gideon Rabinowitz
Director of Policy and Advocacy, Bond
Gideon Rabinowitz is Bond’s Director of Policy and Advocacy, and he leads the organisations policy work on aid, humantiarian support and global economic reform, as well as oversees strategic engagement with the UK Government and Parliament. Gideon has worked for more than twenty years across the UK international development sector in a range of policy, advocacy and research roles, focusing on trade, UK aid and development financing, and social and economic development issues. He has held senior roles including at Agulhas Applied Knowledge, Oxfam GB and ODI. He has also held positions at the UK Aid Network and CUTS International.
Paul Abernethy
Government Relations and Public Affairs Manager, Bond
Paul is the Government Relations and Public Affairs Manager for Bond, leading the political advocacy of the organisation. He has spent a career working as a public affairs, campaigns, and comms specialist across multiple charity sectors, and before joining Bond, worked for Global Citizen leading the public affairs and policy work for the UK and Europe. Before that, Paul worked in the higher education sector in senior roles at the University of Essex Students’ Union and Liverpool John Moores University. Paul is also the founder of Project Stepping Stone, a mentoring scheme to support students from working-class backgrounds develop a career in the charity sector.