Børge Brende is president of the World Economic Forum (2017). Previously he was the Norwegian minister of Foreign Affairs, minister of Trade and Industry, and minister of Environment. He served as deputy chairman of the Norwegian Conservative Party as well as Member of Parliament for more than a decade. He was also deputy mayor in his hometown of Trondheim. He was chairman of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and secretary- general of the Norwegian Red Cross. He was board member of Statoil and the Norwegian School of Economics. He is a member of the Core Advisory Council, Harvard International Negotiation Program.