Prof. Bertrand Piccard

With his dual identity as a medical doctor and explorer, Bertrand Piccard has become an influential voice heard among the most distinguished institutions across the globe as a forward-thinking leader in progress and sustainability. He is independent, not affiliated to a particular party or lobbying group, and as such is a trusted adviser and influencer for the development of new societal solutions, and a very sought-after speaker for private and public audiences.

It is in Bertrand’s DNA to go beyond the obvious and achieve the impossible, as he did when circumnavigating the globe nonstop in a balloon and flying around the world in a solar airplane. The inspiration he received from other explorers and pioneers during his childhood gave him the desire to inspire young generations in return. The ocean depths and the stratosphere attracted his father and grandfather; the challenges of our time fascinate him. Rather than new territories, he wants to discover new ways of doing and thinking, in particular in the field of clean technologies for a better quality of life on Earth. Bertrand is the initiator and visionary behind Solar Impulse, the very first airplane that circumnavigated the globe without a single drop of fuel. Taking turns at the controls with André Borschberg, his ambition was to leverage pioneering spirit for a useful contribution to the cause of renewable energies. This is why he spent the last 15 years bringing together the major partners providing technology and funds for this adventure, and together with his wife Michèle, conceived the Solar Impulse project as a now widely recognized platform to raise public awareness and encourage political actions in favour of clean technologies and energy efficiency. Less than four months after completing the epic adventure of flying around the globe, Bertrand, under the auspices of the Solar Impulse Foundation, launched the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions during COP22 in Marrakech. The creation of this Alliance is a second phase in the realization of his vision that clean and efficient technologies can accomplish impossible goals and offer tangible solutions to solve many of the challenges facing our society today.