Speaker — Neptune Forum 2026
Vidar Helgesen
Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), UNESCO, Assistant Director-General, UNESCO
Executive Secretary, IOC-UNESCO
Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)
Vidar Helgesen is Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, and Assistant Director-General of UNESCO. He initiated and led the work of the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy 2017-2020 as Norway’s Special Representative for the Ocean, and was Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. An international lawyer by training, Mr. Helgesen has served as Norway’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Minister for European Affairs, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Secretary-General of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). Prior to taking up the role at the IOC, he was Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation in Sweden.
