Bloggers
Chris Perry is an economist specializing in water resources. He worked for the Bank for more than 20 years, and was subsequently head of research at the International Water Management Institute.
I am a geographer at the World Bank, where I have worked in the Development Research Group and the Agriculture and Rural Development Department. My work focuses on climate risk management, modeling, and financing (such as weather-based insurance and catastrophe contingency planning), natural resource management, and analytical support to operations with a focus on spatial analysis, geographic information systems and remote sensing. Before that, I researched Earth system science, remote sensing-based terrestrial ecosystem mapping, atmosphere-biosphere interactions, and geo-statistical computing. I have a PhD in Geo-Information Science from Boston University, and undergraduate degrees in Physical Geography and Agricultural Sciences from the Free University and Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. I am an adjunct faculty member at George Mason University, Virginia.
Andrea Liverani is a social development specialist with the World Development Report 2010 team, working on institutional and governance aspects of climate policy at the national and local level. Before moving to Washington DC to join the Bank, he was with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Andrea has extensive research and work experience in the Middle East and North Africa, and a PhD in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. He enjoys swimming, and good food.
I am Andreas Kopp, working for the World Bank in Washington. I work for the Sustainable Development Network, in the Department for Energy, Transport and Water. Most of my work is now on transport and climate change, trying to find out ways how transport can be made environment friendly, without sacrificing the role of transport for trade and urbanization. Other areas I am working on are the importance of transport costs for international trade and the regulation of the transport sector. I also teach transport economics at the School of Public Policy at the George Mason University. Much of what I do extends work I did for the OECD in Paris.
Arun Agrawal teaches environmental politics at the University of Michigan in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. He is particularly interested in learning about adaptation and climate change, forests and communities, and poverty and rural social life. When he can find time from teaching, writing, and traveling between Washington DC and Ann Arbor, he also likes to hunt mushrooms, bake bread, and learn French.
Xiaodong Wang is a Senior Energy Specialist at the World Bank working on the Energy Chapter of the World Development Report 2010 about development and climate change. Her primary interest and expertise are in the area of energy and environment, particularly clean energy and climate change.
Previously, she worked on energy access and clean energy in Africa, and renewable energy and energy efficiency in the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program of the Bank. Before joining the Bank, she worked at the United Nations Foundation managing the Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Program, and UNDP Global Environment Facility developing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. She holds a PhD in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley.
MARIANNE FAY is the incoming Chief Economist of the Sustainable Development Network and the co-director of the World Development Report 2010 on climate change. She has held positions in different regions of the World Bank (Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa) working on infrastructure, urbanization, and more recently, adaptation to climate change. Her research has mostly focused on the role of infrastructure and urbanization in development, with a particular interest in issues related to urban poverty. She is the author of a number of articles and books on these topics. Ms Fay has recently been appointed as the new Chief Economist for the Sustainable Development Network of the World Bank—a position she will take after finishing the World Development Report, in the Fall of 2009. Marianne Fay holds a PhD in Economics from Columbia University.
Rosina Bierbaum is the co-director of the World Development Report 2010 on climate change. Since 2001, she has been the Dean and Professor at the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) at the University of Michigan. Previously, Dr. Bierbaum served for two decades in environmental science policy leadership positions in both the legislative and executive branches of government, culminating as director of the Environment Division of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, a Senate-confirmed position. She is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She currently serves on the National Research Council’s Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate; as a trustee of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research; on the board of the Federation of American Scientists; and on the Science Advisory Council for the MacArthur Foundation, among others. Dr. Bierbaum received her B.S. in Biology and B.A. in English from Boston College, and earned her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.
Jean-Louis Racine is a senior innovation specialist working in the Europe and Central Asia region and the Innovation Technology and Entrepreneurship practice of the World Bank. His work focuses on policies and programs to support technology diffusion and innovation. Jean-Louis Racine holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and a Management of Technology Certificate from the University of California at Berkeley, an MIA in Technology Policy for Economic Development from Columbia University and an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
Ricardo Fuentes Nieva is a chapter author for the World Development Report 2010 at the World Bank. He is currently on leave from his position as policy specialist at the Human Development Report Office of UNDP. Over there, he co-authored four Human Development Reports, including the HDR 2007/2008 on climate change. His recent work has focused on the impact of water and climate disasters on the livelihoods and opportunities of poor people. Before joining UNDP, he was director of statistical analysis and advisor to the Under Secretary of Social Development in Mexico. From 1999 to 2001 he was part of the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank.
He has published several articles and chapters in books on social security, social policy, regional development, income poverty and inequality. He graduated with honors from CIDE in Mexico City and earned a master’s degree in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain.
I am a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, and a consultant to the 2010 WDR. I’m contributing to topics related to vulnerability, adaptive capacity, resilience, water, adaptation, governance, and innovation. I really enjoy working on reports like the WDR, as they represent a unique opportunity to add to the international dialogue on climate change. I have a background in Earth science and public policy, and I am currently researching adaptation and water issues in Brazil and the United States. My personal interests involve cooking, anything sports-related (especially cycling), and following politics at all levels of government.
Julia Bucknall is currently the Manager of the Bank's central unit for Water, known as the Water Anchor. She has also worked as a Lead Natural Resources Specialist for the World Bank's Middle East and North Africa region. She was the lead author of a flagship publication on water in the region, “Making the Most of Scarcity”. Over the past fifteen years, she has worked on water investment projects and analytical work in North Africa, Central Asia, Central Europe, Cambodia and Central America. She has studied at Cambridge University and MIT, where she earned a Master in Environmental Policy and Planning.
I am a research assistant for the World Development Report 2010. I am working on the chapter dealing with the effects of climate change on competing demands for land and water. I have been working at the World Bank for a little more than one year. My previous projects focused on coastal areas, including a tool to identify environmental impacts originating from policy changes, and a report on coastal adaptations to climate change.
Rachel is a research assistant with the WDR team, and despite her youthfulness, is not as tech-savvy as she ought to be, though she, along with the planet, is now getting warmed up. Born just a few blocks from HQ and DC-raised, working at the Bank was probably inevitable. Her roundabout path back to DC has included an economics bachelors from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, a couple years at the Center for Global Development, an economics masters from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, and the occasional hike in the foothills of Jebel Toubqal or the coffee fincas of Guatemala. Her work on climate change began with economic estimates of the impact on agricultural output, continued with adaptation in Europe and Central Asia, and isn’t likely to end any time soon.
I joined the World Bank as Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics in June, 2008, after serving for 15 years as Professor and Founding Director of the China Centre for Economic Research (CCER) at Peking University, from where I am currently on leave. I have a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago and have written a number of books on China, including The China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic Reform, and State-owned Enterprise Reform in China. As the World Bank's first chief economist from the developing world, I have a deep interest in climate change, which is an evolving crisis poised to affect many developing countries. I am particularly concerned that global warming caused by unmanaged climate change could reverse the hard-earned development gains of the past decades and progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals in many places. But every crisis is also an opportunity. That's why we need ideas---and conversations about them.
Lord Stern is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics, where he is also head of the India Observatory within the LSE's Asia Research Centre, and Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. Previously, having held academic posts at the Universities of Oxford and Warwick and the LSE, he was then Chief Economist for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and subsequently Chief Economist and Senior VP of the World Bank. In 2005, he was appointed by the UK government to conduct the influential Stern Review, which analysed the economic costs of climate change.
I am a Lead Environmental Economist in the World Bank, where among a host of other things, I coordinate the climate change work agenda in the South Asia Region. Prior to this I was Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Adelaide in Australia. My publications and research interests have spanned many areas of economics including development economics, game theory, environmental economics and macroeconomics. In the past I have advised numerous international agencies such as the OECD, FAO, UNESCO and governments. The environment and conservation of endangered species are matters of long standing interest and concern to me. I have published numerous papers on the economics of endangered species conservation – an issue where solutions remain highly elusive and ever more challenging.
Rasmus is a development economist with a passion for poverty and natural resources and how they interface. He has published extensively in academic journals on poverty, forestry, social protection, and climate adaptation and has worked in many countries including Pakistan, Mozambique, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, China, Maldives, Armenia, and Tajikistan. Rasmus currently works in the World Bank’s Social Development department based in Washington, where, among other things, he administers the Trust Fund for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development—the premier WB trust fund covering the poverty-social-environment nexus and supported by Norway and Finland. A citizen of Denmark, Rasmus holds a Ph.D. in development economics from the University of Copenhagen. This is his first time blogging and he is excited to explore with his readers on how to bring about pro-poor adaptation.
As a Communications Officer in the World Bank’s Development Economics department, my work involves distilling and sharing as widely as possible the main messages from publications such as the World Development Report and Global Economic Prospects series, as well as from ongoing research. Before joining the World Bank in 2001, I was a free-lance journalist in India for several years. Reading and writing are the things I most enjoy; my first book Brahmins and Bungalows: Travels through South Indian History was published by Penguin India in 2004. I also like to tend plants and hike with my dog.
Judith Rodin is president of the Rockefeller Foundation. She was previously president of the University of Pennsylvania and the first woman to lead an Ivy League institution. In four years at the Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. Rodin recalibrated its focus for the 21st century. Today, the Foundation works to ensure that more people can tap into globalization’s benefits while developing stronger resilience to its risks. Foundation initiatives include efforts to mobilize an agricultural revolution in sub-Saharan Africa, bolster economic security for American workers, inform more equitable, sustainable transportation policies in the United States, assure access to affordable, high-quality health systems in developing countries, and help vulnerable communities cope with the impacts of imminent and worsening climate change. For more information, visit www.rockfound.org.
It has been a long and unforeseeable journey, and now I find my professional vista intersecting with the global challenges of our times. Born and raised in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) I had an early passion for humanitarian purposes but hardly realized the context in which I was destined to work. After receiving a Masters in economics from the University of Calcutta, I traveled to the USA to get a doctorate in economics from the State University of New York. I then taught at the University at Albany and American University before my career began at the World Bank in 1992. As I undertook extensive research on various issues related to development and environment, my work spanned countries such as Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Cuba, India, Iran, Lao PDR, Mexico, Tunisia, Vietnam and Yemen. At present, I am a Lead Environmental Economist in the Environment and Energy Team of the Bank’s Development Research Group, and my current research focuses on climate change and the poverty/environment nexus.
I love to travel around the world, but enjoy living in Washington D.C. and visiting museums and film festivals. I am also an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction, and a regular volunteer at Martha's Table, one of the oldest soup kitchens in the area.
I am a Senior Environmental Economist in the Sustainable Development Department of the World Bank’s South Asia region based in Delhi. I primarily work on climate change mitigation and adaptation issues in India. Prior to moving to Delhi, I was in the Environment Department leading the World Bank's work on assessing environmental implications of development policy reforms. My work also focused on country environmental assessments, natural resources management, environmental institutions and governance, climate change and adaptation and trade and climate change issues. Prior to joining this position, I was an Economist in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund, where I was responsible for analyzing environmental implications of macroeconomic policies and programs and in integrating environmental considerations broadly in the country programs. I have a Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. I have a passion for cricket, bollywood movies and music.
I joined the World Bank in 1986, and since January 2007, have been Lead Economist in the Sustainable Development Department in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. I work on rural development, environment, social development, energy, infrastructure, urban development and water supply. My biggest project over the last year and a half or so has been co-editing (with Augusto de la Torre and Pablo Fajnzylber) LAC’s flagship report on climate change, “Low Carbon, High Growth: Latin American Responses to Climate Change”. (Read the overview)
Between 1983 and 1988, I held various positions at the US Federal Trade Commission, and before that, was assistant professor of economics at Texas A&M University. My educational background is an MSc and PhD in economics from the University of Chicago and a BS in economics from Texas A&M University. I have published on topics such as WTO negotiations and the implications for developing countries; trade policy in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and transition economies; agricultural policy adjustment; agricultural price policy; commodity price stabilization; and capital mobility.
I’m married, with a 21-year-old daughter who’s into creative writing and a 17-year-old son who’s into baseball and being a teenager to the max. I love to ski in the winter and scuba in the summer.
Shantayanan Devarajan is the Chief Economist of the World Bank’s Africa Region. Since joining the World Bank in 1991, he has been a Principal Economist and Research Manager for Public Economics in the Development Research Group, and the Chief Economist of the Human Development Network, and of the South Asia Region. He was the director of the World Development Report 2004, Making Services Work for Poor People. Before 1991, he was on the faculty of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
The author or co-author of over 100 publications, Mr. Devarajan’s research covers public economics, trade policy, natural resources and the environment, and general equilibrium modeling of developing countries. Born in Sri Lanka, Mr. Devarajan received his B.A. in mathematics from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. Devarajan also hosts the World Bank's Africa region blog, Africa Can... End Poverty.
Dr. Michael MacCracken is Chief Scientist for Climate Change Programs with the Climate Institute in Washington DC. Mike spent most of his career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as an atmospheric physicist, researching the causes of climate change, climatic effects of greenhouse gases, volcanic aerosols, land-cover change, and nuclear war, and investigating factors affecting air quality. From 1993-2002, he was on assignment from LLNL as senior global change scientist for the interagency Office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), serving as the Office’s executive director from 1993-1997 and as executive director of USGCRP’s coordination office for the U.S. National Assessment from 1997-2001. During this time, he also coordinated preparation of the official U.S. Government reviews of IPCC’s second and third assessments, serving also as a contributing author on several IPCC chapters and as review editor for the North America chapter for the fourth assessment. Since retiring in 2002 after 34 years with LLNL, Mike has, in addition to his activities with the Climate Institute, served as president of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences from 2003-2007 and as a member of the Assessment Integration Team for the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment from 2002-2004. From 2005-2007, he served as a co-lead author for the report Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable that was prepared for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development by Sigma Xi and the United Nations Foundation.
Hello, I am a graduate from the University of Monterrey in Mexico where I got a major in international studies. During my college years I had the opportunity to volunteer in many indigenous communities in the north of Mexico. Those experiences changed my point of view about culture and development and got me particularly interested in rural development, indigenous groups, sustainable development, and how we can empower our indigenous population in order to mitigate climate change. I also have experience collaborating with UNESCO North Committee in Mexico and the Interamerican Culture and Development Foundation in Washington D.C.
I grew up in Sydney, Australia. I am twenty-one and currently in my final year of the undergraduate degree in Modern and Medieval Languages at the University of Cambridge, UK. I have a keen interest in community-based education programs and have recently developed youth-led initiatives that concern domestic violence and climate change. My hobbies include swimming, bushwalking, languages and contemporary art.
I am a recent graduate of the University of Ghana, Legon. I am about to start working for an investment firm in my country. Like many youth of my generation, I am passionate about issues that affect us in the developing countries of the world. My favorite pastime is debating; I was part of the team that won the Ghana National debate championship in 2004. At the recent Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics in Seoul, I was one of the three finalists for an essay competition on climate change. We came together to form the Global Green Generation (3G) Network, a youth environmental advocacy group to help carry out some of the ideas expressed in our essays. Although I must admit that the road so far has been very bumpy, we hope to be able to impact our generation positively and not end with the award ceremony of the essay competition.
Shiva Makki joined the World Bank research department in 2004 as a senior economist. He is part of a unit involved in financing, evaluating, and disseminating research. He received his Ph.D. degree in agricultural and resource economics from The Ohio State University in 1996. He studied agricultural science at University Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India. After his graduation, he worked at the Economic Research Service of United States Department of Agriculture for six years managing various agriculture sector projects. He has written more than 30 papers of which more than half are published in peer reviewed journals. He has taught for many years at The Ohio State University and USDA Graduate School. More recently, he participated in the Sustainable Development Leadership Program held at the University of Cambridge.
Carlos is a senior scientist with the Brazilian National Space Research Institute (INPE) and director of the Center for Earth System Science. Currently, he is the chair of the Scientific Committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). He is a climatologist with research interests in climate science, climate change and the Amazon.
Calestous Juma is Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project. He also directs the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and Founding Director of the African Centre for Technology Studies in Nairobi, and he also served as Chancellor of the University of Guyana. He has been elected to several scientific academies including the Royal Society of London, the US National Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and the UK Royal Academy of Engineering. He is currently setting up the Victoria Institute of Science and Technology in Kisumu, Kenya. He has won several international awards for his work on sustainable development. He holds a PhD in science and technology policy studies and has written widely on science, technology, and environment. He teaches courses in developmental policy as part of the MPA/ID Program. He is lead author of Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development. He is editor of the International Journal of Technology and Globalisation and International Journal of Biotechnology.
I live in Waso village, near Koija on the Laikipia Plateau in Kenya.
Neil Adger is Professor of Environmental Economics in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, Norwich and leads the research programme on adaptation in the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. Neil has served as an author of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and reports of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change. He is a member of the Resilience Alliance.
Johannes Zutt, a Dutch national, has been active in development since 1990. His early experience involved program planning, monitoring and evaluation, mostly for UNICEF and UNDP, in various countries in eastern and southern Africa. In 1999, Mr. Zutt joined the World Bank, where he worked as the Country Program Coordinator for a number of countries, including Angola, China, Malawi, Mongolia, Mozambique, and Zambia, as well as the team leader for numerous country strategies and projects. In 2006, Mr. Zutt was appointed the Adviser to one of the Bank’s two Managing Directors, and in January 2008 he was asked to serve as the acting head of the Department of Institutional Integrity (INT), which is mandated to investigate allegations of fraud or corruption related to Group-financed projects. Mr. Zutt was appointed the World Bank Country Director for Comoros, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles and Somalia in January 2009.
Jane Ebinger was assigned to the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) as Thematic Coordinator for Energy and Climate Change in October 2008. Jane has over 20 years experience working in the energy sector both in the oil and gas industry (for BP and BHP Billiton) and at the World Bank. She joined the World Bank' Europe and Central Asia Energy team in 2001 initially on a staff exchange program from BP. She has worked in project, operational and corporate/policy roles on issues including environment assessment and management, safety risk assessment, oil spill and emergency response management, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and carbon finance. Jane has an MA Mathematics and an MSc Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Analysis, both from Oxford University, UK.
Alan S. Miller is a climate change and global environmental expert with more than 30 years experience. He currently is Principal Climate Change Specialist in the Environment Department at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group, with general responsibility for climate change policy and analysis. Prior to joining the IFC in October 2003 he was Team Leader for Climate Change at the Global Environment Facility (GEF) setting policy for financing clean energy projects in developing countries. He is a widely published author on climate change, energy, and development including a leading environmental law textbook. His degrees are from Cornell University (A.B., Government 1971) and University of Michigan (J.D. and M.P.P. 1974). He was a Fulbright Scholar in Australia (1977) and Japan (1987).
Jean-Charles Hourcade is director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). He is acting as director of the CIRED (Centre International deRecherches sur l’Environnement et le Développement), a laboratory belonging of the CNRS and attached to the E.H.E.S.S. (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris) , the E.N.P.C. (Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussée) and Agroparistech. Since 1990, he played a key role in French social science research coordination for backing up the awareness and negotiating capacities of official and governmental agencies in charge the climate change. He participated in the French negotiating team between COP1 and COP 6. He coordinates an excellence network R2DS in Ile de France around sustainable development issues. He led several EU research projects and was expert for most international agencies about environmental and energy (OECD, UNEP, WB, AIE, UNESCO). He participates actively in the IPCC (which received the Peace Nobel price in 2007) as a convening lead author for the 2nd and 3rd assessment report and lead author for the 4th. He is also a member of the National Commitee for Research in France.
Kseniya Lvovsky was formerly leading the Climate Change team in Environmental Department, overseeing the implementation of the Strategic Framework on Development and Climate Change and coordinating climate change related activities across the World Bank.
Robert B. Cialdini is Regents’ Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University. He has taught at Stanford University and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of the Society for Consumer Psychology, the Donald T. Campbell Award for Distinguished Contributions to Social Psychology, and the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. Professor Cialdini’s book Influence: Science and Practice, which was the result of a three-year program of study into the reasons that people comply with requests in everyday settings, has sold over two million copies and appeared in twenty-six languages. Dr.Cialdini regularly blogs at: www.insideinfluence.com.
Aaron Wolf is professor of geography and chair of the Department of Geosciences at Oregon State University. His research and teaching focus is on the interaction between water science and water policy, particularly as related to conflict prevention and resolution. He has acted as consultant to the US Department of State, the US Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and several governments on various aspects of transboundary water resources and dispute resolution. He is author of Hydropolitics Along the Jordan River: The Impact of Scarce Water Resources on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, (United Nations University Press, 1995), and a co-author of Core and Periphery: A Comprehensive Approach to Middle Eastern Water, (Oxford University Press, 1997), Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Resolution, (United Nations University Press, 2000), and Managing and Transforming Water Conflicts (Cambridge University Press, 2009). Wolf, a trained mediator/facilitator, directs the Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation, through which he has offered workshops, facilitations, and mediation in basins throughout the world He coordinates the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database, an electronic compendium of case studies of water conflicts and conflict resolution, international treaties, national compacts, and indigenous methods of water dispute resolution (www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu), and is a co-director of the Universities Partnership on Transboundary Waters.
Raffaello Cervigni is a Lead Environmental Economist and the Regional Coordinator for Climate Change in the Africa region of the World Bank. He has over 17 years experience in development and environmental economics, working in the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank and Italy's Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Ms. Andersen, a Danish national was Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. As such, she has overall responsibilities for the organization’s global work in agriculture, the environment, infrastructure, urban, and social development. Prior to her appointment, she was Director of Sustainable Development in the Africa Region where she oversaw a significant expansion in energy and agriculture programs, tackling an ambitious and complex development agenda while leading the Bank’s work in the region on mainstreaming climate action.
Ms. Andersen joined the World Bank in 1999, working initially on international waters. In 2001, she joined the Africa region where she subsequently was named Sector Manager for Water and Urban Development. In 2005, Ms. Andersen moved to the Middle East & North Africa region as Director for the Rural Development, Water, & Environment Department and, in 2006, assumed the leadership of the new Sustainable Development department for the region. In 2008, she returned to Africa as Director of Sustainable Development.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Ms. Andersen worked at the United Nations in New York from 1987 to 1999 in a variety of positions, including managing projects addressing global environmental concerns, international waters, and renewable energy/climate change. Ms. Andersen has extensive country experience, notably in Sudan where she worked from 1983 to 1987, including three years with a non-governmental organization.
Inger Andersen received her Master’s Degree in Development Economics and African Politics from the University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies). She is fluent in English and Danish, and proficient in Arabic and French.
Benoît Bosquet is a Lead Carbon Finance Specialist and Coordinator of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility at the World Bank's Environment Department. He previously worked in the Prototype Carbon Fund and managed the BioCarbon Fund, and climate change and forestry operations in Mexico and Central America at the World Bank. Benoît is a Belgian who has lived in Russia and Madagascar, and has 16 years of experience working on the environment in Latin America, Africa and Central and Eastern Europe.
Michael Toman (Mike) is Lead Economist on Climate Change in the Development Research Group and Manager of the Energy and Environment Team. His current research interests include alternative energy resources, policies for responding to risks of climate change catastrophes, timing of investments for greenhouse gas reduction, and mechanisms for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through reduced deforestation. During his career Mike has done extensive research on climate change economics and policy, energy markets and policy, environmental policy instruments, and approaches to achieving sustainable development. Prior to joining the World Bank in fall 2008, he held senior analytical and management positions at RAND Corporation, Inter-American Development Bank, and Resources for the Future. His teaching experience includes adjunct positions at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the School of the Environment, University of California at Santa Barbara. Mike has a B.A. from Indiana University, a M.Sc. in applied mathematics from Brown University, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the University of Rochester.
Flore de Préneuf has reported on development projects for the World Bank since 2005.
As a journalist and photographer, she has also covered news in the Balkans, the Middle East, Russia and the United States. She holds a degree in Economics and Finance from Sciences-Po, Paris, and an MPhil in Russian and East European Studies from Oxford University.
Her personal photography is featured on www.foto-kino.com
Professor Watson’s career has evolved from research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory: California Institute of Technology, to a US Federal Government program manager/director at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to a scientific/policy advisor in the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), White House, to a scientific advisor, manager and chief scientist at the World Bank, to a Chair of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, the Director for Strategic Direction for the Tyndall centre, and Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In parallel to his formal positions he has chaired, co-chaired or directed international scientific, technical and economic assessments of stratospheric ozone depletion, biodiversity/ecosystems (the GBA and MA), climate change (IPCC) and agricultural S&T (IAASTD). Professor Watson’s areas of expertise include managing and coordinating national and international environmental programs, research programs and assessments; establishing science and environmental policies - specifically advising governments and civil society on the policy implications of scientific information and policy options for action; and communicating scientific, technical and economic information to policymakers. During the last twenty years he has received numerous national and international awards recognizing his contributions to science and the science-policy interface, including in 2003 - Honorary “Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George” from the United Kingdom.
Isabel Hagbrink is the Senior Communications Officer of the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Unit. As such, she is responsible for all communications, both corporate and project-based, of the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Unit vis-à-vis external and internal audiences. This includes World Bank stakeholders, both industrialized and developing countries; media; NGOs; indigenous peoples, private sector, governments and others.
Previous to the World Bank, Isabel was the Vice President for Volunary Markest at MGM International, project development, investment and commercialization firm whose objectives are the identification, design, negotiation, execution and support of projects that contribute to reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. There she was responsible for the origination of greenhouse gas emission reductions projects in the US Voluntary Market and responsible for the relationship with US clients and Morgan Stanley, the main shareholder of MGM.
Before working at MGM International, Isabel spent nine years at the Inter-American Development Bank, where she worked in the Private Sector Department with project finance and in the Office of External Relations where she was responsible for the IDB’s outreach to private sector firms and consultants and had daily public speaking engagements at conferences and to visiting groups.
Michael Levitsky works on integrating oil and gas issues with climate change policies, and contributes to the work on analyzing GHG emissions of World Bank operations. He is also looking at new areas for Bank focus in the climate changes area, such as the impact of black carbon on global warming. He joined the Climate Change Team from the World Bank's Oil, Gas and Mining Policy Division. He has worked on oil, gas and energy in the World Bank, IFC, and the private sector. He has an MA in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu is the Director of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Designated National Authority of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As a member of the Congolese team of climate change negotiators, he chairs the African Group on Climate Change negotiations under the UNFCCC since COP15, in Copenhagen, in December 2009 and will remain in that capacity until COP17 in South Africa, in December 2011.
Jamal Saghir is Director of the Sustainable Development Department for the Africa Region at the World Bank. In this position, he provides overall leadership to the Bank’s activities in sub-Saharan Africa—including those financed by the International Development Association (IDA)—in agriculture, rural development, energy, environment, climate change and natural resources management, infrastructure, ICTs, oil, gas and mining, post-conflict reconstruction, social development, transport, urban development, and water. Mr. Saghir ensures the soundness and alignment of country, regional and corporate strategies, as well as the Bank’s portfolio in these sectors, so that all contribute effectively to poverty reduction and a sustainable, climate-resilient future in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr. Saghir was previously Director and Chair of the Bank Group’s Boards for Energy, Transport and Water, a position he held from 2001-10. He joined the World Bank in 1990, after working as a senior advisor on privatization, energy and infrastructure in the governments of Tunisia and Quebec, Canada.
Mr. Saghir is also an appointed member of the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change, and a member of the Global Energy Assessment. He is a frequent speaker on sustainable development issues at international conferences of decision-makers and thought leaders.
Maria Athena R. Ballesteros is the Manager of WRI’s International Financial Flows and the Environment Project. She is a long-time climate, energy and international financial institution (IFI) campaigner. For over 10 years, Athena has been involved in the international climate negotiations and in the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) processes as a technical advisor to the Philippine government delegations.Prior to joining WRI, she was head of Greenpeace International’s climate and energy program in Asia Pacific, with specific activities focused on energy legislation and climate policy in China, India, Southeast Asia and Japan. She gained much of her professional experience in the field of environmental and development management through her work at various organizations including Friends of the Earth/Legal Rights Center; Greenpeace International, Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Green Renewable Independent Power Producer Inc foundation (GRIPP). She is one of the founding members of the Asian NGO Forum on the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which has grown to a coalition of over 100 organizations working on ADB reform.
Dan Hoornweg is a lead urban specialist in the Bank's central Urban Advisory Unit. He has more than twenty years experience working in and with cities. He joined the World Bank in 1993 and has worked in Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and the Pacific Islands, South Asia and Latin America and Caribbean regions. During that time he has worked with some 200 cities in more than fifty projects with climate change components. Dan's academic background includes degrees in Earth Sciences, Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Beginning August 2008, he has led the Bank's Urban program on cities and climate change, including management of the 2009 Marseille Cities and Climate Change Urban Research Symposium and urban studies related to climate change impacts in cities - mitigation and adaptation.
Pablo Benitez is Senior Climate Change Economist working with the Climate Change Practice of the World Bank Institute. He joined the World Bank from Marbek Resource Consultants in Canada where he served as Chief Economist and led a variety of environmental economic analysis projects for government and private sector clients. Previously, he worked as an economist for the Ministry of Environment of British Columbia, the International Institute of Applied System Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation in Ecuador.
Pablo holds a PhD degree from Wageningen University (The Netherlands) in Environmental Economics. He has an extensive list of peer-reviewed publications on climate change and was a lead author of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. In the past, he was also Senior Lecturer of Environmental Economics at the University of Victoria and Carleton University.
Michael Keen is Assistant Director in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund, where he was previously head of the Tax Policy and Tax Coordination divisions. Before joining the Fund, he was Professor of Economics at the University of Essex (U.K.), and visiting professor at Queens University (Canada) and Kyoto University (Japan). He was the elected President of the International Institute of Public Finance from 2003 to 2006, has served on the Board of the National Tax Association, was a founding editor of International Tax and Public Finance, and has served on the editorial boards of many journals. He has led technical assistance missions to nearly thirty countries on a wide range of issues in tax policy, and consulted for the World Bank, European Commission, the House of Lords, and the private sector. Recent publications appear in the American Economic Review, Economic Policy, the Journal of Public Economics, and the National Tax Journal; Michael is also is co-author of Fund books on The Modern VAT and Changing Customs.
Marcelino Madrigal is a Senior Energy Specialist at the Energy Anchor Unit, specializing in technical and economic operations of power systems and electricity markets. Prior to joining the Bank in 2008, he worked for the Inter-American Development Bank as a team lead for a number of transmission, distribution, and regional energy integration projects. Prior to this, he worked with the Energy Regulatory Commission in Mexico as deputy general manager for research and regulatory development, and at the Energy Ministry as chief of staff for Electricity were he led efforts towards electricity tariff regulation, investment decision making, and electricity reform. He has extensively published on topics related to operations and planning of power systems and markets, and has delivered training in related fields in different countries. He holds a B.Sc, M.Sc., and Ph.D degrees in electrical engineering.
Carolina Hoyos works as communications specialist with the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility team in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has over 10 years of experience in developing communications and marketing strategies for sustainable management and conservation of natural resources, coordinating decentralized networks and building partnerships to deliver sound communications actions to drive behavior change.
Carolina comes to the Bank after working as Senior Manager for Communication Strategies at Conservation International, where she helped lead the network of communicators in over 15 countries, supported the global roll-out of climate change campaigns and managed the Biodiversity Reporting Award. She has led marketing, media outreach and capacity building initiatives for the Ramsar Regional Center in Panama, UNDP in Sri Lanka, the Forest Stewardship Council in Mexico and Germany, and WWF in her native country of Colombia. Carolina holds a B.A. in Communications and Journalism.
Elsia Paz served as a team leader for the private sector in Honduras in the recently approved renewable energy bid 100-1293/2009. This is considered a historical act that will add 700 MW of renewable energy requiring an investment of USD 2,100 million (70% of the projects are small scaled projects under 15 MW). The utility company will purchase 250 MW -- 42 PPAs were signed recently for total period of 30 years. The remaining MWs will be offered to grand consumers and the regional market.
Ashok Sarkar works as a Senior Energy Specialist in the World Bank’s Energy Anchor Unit, where he coordinates the strategic efforts for scaling up energy efficiency operations in the World Bank. While Ashok started his professional career designing large thermal power stations, the last 18 years of his professional career have focused on sustainable energy policy development and investment operations, in more than 30 countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Currently, he is providing strategic technical and policy advice across various regions of the World Bank, particularly for operations in Bangladesh, Mexico and Thailand, for designing and implementing climate change mitigation efforts, using innovative climate finance through carbon finance and CTF. Prior to joining the World Bank, he had worked at the Asian Development Bank in Manila, Philippines; in the USAID’s Office of Energy, Environment and Enterprise in New Delhi, India; at Resource Management Associates, Inc., a private sector international energy consulting firm based in Madison, Wisconsin; and at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, a power engineering company based in India. Along with his undergraduate training in mechanical engineering from the University of Delhi, India, Ashok holds a master’s degree in Energy Planning and Policy from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, and a Ph.D. from the Gaylord Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a recognized expert on CDM, and had served as a member of UNFCCC’s CDM Methodologies Panel in 2005-2007. Ashok has published over 30 papers and delivered over 100 presentations around the world, including as a visiting faculty for eleven years at the sustainable energy summer program of the University of Oslo, Norway.
Elwyn Grainger-Jones started his career as an Overseas Development Institute fellow in Guyana in 1993, having studied economics at the London School of Economics and the University of Warwick. He then joined DFID, holding various positions, including working in South East Asia and leading the trade policy team. During a three year leave of absence Elwyn worked as the World Bank's trade representative in Geneva, led a one-year World Bank study on export diversification in Botswana, and spent a year helping the EBRD develop its poverty impact assessments. Elwyn returned to DFID to establish and lead its Climate and Environment department. Most recently Elwyn joined the International Fund for Agricultural Development as Director responsible for IFAD's Environment and Climate Division.
Anita Gordon has worked on climate change communications issues for more than 20 years. She was an executive producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and is co-author of a book on climate change and the human future "It's a Matter of Survival." (Harvard 1990). In 1992 she served as chief media advisor to the Secretary General of the Rio Earth Summit. Anita currently works on strategic communications for the Climate Change Team of the World Bank.
Joel B. Smith was a coordinating lead author for the synthesis chapter on climate change impacts for the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a lead author for the U.S. National Assessment on climate change impacts, technical coordinator on vulnerability and adaptation for the U.S. Country Studies Program, and is coordinator of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change series on environment. He has provided technical advice, guidance, and training on assessing climate change impacts and adaptation to people around the world and for clients such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the U.S. EPA, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the State of California. Mr. Smith worked for the U.S. EPA from 1984 to 1992, where he was the deputy director of Climate Change Division. He is a coeditor of EPA’s Report to Congress: The Potential Effects of Global Climate Change on the United States, published in 1989; As Climate Changes: International Impacts and Implications, published by Cambridge University Press in 1995; Adaptation to Climate Change: Assessments and Issues, published by Springer-Verlag in 1996; and Climate Change, Adaptive Capacity, and Development, published in 2003 by Imperial College Press. He joined Hagler Bailly in 1992 and Stratus Consulting in 1998. He has published more than 20 articles and chapters on climate change impacts and adaptation in peer-reviewed journals and books besides working on climate change issues at EPA
Anthony is the Technical Lead for infoDev's Climate Technology Program, which is establishing a network of Climate Innovation Centers (CIC) in developing countries to fund and support early-stage cleantech ventures. He joined infoDev to launch the program in 2009 and led the research, analysis and stakeholder engagement to develop Innovation Center business plans in a number of markets. The program is now scaling-up with implementation and business plan development activities ongoing in multiple countries.
Anthony has been involved in designing clean technology financing and commercialization programs for economic development in both the United States and in Europe. Prior to earning his Master in Business Administration (Hons) majoring in Innovation Management, he worked in the automotive industry developing strategic marketing plans for youth markets and alternative fuel vehicles for General Motors.
Angela Crandall supports infoDev (GICT) 's Climate Technology Program. Angela has also been involved in corporate outreach to engage businesses in dialogue on sustainability at the World Wildlife Fund. Angela studied international environment and development issues at Georgetown University and will be conducting research on a Fulbright fellowship in Kenya beginning October 2010.
Andrew, recently returned to the Bank after three years as Director General, Policy and Research, at the UK Department of International Development (DFID) in London. In earlier years at the Bank he held a number of positions including Country Director for Indonesia and Vietnam, Director of the Environment Department, and Staff Director of the 1992 World Development report on Environment and Development, the Bank’s Flagship report to the Rio Earth Summit. Andrew has three decades of experience working on development issues at the country level in Africa and Asia, and on global development issues. He has a PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, has written widely on development issues and has taught Economics at several universities.
Sameer Akbar is Senior Environmental Specialist with the Climate Change Team in the Environment Department of the World Bank in Washington DC. He works primarily on climate change mitigation as well as co-benefits. He coordinates the World Bank's work on Green House Gas Analysis (or portfolio carbon footprinting). Prior to moving to the Environment Department, he was working with the South Asia region of the World Bank on environmental projects and safeguards. He is an engineer by training with a Ph.D. in environmental health and policy, and has been with the World Bank since 1998.
Monika Kumar is an Environmental Specialist with the Corporate Responsibility Program at the World Bank. In addition to supporting the Program’s corporate climate commitment efforts, Monika reports on the Bank’s sustainability policies and practices to the various stakeholders via the Sustainability Report website, and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Index. Monika is currently coordinating the assessment of corporate policies and processes to develop a strategic framework and a Sustainability Management System (SMS) that guides the WBG’s corporate sustainability initiatives. She earned a Masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and has worked as a Sustainability Strategist in New York before joining the Bank.
Adam Rubinfield is an Environmental Specialist at the World Bank working with the Corporate Responsibility Program. He works with internal stakeholders to reduce the environmental and social impacts of the World Bank by focusing on energy efficiency, waste reduction, and behavior changes. He also spearheads the Bank's corporate climate commitment, including it's Greenhouse Gas data collection, offsetting, and reporting program. Adam earned an MSc in conservation science from Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, UK and a BA in anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
Pierce Brosnan was at the the World Bank on the eve of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings for a special preview screening of “Great Migrations” – a seven-hour National Geographic television series. He is an actor, producer and a supporter of several environmental causes. Read his official biography here.
Fabio Pittaluga is a Senior Social Development Specialist working in the Latin America and Caribbean region. An Italian national, he holds a PhD in Applied Anthropology from the University of Arizona and has been a Fulbright Fellow from 1994-1996. He has worked on social aspects of development projects in the World Bank and the IFC. At the IFC, he was part of the team that drafted the Performance Standards. Prior to coming to the World Bank, he worked for FAO in Rome and Guatemala on issues of food security, natural resource management and small scale fisheries. he has worked for the WFP in Senegal on food aid programs, and for the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona, on indigenous peoples and development.
Prior to becoming a Vice President in the World Bank, Shamshad Akhtar served as Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (2006-2009), a Federal Ministerial level ranking. During this period she was also a Governor of the IMF. In 2006 and 2007 she was nominated Asia’s Best Central Bank Governor by Emerging Markets and the Banker’s Trust. Prior to her leadership of the Pakistan Central Bank, she worked as Director General of the South East Asia Region of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Governance, Finance and Trade Division. She also served as ADB’s Coordinator of the APEC Finance Ministers Process. Between 1980 - 1990 she worked as a Country Economist at the World Bank’s Resident Office in Islamabad. She is the recipient of a Post Doctoral Fellowship from Harvard University and holds an MA in Development Economics from the University of Sussex and an MSc in Economics from the Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Angus Friday is an International Climate Policy Specialist at the World Bank's Environment Department and is focused on Africa and small island developing states. Prior to joining the Bank he served as Grenada's Ambassador to the United Nations and as Chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). Friday held various leadership positions in attracting investment for economic development and for technology development in both public and private sectors in London and Edinburgh in the UK and in St. George's, Grenada. He holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from the St. George's University School of Medicine in Grenada and a Master of Business Administration degree from Strathclyde Graduate Business School in Scotland.
Robin Mearns is a geographer specializing in the social and institutional dimensions of climate change, natural resource management, and community-based risk management in developing countries. He coordinates work on the Social Dimensions of Climate Change across the World Bank. He has spent most of his 11 years in the World Bank to date as team leader for operations, analytical and policy advisory activities in East Asia and Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, and South Asia regions, primarily on community-driven development, natural resource management, land policy reform, and participatory poverty assessment.
He recently spent four years with the rural development team in the Vietnam country office, where he was also country sector coordinator for social development. This followed four years leading the Bank's rural development program in Mongolia.
Prior to joining the Bank, he was a Fellow of IDS, University of Sussex (1990-97) and a Research Associate with IIED, London (1987-89).
He holds PhD and MA degrees in Geography (University of Cambridge), an MPhil in Development Studies (University of Sussex), and has published extensively on environment and sustainable development.
John Roome is Director for Sustainable Development in the East Asia Region of the World Bank. He is responsible for the Bank’s work with the 22 client countries in the EAP region in the Water, Urban, Transport, Energy, Rural, Environment, Social Sector as well as Climate Change and Disaster Management.. Prior to this assignment he was Operations Director in the South Asia Region for five years and before that held various management and team leader positions in the World Bank’s Africa region . Prior to joining the Bank in 1989, he worked in Europe for Monitor Company, a leading corporate strategy consulting firm. He was educated at the University of Cape Town and Oxford University.
Arastoo Khan is Additional Secretary, Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Bangladesh. He is also the Focal Point for Pilot Program on Climate Resilience (PPCR) for Bangladesh. A graduate of John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, he spent 10 years at Finance Division, serving as the Deputy Secretary, Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary in the Finance Division. He was responsible for formulating the National Budget of Bangladesh for over five years. He is responsible for all International Development Association (IDA) credit support to Bangladesh, including the Padma Multi-Purpose Bridge and major interventions in water, power, education and local government sectors
Daniel M. Kammen was the World Bank Group’s Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency from October 2010 to November 2011. Dr. Kammen was Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy at the University of California, Berkeley, with parallel appointments in the Energy and Resources Group, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and the department of Nuclear Engineering. He is also the founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL), Co-Director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment, and Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center. He has founded or is on the board of over 10 companies, and has served the State of California and US federal government in expert and advisory capacities. He has authored or co-authored 12 books, written more than 240 peer-reviewed journal publications, testified more than 40 times to U.S. state and federal congressional briefings, and has provided various governments with more than 50 technical reports. Dr. Kammen also served for many years on the Technical Review Board of the Global Environment Facility. He is a frequent contributor to or commentator in international news media, including Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Financial Times. Kammen has appeared on 60 Minutes, Nova, Frontline, and hosted the six-part Discovery Channel series Ecopolis.
Dr. Kammen is a Permanent Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Physical Society. In the US, he serves on two National Academy of Sciences boards and panels and, in April, 2010 was named by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton as the first Energy and Climate Fellow for the Western Hemisphere.
Dr. Kammen was educated in physics at Cornell and Harvard, and held postdoctoral positions at the California Institute of Technology and Harvard. He was Assistant Professor and Chair of the Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Program at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University before moving to the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Kammen has served as a contributing or coordinating lead author on various reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 1999.
Marea Hatziolos is a marine ecologist and a senior coastal and marine specialist in the East Asia/Pacific region of the World Bank. Her undergraduate degree was in Biology, from Wellesley College, and she received her PhD in Zoology from the University of California at Berkeley, where she focused on tropical marine ecology.
Her work at the Bank includes both operations and policy, aimed at improving the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. She is a leader in the Bank’s work on Integrated Coastal Management and on climate change and ocean health. She oversees a global partnership between the World Bank and some 40 research institutions world-wide to support science based management of coral reefs. She also manages the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (COREMAP), an ongoing effort to align community based development with marine conservation in four hundred villages across Indonesia.
Marea has lived and worked extensively in West Africa, South Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ms. Idah Z. Pswarayi-Riddihough is currently the Sector Manager for Environment and Natural Resources Management within the Africa Region at the World Bank. A Zimbabwean national, she has now been been with the bank for over 15 years, and has worked on sustainable development issues spanning across South Asia, Northern Africa and the Middle East, East Asia and the Pacific, and is now Africa. She holds a Ph.D in NRM/Forestry from Oxford University, and has since accumulated diverse expertise on natural resources, agriculture, environment, and water issues in the developing world.
The Environment and Natural Resources Management Sector for Africa handles the World Bank’s climate change agenda for the region.
Gang He is pursuing his doctorate in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley and a graduate researcher at Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL). He is also a guest researcher at the Institute of Environment and Economy at Peking University. His work focuses on China’s energy and climate change policy, energy economics and energy modeling, integrating renewable energy, and carbon capture and sequestration. Previously, he was a research associate at Stanford University's Program on Energy and Sustainable Development. He was with the World Resources Institute as a Cynthia Helms Fellow. With his experiences both in US and China, he has been actively involved in the US-China collaboration on energy and climate change. Mr. He received an M.A. from Columbia University on Climate and Society and a B.S. from Peking University on Geography.
Gerhard is currently the Forests Advisor, leading the World Bank Forestry Team in the Sustainable Development Department at the World Bank. He has had 28 years of experience in national and international forest and environmental policies, development policies, consultative processes, projects on sustainable forest management and forest conservation.
He holds a Master’s of Science in Forestry and a PhD in technical and economic analyses of sustainable forest management systems. His previous positions included working with the German forest administration, the European Union, overseas project work in Togo and Indonesia, working in the cabinet of the German minister for agriculture/forestry, and a diplomatic posting in Rome as German Alternate Permanent Representative to FAO, WFP and IFAD. He has also carried out research at the Faculty of Forestry, Freiburg University in Germany, and was previously the lead forestry specialist in the Europe and Central Asia Region of the World Bank.
Gerhard is the World Bank Focal Point for the Implementation of the Forest Investment Program (FIP). He is also a Steering Committee member of the Forest Dialogue Initiative (TFD).
Mr. Meyer leads EDF’s work with indigenous peoples in Central and South America, serving as a liaison between indigenous communities and policy makers at the national and international levels. He works directly with indigenous leaders, communities and organizations to insert indigenous rights and interests into national and international climate policies and to explore best practices for developing economic activities around environmental services. Mr. Meyer provides strategic counsel to indigenous communities on emerging national and international climate change policies.
Mr. Meyer’s areas of expertise include tropical deforestation, indigenous peoples of Central and South America and best practices in reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).
Before joining EDF, Mr. Meyer worked on coffee and micro-enterprise development in Panama as a Peace Corps volunteer. He earned his M.A. in International Relations and international development from John Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies in Washington DC. He holds a BBA in Finance from the University of Portland.
Laura is Sustainability Advisor in the World Bank Treasury. She has worked on environment and climate change issues for the past 20 years in various capacities (sector specialist, task leader, sector leader, sector manager). In her current role, she provides technical and strategic insights on financial products addressing sustainability, such as green bonds, forest bonds, and other financial services linked to climate change and the environment. She is part of the team that selects the portfolio of projects that are supported by World Bank green bonds. Her more recent assignments prior to joining the World Bank Treasury, were as Sector Manager for Environment and Water (LCR) and for the Environment Department.
Otaviano Canuto is Vice President and Head of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Network, a division of more than 700 economists and other professionals working on economic policy, poverty reduction, and analytic work for the World Bank’s client countries. He took up his position on May 4, 2009, after serving as the Vice President for Countries at the Inter-American Development Bank since June 2007.
Dr. Canuto provides strategic leadership and direction to Regional PREM units as well as groups working on economic policy formulation in the area of growth and poverty, debt, trade, gender, and public sector management and governance. He is also involved in managing the Bank’s overall interactions with key partner institutions including the IMF, the OECD and regional development banks.
Dr. Canuto was Executive Director at the Board of the World Bank in 2004-2007. He also served in the Brazilian Ministry of Finance, where he was Secretary for International Affairs. He was Professor of Economics at the University of São Paulo and University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil.
Vladimir Stenek is a climate change expert at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group. He is working at IFC’s Climate Business Group, where he is leading the Climate Risk and Adaptation Program, along with several other initiatives related to climate change and development. Vladimir holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from UC Berkeley, California; PUC, Santiago, Chile; and UNI, Lima, Peru.
Richard Hosier is Senior Environmental Specialist on Climate Change in the Global Environmental Coordination Unit of the World Bank. From 2004-2008, he served as the Team Leader for Climate and Chemicals at the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat. Prior to joining the GEF Secretariat in 2004, he spent over ten years the Principal Technical Adviser on Climate Change for the United Nations Development Program’s GEF Unit, based in New York. He actively participated in every major meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change from 1994 until 2008. From 1985 until 1993, he served as an Assistant Professor of Energy Management and Policy and International Development and Appropriate Technology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. From 1980 until 1985, he worked for the Beijer Institute of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on research and planning projects focusing on energy for development in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. He has worked in over 50 developing countries and published more than 30 refereed journal articles; 50 papers; and four book-length research monographs all focusing on energy for development, natural resource management and climate change.
Kai-Uwe Schmidt is the Carbon Finance-Assist (CF-Assist) Team Leader in the World Bank Institute Climate Change Practice. As CF-Assist Team Leader, Kai-Uwe leads the Innovation in Carbon Finance and Cities and Climate Change programs, respectively. The main objective of work under the CF-Assist program is to create capacity in partner countries to engage in the carbon market in alignment with their sustainable development goals.
Kai-Uwe joined the World Bank in February 2010 from the United Nations, where he had served as Senior Programme Officer in the UN Sectretary General’s Climate Change Support Team. His previous assignments include the UNFCCC Secretariat, where he worked in various positions, including support to the intergovernmental negotiations on market mechanism and directing, untill December 2008, support to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in his role as Secretary to the CDM Executive Board. He brings more than 20 years of professional experience to the table.
Kai-Uwe is a German national, and holds both Master and Bachelor degrees from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, in Macroeconomics and Finance, and Political Economy, respectively.
Robert M. Lesnick is currently Oil and Gas Program Coordinator for the World Bank within its Oil, Gas and Mining Policy Division. Previously he was a senior manager within ConocoPhillips Global Gas and International Business Development organization. He has over 30 years private sector experience in various energy-related operations, including natural gas processing, petroleum commodity trading and the power generation businesses.
Mr. Lesnick has over 20 years international experience as a manager and lead negotiator for the development of energy infrastructure projects, and has conducted business in more than 80 international locations in 54 countries on 6 continents. In his current assignment Mr. Lesnick manages the development of the business strategy and allocation of resources of the Oil and Gas Policy Unit, including direct oversight of the Petroleum Governance Initiative (Trust Fund). He is responsible for the development of petroleum sector input into World Bank energy and climate change strategies and provides advice on energy policy to strategic government clients.
Mr. Lesnick has served on the Management Committee for the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG), a coalition of over 60 natural gas companies and trade associations and was Vice President, Communications and Executive Committee member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) where he was honored as its President’s Award winner in 2010. He is also a member of the Chairman’s Club of the United Way, and Sponsor for Medical Bridges Charity.
Mr. Lesnick has received an appointment as an adjunct professor at the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University as a lecturer in field of corporate globalization, and has taught in the school’s Executive Education Program on the energy business value chain. He is chairman of the Marketing Committee on the College of Arts and Letters Advisory Council of Northern Arizona University where he attained his Bachelor of Science degree. He received a MBA from Rice University where he was honored as a Jones Scholar.
Judy Baker is a Lead Economist in the Urban Practice Group at the World Bank Institute working on issues of urban poverty, service delivery, and climate change and cities, currently leading the work program of the Mayor’s Task Force on Climate Change, Disaster Risk and the Urban Poor. Prior to this she has held various positions at the World Bank since 1990 focusing on issues of poverty and inequality, sustainability and service delivery in cities, and impact evaluation for programs and policies in many developing countries, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean. Most recently she worked in the Urban Development Unit of the Sustainable Development Network leading the work program on urban poverty and slum upgrading. She has worked on a wide range of lending operations across the World Bank, authored 2 books, and numerous papers and country studies related to poverty, service delivery, and evaluation. She has also been a guest lecturer at a number of universities in the U.S. and developing countries.
Kenneth Chomitz is a Senior Advisor in the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank, where he is leading a series of evaluations of the Bank’s climate change activities, and advises more generally on assessing development effectiveness. Previously he was with the Bank’s Development Research Group.
Chomitz’s work has focused on global environmental issues. Climate Change and the World Bank Group: The Challenge of Low Carbon Development, an evaluation he directed, assesses the effectiveness of the Bank Group in promoting greenhouse gas mitigation. His book, At Loggerheads? Agricultural Expansion, Poverty Reduction and Environment in the Tropical Forests, was called “far and away the best available treatment of the globally critical issue of tropical forest conservation” by Conservation Biology. He was a coauthor of the Bank’s World Development Report 2003: Sustainable Development in a Dynamic World. Chomitz was a pioneer in the econometric modeling of deforestation using remote sensing data. He has published articles on economic issues related to deforestation, biodiversity, and climate change, and has also worked on issues related to health, population, and labor.
Chomitz holds a degree in mathematics from MIT and a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to joining the World Bank, he was a National Research Council Fellow at the US National Academy of Sciences; Assistant Professor of Economics at Boston University; and Senior Advisor with the Development Studies Project, a policy research institute associated with the Indonesian National Development Planning Board.
Fionna Douglas is currently Program Manager and team leader for the Portfolio Quality Knowledge Management and Learning Team in the Agriculture and Rural Development Department (ARD). She is also responsible for communications in the department.
Prior to joining ARD in August 2008, Fionna was the Strategy and Operations Advisor and Communications Team Leader in the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). She worked closely with the Director to coordinate Secretariat
management, as well as coordinating the CGIAR’s communications work.
Previously Fionna was the Director of Public Affairs for Australia’s Agency for International Development (AusAID). In that capacity she was responsible for strategic communications for the Department, she acted as spokesperson on development related media issues.
Prior to working for the Australian Government, Fionna was Director of Marketing and Communications for Oxfam Australia where she coordinated advocacy based media campaigns.
Before her assignment at Oxfam, Fionna worked as documentary film producer and freelance journalist in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Pacific and Australia.
Fionna is educated as a lawyer and worked briefly as a policy adviser on refugee rights before moving into communications and film.
TMS Ruge is currently serving as the lead social media strategist for the Connect4Climate campaign at the World Bank. In 2007, he cofounded Project Diaspora, an online platform for mobilizing, engaging and motivating members of Africa Diaspora to engage in matters important to the continent’s development. A technology enthusiast, Ruge writes and speaks extensively on Africa’s current renaissance driven by technology, youth and the Diaspora. He is a frequent contributor to several online publications including CNN, PopTech, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian. He blogs at the projectdiaspora.org. He was born in Masindi, Uganda and grew up in Uganda, Kenya and the United States.
Warren Evans is a Senior Adviser at the Sustainable Development Network of the World Bank. Prior to this, he was the Director of the Environment Department. Before joining the World Bank in 2003, Warren held technical and managerial positions at the Asian Development Bank, including Director for the Environment and Social Safeguards Division. He holds a Masters degree in Environmental Health Engineering from the University of Kansas.
Kirtan Sahoo is an environment and climate change specialist with more than 17 years of working experience. Presently, he is the Power Sector Team Lead in Carbon Finance Unit of the World Bank. At the World Bank, he has worked on several projects in three different regions of the World Bank- South Asia, Africa and East Asia in the areas of energy, environment and climate change. He has developed methodologies and designs for Carbon Finance projects and programs in the Bank. Prior to joining the Bank in January, 2004, he was working in the Environment Management and Decentralized Infrastructure Unit of Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) in India, a company that finances infrastructure projects, primarily developed by the private sector in India. He holds a Masters degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (1994), India. He also studied Environmental Management at the University of Manchester as a British Chevening Fellow (2000).
Philip Angell is the Editor-in-Chief of the World Resources Report (WRR). He was also the Editor of the previous WRR, `World Resources 2008: Roots of Resilience' focussing on the links between environment and poverty, and the impact of climate change.
Angell has a long record of involvement in environmental policy issues in both the public and private sector. He served in senior posts at the Environmental Protection Agency, since it was established in 1970. He was Special Assistant to the Agency’s first two Administrators, William Ruckelshaus and Russell Train. He served as Chief of Staff to Ruckelshaus during his second terms as Administrator from 1983-1985. He also served as Senior Counselor to Michael Leavitt when he headed EPA in 2004.
Angell assisted William Ruckelshaus in his position as the U.S. member of the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission). He also attended the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 as staff to the U.S. Delegation.
Angell has been involved with the World Resources Institute in a number of positions since 2001: In addition to his involvement in the last two editions of the World Resources Report, he has served as acting director of External Affairs and advisor to WRI senior staff.
S. Vijay Iyer is Director of the World Bank’s Sustainable Energy Department, where he guides the Bank’s policies, programs and strategies in the energy sector. Until June 2011, he was Manager of the Bank’s Africa Energy Group, where he led initiatives for sub-Saharan African countries to support energy access through investments in hydropower, geothermal and electrification projects, as well as innovative programs such as Lighting Africa. An Indian national, Mr. Iyer has worked in private industry, project finance and banking. He has also been a senior official with the Indian Civil Service, holding several positions in public administration and economic development. He holds a MBA from Yale University and a Master’s in Chemistry from Jabalpur University in India.
Margaret Arnold is a Senior Social Development Specialist with the World Bank, specializing in the social dimensions of climate change, disaster risk management, and community-based and gender-sensitive approaches to risk management. She leads work on pro-poor adaptation and resilience building for the Social Resilience cluster. Margaret has been with the World Bank since 1995, and has worked on urban development and post-conflict reconstruction in addition to DRM. She was part of a two-person team that established the World Bank's first unit focused on natural disaster risk management in 1998 (the Disaster Management Facility), and is credited with facilitating the Bank's recognition of disaster risk reduction as a development priority. She is one of the founders of the ProVention Consortium and served as Head of its Secretariat from 2007-2009.
Rachel Kyte is Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. She has overall responsibilities for the organization’s global work in agriculture, the environment, infrastructure, urban development, and social development. She has held the position since September, 2011.Prior to taking up her current post, from 2008 Ms. Kyte was Vice President for Business Advisory Services at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector focused arm of the World Bank Group. Here, she focused IFC’s Advisory Services to deliver more measurable impact for the world’s poorest people and in the most challenging environments, including countries affected by conflict. She led IFC’s efforts to support inclusive business models, including women's businesses. She also spearheaded adoption of the IFC Development Goals, the first set of development goals specific to the private sector. From 2004, Ms. Kyte served as IFC’s Director for Environmental and Social Development, where she led efforts to develop new sustainability performance standards. Through the Equator Principles, these standards are now a global benchmark for private businesses, illustrating that improved environment and social standards can raise financial performance in developing countries.
From 2000 to 2004, Ms. Kyte served in the office of IFC’s Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman. Prior to joining IFC, she was a member of the management team of the World Conservation Union—IUCN. She has held elected positions in Europe, and founded and led non-government organizations focusing on women, the environment, health, and rights. Ms. Kyte holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a Bachelor of Arts in politics and history from the University of London.
Aditi Maheshwari is a Climate Change Policy Specialist at the World Bank, focusing on mitigation, finance and the international negotiations. She previously worked in the Carbon Finance Unit as a post-2012 policy specialist, with an emphasis on new market mechanisms. Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked in the Climate and Energy Group at DFID in the UK as an Economic Advisor leading on Carbon Markets. She has also worked for the South African National Treasury on an ODI Fellowship, where she concentrated on climate, environmental, energy, and land reform issues in the Public Finance Division. Previous roles have also included being an Economist at the Office of Fair Trading, looking at mergers, and the Department of Trade and Industry on oil and gas economics, both in the UK Government. She has a Masters in Environmental and Resource Economics from UCL and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Nottingham.
Max Thabiso Edkins was born in Lesotho and grew up between Lesotho Germany and South Africa. After completing a BSc in Natural Science and Economics at the University of Cape Town, he did his Masters at the University of Oxford, where he focused on renewable energy. Max has worked as a marine biologist and ecologist, a renewable energy specialist advising South African parliament and government on climate change and energy policies. He is also a photographer and filmmaker. He is currently the technical trainer and media coordinator for the ClimateConscious Programme, ResourceAfrica UK, under which community photo-stories, participatory theatre and educational climate change films have been produced with and for communities in southern and eastern Africa.
Vicky was a founding member of the Met Office Hadley Centre set up in 1990 to provide climate predictions and climate science to underpin government policy on climate change. She has a background in climate modelling and led one of the teams who developed the climate models use in IPCC 3rd and 4th assessment reports and the UK Climate Projections published in 2009 (UKCP09). Since 2002 she has had various senior management roles, delivering climate science advice to government and other stakeholders. She has recently taken on a new role as Head of Integration and Growth with responsibility for maximising the benefits for government of our science capability and that of our partners. Vicky is identifying opportunities for innovation; integrating cutting edge environmental science developed by the Met Office and our partners, with the latest technology to provide new and improved services. This role draws on her experience as climate scientist and in translating that science for government and others.
Smita Jacob is a Young Professional in the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM)—a nationwide poverty eradication programme initiated by the Government of India. Within NRLM she specializes in ‘Social Inclusion’, ensuring that programme design and implementation are focused on women and marginalized communities.
Smita holds a postgraduate degree from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai and was trained in Dalit & Tribal Social Work and Social Policy & Planning. Her research interest areas include social exclusion, governance and food security.
Klas Sander is a Natural Resources Economist with the Environment Department of the World Bank where he works with the Climate Change Team on Low-Emission Development (LED), issues related to the use of biomass energy and environmental sustainability, and partnership and analytical work regarding climate change in mountain regions. Klas builds on more than a decade of professional experience in project implementation and applied research focusing on rural development, natural resource economics & management, biodiversity conservation, and biomass energy. He has extensive field experiences from many parts of the world, such as living with Iban longhouse communities in Malaysia, working with island communities on Vanuatu, or researching natural resource use of rural communities in remote areas of Northwest Madagascar.
For the World Bank he supports operational work in the energy and environment sectors in Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, the Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Klas holds a Master's degrees in Forestry from the University of Göttingen and another in Agricultural & Natural Resources Economics from the Imperial College, University of London. When completing his degree in Rural Development from the University of Göttingen he was also a fellow with U.C. Berkeley.
Ari is an economist from Finland and has spent most of his life in development work, first in the field of industrial development and technology/investment promotion and then specializing in environmental financing issues. His experience includes working with the UNDP in Hanoi and Dhaka, and has been in-charge of programs on Asian LDCs in UNIDO headquarters in Vienna. He has been the UNIDO Representative for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR, manager for cleaner production financing at UNEP Paris, environmental advisor to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and Team Leader for a KfW environmental credit line in Indonesia. For the last three years he has worked at the Environment Department of the World Bank in Washington DC, leading a cluster on climate finance, as well as focal point for UN cooperation and joint activities in green economy and preparations for Rio+20.
Tim is an Open Data Specialist at the World Bank, where he supports the Bank’s ongoing efforts to expand and improve its portfolio of open data products. Most recently Tim helped to coordinate the launch of the World Bank’s Open Climate Data Initiative in 2011, and is managing the Apps For Climate competition. Prior to joining the World Bank in 2011, Tim served as Director of Online Communications at the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank based in Washington, DC. While at WRI he also served as a Climate Policy Specialist and project lead for the Climate Analysis Indicators project. He also worked in the private sector for many years as a technology consultant to several leading U.S. companies. Tim holds a Master’s degree in public policy from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Bethel University in Minnesota.
Mary Barton-Dock is the Director of the World Bank Environment Department.Prior to assuming her current role, she was Country Director for Cameroon, Chad, C.A.R., Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe. Earlier positions at the Bank include Sector Manager for Environment, Agriculture and Social Development in the Africa Region, Country Manager in Chad, Country Program Coordinator for Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal and Economist in the Agriculture and Environment Division in Africa. Mary attained her BA (Hons) in International Relations from Stanford University and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University.
