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.