UNEP-CCC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Advisor - Climate and Energy
- Technology and Innovation System Advisor
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Climate and Carbon Markets
Abhishek is a multi-disciplinary researcher with over thirteen years of work experience in the areas of climate change mitigation, adaptation, finance, and carbon markets. He joined UNEP-CCC in November 2023 and mainly works on research, analytic advice, and project management in the areas of GHG emissions, SDG, and transformational impact assessments, institutional development for carbon market accounting and reporting of ITMOs.
Before UNEP-CCC, he was leading the carbon markets program with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) India and spearheaded the development of high-quality carbon projects for voluntary carbon markets. Prior to TNC, he worked with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) as a Fellow and Area Convenor and worked on a range of research projects related to climate change negotiations, GHG inventories, MRV frameworks and carbon markets (including Article 6 and voluntary carbon markets). He led the work on World Bank's Partnership for Market Readiness initiative on developing roadmap for implementing market-based mechanism in the Indian municipal waste sector and on assessing the fungibility of PAT and REC schemes in India under the Network Carbon Markets initiative. He also led the Climate Transparency activities in G20 countries and developed MRV to assess the GHG impacts of key mitigation policies, in collaboration with UNEP-CCC under the Initiative on Climate Action Transparency (ICAT). He was responsible for leading engagement with policy makers, donors, academia, civil society, and private sector.
Abhishek holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (equivalent to MBA) and bachelor's degree in engineering from India.
Job Titles:
- Project Officer
- Project Officer - Climate and Energy
Alejandro joined UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre as a Project Officer in the spring of 2021 to work in the Section for Institutional Development. His work focuses on supporting the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for the NDC Action Project, as well as climate transparency initiatives such as the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) and the Capacity-Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT). He also works with the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, assessing the opportunities for decarbonization in the video game industry.
Prior to joining UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, Alejandro worked in private sector companies and think tanks in the field of climate change and circular economy. At COWI A/S, an international consulting company based in Denmark, Alejandro conducted analyses on the opportunities for climate finance in the livestock sector on behalf of the World Bank Group, assessing climate mitigation pathways and investment opportunities identified to channel climate finance into the agricultural and livestock sectors. At Circular Innovation Lab, a Danish circular economy think tank, Alejandro contributed to the proposal and development of national circular economy roadmaps in the Global South.
Alejandro graduated with a MSc in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Copenhagen. He is fluent in Spanish, English and French, and is currently learning Danish.
Allison Jay Sterling has been with the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre since 2019 specializing in socio-technical transitions. She is particularly interested in how social innovation, such as collective action or inclusive gender initiatives, can support the diffusion of climate-friendly technologies, create new local markets and economic opportunities, promote social cohesion, and positively impact life quality in developing countries.
She has published on many topics relating to sustainable development, including fossil fuel carbon emissions and energy consumption, energy efficiency, land use and biological carbon sequestration, bioenergy, waste-to-energy, bio-circular economies, smart and sustainable cities, sustainable architecture and urban well-being, consumer behavior, social acceptance of renewable energy, and collective action.
At UNEP-CCC, Allison is building academic networks to support national governments in developing strategies for carbon trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Allison also works with socially innovative capacity building in local communities to support a just energy transition.
Prior to her position and UNEP-CCC, Allison was a senior researcher at the Technical University of Denmark, working with climate change, sustainable development, systems analysis and innovation. She has also lived and worked in the United States, Korea, and China. She holds a PhD in geography from the University of Maryland, a master's in space studies, and bachelor's degrees in mathematics, philosophy, and music.
Job Titles:
- Mechanical Engineer
- Advisor - Knowledge Management Systems
Aristeidis Tsakiris is a Mechanical Engineer who holds an MSc in Sustainable Energy from DTU (Technical University of Denmark). He began his career at a small consultancy company that focused on energy-efficient projects in the Balkans and Baltic regions. Currently, he serves as an Advisor with the goal of expediting energy efficiency policies in emerging and developing economies. He assists in the development and implementation of Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) systems, disseminates information through webinars and podcasts, and helps maintain and enhance web-based Knowledge Management Systems (KMS).
Tsakiris' areas of expertise include Energy savings in the building sector, Energy Efficiency in the transport sector, and the Development of Energy Efficiency Knowledge Management Systems.
Job Titles:
- Energy Advisor - Climate, Energy, Innovation
Blanche is an energy and sustainable development professional with close to twenty years of experience in both the public and private sectors, having guided energy sector policies and strategies, developed projects and led the implementation of technical assistance projects in emerging economies. Her working experiences include the private sector, the national government of South Africa, multilateral organisations, research councils and academia. Her particular research interests are in energy transitions, science, technology, and transformative innovation. Both are intertwined in academia and real-world practitioners' experiences. For this, she has in-country experience in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa.
Prior to UNEP-CCC, she was the Energy and Low Carbon Coordinator for UNIDO, at the Southern Africa Regional Office (SARO), leading projects on industrial energy efficiency, low carbon transport, eco-industrial parks, and climate change adaptation in the agri-industries. This role required collaboration and partnerships across multi-stakeholders that include government (national and local), private sector, DFIs, and research institutes.
Blanche holds a PhD from the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex, with a case study on South Africa's energy transitions on renewable energy, and gas in the power sector, and two Masters Degrees in Climate Change and Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), U.K. as a Mandela-Sussex Scholar, and Bioprocess Engineering at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Job Titles:
- Project Officer - Climate and Energy
Brian joined the Institutional Development section at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre in June 2023. His work focuses on supporting projects related to carbon markets and the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, primarily through the Supporting Preparedness for Article 6 Cooperation (SPAR6C) programme, the Sustainable Development Initiative for Article 6, and the Article 6 and VCM pipeline.
Brian has 8+ years of overall professional experience, and 5+ years working in the fields of carbon pricing (emissions trading schemes, voluntary carbon markets and carbon taxes), and climate finance in LAC, and Europe. He has participated in projects funded by the UNFCCC, the World Bank, GIZ, and the UK government, working alongside public and private stakeholders, international organisations, and NGOs.
Brian graduated from The University of Edinburgh with an MSc in Ecological Economics, holds a postgraduate degree in Environmental Economics, and a dual BSc in International Business Administration.
Job Titles:
- Advisor - Climate Technology
Clarine Ovando-Lacroux holds a master's degree in urban and regional planning from the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining UNEP-CCC, Clarine supported the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism on climate technology policy issues, developing programme strategies and facilitating the work of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) Advisory Board and the Technology Executive Committee (TEC). Prior to joining the UN, Clarine worked in the humanitarian sector with diverse International NGOs supporting business development efforts and project implementation in forced displacement and urban redevelopment contexts.
Job Titles:
- Head of Section, Mitigation Analysis and Data Management
Denis works as Senior Adviser in research and capacity development on long term planning for climate change mitigation in developing countries. Denis manages and participates in several projects. He coordinates, among others, the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) which is a multi-donors initiative focusing on climate transparency in 20 countries, and the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions for Low Carbon Island Development Strategy in Mauritius.
Denis' work history spans three continents: Europe, Latin America & Caribbean, and Africa. He started working as a researcher at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) and later moved to Cuba (2004) where he worked as a researcher at Havana University. From 2005 to 2011 he worked in Cuba as Energy & Environment Programme Specialist for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). During this period, he was in charge of the Energy, Environment and Climate Change portfolio including national and regional projects.
Denis holds a Masters' degree and PhD in in Agronomical Sciences and Biotechnology from the Free University of Brussels (ULB) in Belgium.
Elisabeth Resch has more than eleven years of professional experience in sustainable finance and development consulting. After starting her career at the Inter-American Development Bank, where she sought to ensure the development impact of private sector investments, she moved to Oxford Policy Management, consulting clients - bilateral donors, development banks and charitable foundations - on topics such as sustainable development and climate finance. Amongst others, she served as a climate finance advisor to the UK-funded programme "Action on Climate Today", advising governments on how to mainstream climate change into public budgets and planning. Based on this experience, she has presented at intergovernmental meetings, including UNFCCC, as a resource person. As an Advisor to the Board of Directors at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, she interacted with the Bank's Management and its shareholders to ensure sustainability and alignment with the Paris Agreement in its activities.
At the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, she advises development finance institutions on climate risks and how to achieve a net-zero emission portfolio. Moreover, she is part of the finance expert pool of the NDC Action Project, which seeks to support the implementation of developing countries' Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with investment plans and financing strategies.
Elisabeth has Graduate degrees in International Relations & Economics, and International Management from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Senior Advisor - Climate Policy, Loss and Damage
Fatemeh Bakhtiari serves as a Senior Advisor at the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, specializing in Loss and Damage at the City-level/national level. She leads policy and methodological development related to responding to Loss and Damage (L&D) and assists countries in establishing transparency frameworks to enhance data for L&D assessment and BRT reporting, such as through the ICAT project and UNEP-funded project CBIT/GSP. With a background in impact assessment, policy analysis, climate change mitigation, and sustainable natural resource management, her expertise includes developing tools for analyzing and prioritizing mitigation and adaptation actions, utilizing choice modelling, and quantifying and monetizing sustainable development co-benefits of climate actions within monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) frameworks.
Fatemeh holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Economics and Management from a joint doctoral program between the Universities of Copenhagen (Denmark) and Bangor (United Kingdom).
Federico has been working at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre since 2011 after being stationed at the Belize Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources.
In Belize he worked with capacity building and the identification of potential projects for the CDM.
He has extensive experience in providing capacity building for NAMA development in developing countries, and application of stakeholder consultation methodologies for identification and prioritization of mitigation actions.
Amongst his latest engagements, he has provided support to São Tomé and Príncipe in designing their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), and is assisting Mozambique in developing capacities to adhere to the transparency requirements of the Paris Agreement.
Federico has a M.Sc. in Technological and Socio-Economic Planning from Roskilde University.
Job Titles:
- Chemical Engineer
- Member of the UNFCCC Roster of Experts
- Senior Advisor - Climate Transparency
Fernando Farias is a Chemical Engineer with more than 20 years of work experience on climate change policy and atmospheric pollution.
Before joining UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre in May 2018, he was the Head of the Climate Change Division at the Ministry of Environment, Chile. Fernando has several years experience as a country negotiator at UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP) meetings. In addition, he has succesfully combined his public administrator role with academia by lecturing on climate change in different universities in Chile.
Fernando is a member of the UNFCCC Roster of Experts. He currently reviews GHG National Inventories submitted to the Convention, mainly in the energy sector, as well as National Communications and Biennial Reports. His vast experience on MRV and climate change policy also comes from several leadership roles and coordination functions, such as coordinator of the national GHG Inventory and Mitigation of Chile (2010-2013) and national coordinator for the preparation of Chile´s INDC. Fernando was an elected member of the Consultative Group of Experts (CGE) on National Communications at the UNFCCC (2010-2013), acting on behalf of South American countries. Finally, he is also a member of the Latin American Regional Platform of the Global Partnership on Low Emission Development Strategies, LEDS-LAC, serving both as chair (2014) and deputy chair (2017) of LEDS-LAC Steering Committe.
He was recently selected by the IPCC as a Lead Author for the next IPCC Assessment Report: the AR6 (Mitigation Volume).
Fernando holds a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. in Environmental Technology from Imperial College at the University of London, UK. He is fluent in English and Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Finance
- Head of Section, Business Models and Finance
- Head of the Business Models
Gabriela Prata Dias is Head of the Business Models and Finance at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre and acting Head at the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency.
Previously she was at ADENE, the Portuguese National Energy Agency, where she was Coordinating Director (CEO) with responsibility for implementation of energy efficiency policies in Portugal.
She has M.Sc. qualifications in Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, coupled with a very broad and long experience in energy efficiency, including with the Energy Charter in Brussels, in private business and as a researcher.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Climate and Technology
- Senior Advisor in the Project Management and Communications Group
Gordon A. Mackenzie is Senior advisor in the Project management and Communications group at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre and formerly Head of the Cleaner Energy Development (CED) Programme (2007-2018).
He was educated at Edinburgh University as a physicist (BSc 1973, PhD 1976) and the initial years of his professional career were as an experimental physicist, partly based at the Risø National Laboratory, specializing in investigation of crystalline materials with neutron scattering. In 1980 he moved to the Energy Systems Group, subsequently the Systems Analysis Department, at Risø to work on energy modelling and planning. From 1984 to 87, he was Energy Advisor/Deputy Director in Zambia, funded by Danida.
In 1990, he was a founder member of the UNEP Risø Centre (URC) on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development, later to become UNEP DTU Partnership. From 1999 to 2002 he was Energy Advisor/Chief Technical Advisor in Danish-funded support to the Government of Lesotho's Department of Energy, developing a new energy policy framework, a survey of wind energy resources and general capacity building. In this period he also trained Ghana Energy Commission staff to implement the LEAP energy model for the national energy policy, SNEP.
At UNEP DTU, he managed and participated in EU-funded projects in Africa (DEA, CEMA and PACEAA), UNEP's energy SME programme AREED, been country coordinator for Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, Bhutan, Dominica, Egypt, Grenada, Guyana, Jordan, Kenya, Seychelles, Trinidad & Tobago, and Zambia in the UNEP/GEF Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) programme (phases I, II and III), and was involved in the assessment of outcomes and impacts of two large UN Environment activities: AREED and the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD). Recently he has been been project manager for training programmes on developing GCF concept notes in Guyana, Jordan, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
As part of the Project Management and Communications group, he is currently supporting all programmes on tendering, project development and proposal writing, including development of Theory of Change, LFAs and KPIs.
Job Titles:
- Head of Impact Assessment and Adaptation
- Head of Section, Impact Assessment and Adaptation Analysis
Henry Neufeldt is Head of Impact Assessment and Adaptation at the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre. He currently leads UNEP-CCC's work on climate risks and transparency in adaptation and is the chief scientific editor of the UNEP Adaptation Gap Reports. He was also a lead author on the Working Group II chapter on ‘Food, Fibres and Ecosystem products' of the recently launched IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. He has more than 20 years of experience in international research for development and policy advice on climate change mitigation and adaptation, focusing on natural resource management, agriculture and forestry, food security, and the bio economy. He holds degrees in environmental sciences and soil science from the University of Bayreuth, Germany.
Ivana Audia has more than fifteen years of experience in different positions in the renewable energy and climate change mitigation sector worldwide. With more than ten years of management experience, she is also engaged in environment-related policy issues, such as climate change and sustainable development. Experience in environment, health and safety, engineering, actual on-site project development and management experience including the management of project delivery and impact assessment. Her experience also focuses project finance, energy efficiency and innovation, including all related topics such as transparency, mitigation, accountability as well as finance. Ms. Audia holds a MSc in Mechanical and Energy Engineering, and a MSc in Environment and Development Economics.
She is currently working as Senior Advisor at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre on climate change mitigation projects in relation to energy, waste management, AFOLU and energy efficiency in developing countries, in particular in the LAC region.
Job Titles:
- Administration Unit
- Head of Operations Support
Jacob is Head of Operations Support at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre with main responsibilities for financial project- planning, development, reporting and management support, administrative contact with partners, development and maintaining of administrative systems and processes. Jacob has a background at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre from the academic area, with focus on policy planning, mitigation MRV, CDM/pCDM, Energy Efficiency and data modelling with involvement in the CDM pipelines, UNEP GAP reports, TNA projects, development of and contribution to the Copenhagen Centre of Energy Efficiency, among other projects.
Before joining UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (former UNEP DTU), Jacob has been employed in the Danish private consulting and business organization sectors with focus and experience within domestic energy planning, district heating, international business development, climate project finance and more.
Jacob has an M.Sc. degree in Environmental Science and Policy from Roskilde University, Denmark.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Climate and Energy
To date my professional work has been a mix of academic research, public and private consultancy and project management related to various aspects of sustainable energy technology and policy in developing countries, mostly in support of efforts to abate greenhouse gas emissions. The focus of my research and professional interest has evolved, from a basis in political-economic analysis of energy market liberalisation to understanding, designing and implementing enabling frameworks for the dissemination of sustainable energy and climate change mitigation technologies.
To explore these issues I have used mixed methods including multi-criteria analysis, economic baseline and social cost-benefit analysis, market assessments and ex-post outcome mapping. I have been involved in the UNFCCC-mandated Technology Needs Assessment project since 2010, as a country and regional coordinator. This has led to an overriding focus on understanding the role that international agencies and governments have in actively creating markets for clean technology uptake and diffusion, and how to involve the private sector in driving forward the process of clean technological transitions.
Since 2003 I have worked in over 20 countries in the Global South (especially Africa and LatAm), constituting a significant network of contacts, within Government, UN, private sector and expert consultants. In recent years I have also worked on the issue of energy access for displaced populations and how strategic donor interventions and private investment can deliver co-benefits to host communities as well as refugees, stimulating economic development and technology upgrading.
Job Titles:
- Project Officer - Climate and Energy
Jannick joined UNEP-CCC's Section for Institutional Development in June 2023. His work focuses on ensuring the sustainable use of international carbon markets. As part of the Integrated Assessment for Article 6 project (IAA6), Jannick supports the implementation of holistic approaches to the cooperative mechanisms under the Paris Agreement. His work on developing interactive and accessible tools for tracking carbon market projects facilitates the transparency and accountability needed to safeguard environmental integrity and climate-just practices. He also contributes to capacity building activities to support increased climate ambition and the implementation of national commitments (NDC Action).
Before joining the Centre, Jannick gained practical experience in both the private and public sector. Complementing several years as a data analyst, he developed expertise in the field of international climate policy. As part of an interdisciplinary MSc programme, Jannick consulted various institutions on their climate strategies. In his research, he focused on carbon pricing instruments and how to align them with broad criteria of social and environmental justice. For his thesis, he conducted an analysis of adverse distributional impacts of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduced by the European Union (EU). Most recently, Jannick contributed to the policy development of the EU's new Emissions Trading System at the European Commission in Brussels.
Jannick holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management and Policy from Lund University.
Job Titles:
- Scientist
- Scientist - Impact and Adaptation
Jingjing Gao is a scientist at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre. Her work focuses on climate impact assessment, adaptation transparency, resilience building and disaster management, as well as circular economy. Among other tasks at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, she is responsible for management and technical support of adaptation and transparency projects in South Asia and Africa. These activities include climate impact assessment, and adaptation and resilience building in Sri Lanka and Uganda; technical support to The Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) in Zimbabwe and Kenya; designing and implementing disaster risk management tools for national level governance and local communities to adapt to climate change in various countries. She also provides technical support to various levels of adaptation guidance and policy briefs (UNFCCC, OECD, GCA).
Prior to joining UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, Jingjing worked as environmental consultant for both public and private sectors, with experience in different industries (automotive, textile and fashion) from Denmark and Asia. Her experience also includes teaching at Aalborg University (Denmark) and working as a science journalist and documentary producer at China Central Television (China). Jingjing holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Assessment and Planning from Aalborg University (Denmark) and a Master of Environmental Science and Water Resource Management from Beijing Normal University (China).
John has worked with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in different capacities for more than 30 years. Focus areas are energy, climate and broader sustainable development combining a management role with scientific engagement, fundraising and project implementation.
He has been the director of the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre in its earlier settings at Risø and in DTU from 1990 to 2020. After leaving the UNEP DTU Partnership he worked at CONCITO as International Senior Advisor before taking up the Director position in UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre on December 1, 2022. He has been involved in numerous projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America and published extensively on energy and climate issues.
He has been a lead author on several reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He also served a few years on the Bureau of IPCC and received along with all other IPCC authors the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He has also been co-editor of the UNEP Emissions Gap report for the last 13 years.
He was in 2019 appointed as Sustainable Development Professor (Hon) at Yonsei University in Korea. The Sustainable Development Professorship is with the Institute for Global Engagement & Empowerment (IGEE) at Yonsei in collaboration with the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens.
John has a Master degree and a Ph.D. from the Danish Technical University.
Job Titles:
- Project Officer - Climate Policy
At the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, Julia works in the Section for Mitigation Analysis and Data. Julia is primarily involved in supporting projects related to climate transparency alongside member states in Latin America via the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) and the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) projects. Julia also supports the annual development of the UNEP's Emissions Gap Report, UNEP's synthesis flagship publication that assesses the gap between anticipated emissions and levels consistent with the Paris Agreement goals of limiting global warming this century to well below 2°C and pursuing 1.5°C with countries' pledges (NDCs).
Julia's previous research in sustainable development and tropical forest conservation in the protected areas in the Amazon alongside colleagues at East Anglia University (UK) and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN - BR) propelled her work with climate change mitigation. Julia has a Bachelor in International Relations from the Metropolitan University of Prague and holds a Master's degree in Human Security from Aarhus University, and a second MSc. in Climate Change from the University of Copenhagen, supported by a minor in Global Environmental Governance. Julia's recent work and research were on the role of cities in promoting synergistic climate action towards adaptation and mitigation, focusing specifically on transnational municipal networks.
Apart from her activities at the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, Julia often goes back to University classrooms to lead outreach activities both in Danish as well as in Brazilian Universities.
Julia speaks Portuguese, Danish, English and Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Programme Officer
- Project Officer - Climate and Energy
Juliette joined UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre as a Programme Officer in August 2023 to work in the Section for Institutional Development. Her work focuses on supporting the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for the NDC Action Project, as well as climate transparency initiatives such as the Capacity-Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT).
Prior to joining UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, Juliette worked at WWF European Policy office in Brussels where she led the advocacy work on bioenergy, carbon removals and LULUCF. At the European Environment Agency (EEA) and UNEP, she conducted background research on the LULUCF sector, energy efficiency in public buildings as well as the right of nature and the environmental rule of law. Her experience also includes project management work at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the International Federation of Automobile (FIA).
Juliette graduated with a LL.M in private law from La Sorbonne University and a LL.M in Environmental law from the Upsala University, the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) and the Arctic University of Norway (UiT).
Jyoti has been working with UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (formerly UNEP DTU partnership) since 1997 on a variety of issues on energy and environment. This includes energy economics and energy policy, energy efficiency, renewables, technology assessment, environmental economics and policy, and climate change issues. He has worked with several developing countries in Asia and Africa on these issues.
Jyoti was Head of the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency at UNEP DTU from its inception in September 2013 till September 2016.
Between 2011 and 2013, on leave from UNEP DTU, he was Chief Economic Advisor at Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, New Delhi, where he was responsible for providing inputs and advice to the Commission on various issues from an economic perspective.
Prior to joining UNEP DTU, Jyoti was a faculty member at Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) at Mumbai. He also has a rich industry experience; he has worked with power plant equipment suppliers during the initial years of his career.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Carbon Market Coordinator
Ms. Karen Olsen (PhD) is a senior advisor in the Impact Assessment and Adaptation Analysis section at the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre.
She has 15 years of work experience with climate and sustainable development in developing countries. Currently she leads the ‘Sustainable Development Initiative on Implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement under the UNFCCC' jointly with the Gold Standard focusing on technical analysis and policy dialogue for negotiators to operationalize the ‘rulebook' for new market mechanisms in the Paris Agreement.
She is technical lead for the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) Transformational Change Methodology and co-lead for the ICAT Sustainable Development Methodology both developed jointly with the World Resources Institute. She was the lead consultant to develop the CDM SD tool for the UNFCCC Secretariat approved by the Executive Board in November 2012.
She is supervisor for PhD and Master students and has written several peer-reviewed articles on sustainability transition, Article 6 cooperative approaches, capacity development and the CDM's contribution to sustainable development.
She holds a PhD in International Development Studies (2007) from Roskilde University, Denmark, a Master's degree in Political Science and a Bachelors' degree in Geography from University of Copenhagen.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- a Transparency Officer
- Advisor - Climate Transparency
Khetsiwe joined UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre as a Transparency Officer in July 2023 and is working in the Mitigation Analysis and Data Management Section where she is focused on climate transparency. She has a broad and interdisciplinary knowledge and practical experience on climate science and policy. Before joining the Centre, Khetsiwe was leading the national climate change programme in Eswatini where she gained practical experience in setting up institutional arrangements for climate transparency, policy formulation and climate finance. She also has several years of experience in international climate change negotiations on transparency and article 6.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Advisor - Climate Change Adaptation
- Coordinator of UN Environment
Lars Christiansen is an Advisor at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre.
He has more than 10 years of experience in the field of adaptation, a large part of which has focused on the development, implementation and evaluation of projects under the Least Developed Countries Fund, Special Climate Change Fund and Adaptation Fund.
Lars has more recently been involved in many activities at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre related to transparency issues in climate adaptation. In this context he was, among others, the Chief Editor of the ‘Perspectives series' ‘Adaptation Metrics: Perspectives on measuring, aggregating and comparing adaptation results' released in early 2018 and he is currently supporting the new UNEP DTU led Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) - Adaptation project with partners in Bangladesh, India, South Africa and the Dominican Republic.
In recent years, Lars has been the coordinator of UN Environment's flagship report ‘Emissions Gap Report' released annually ahead of the UNFCCC COP and from 2019 has taken over as lead coordinator of the UN Environment Adaptation Gap Report.
Job Titles:
- Communications Officer
- Journalist
Lasse is a Journalist with a passion for science and research. He strives to understand and communicate complex issues creatively and succinctly and thrives doing so.
With a degree in both Journalism and International Development Studies, and having worked for both Jyllands-Posten and the WHO, Lasse knows his way around all aspects of journalism, whether it is fast online news, thorough articles or the long in-depth research. At the same time, he is able to analyze political, cultural and economic issues, especially when it comes to developing countries.
This combination of skills enables him to convey knowledge created at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre on our website, social media or in our publications. Making sense of the complex, complicated and sometimes completely incomprehensible, and effectively communicating it to the right audience is what he does.
Lasse's professional interest takes up a fair bit of his time, staying updated on what is happening in the world of climate change and climate change communication.
Other than that, he spends his time with his wife, daughter, and son, traveling or expanding his collection of fine rum with exciting new versions.
Coming from the Caribbean, Lindy Charlery is an independent, results oriented professional, with a multidisciplinary career background.
Specializing in the general field of Environmental and Resource Economics, his current focus ranges from issues related to adaptation to climate change and the need for climate smart technologies, to agricultural development and natural resource management, specifically in developing countries. Lindy Charlery is multilingual and brings to the table vast international experiences, with active networks in Asia, Australia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe, places he has both worked and conducted research.
Lindy holds an M.Sc. in Tropical Forestry and Management (Technical University of Dresden, Germany), M.Sc. in Agricultural Development (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) and Ph.D. in Environmental and Resource Economics (University of Copenhagen, Denmark; and University if Göttingen, Germany).
Job Titles:
- Advisor - Climate and Energy
Mathilde Brix Pedersen has broad international experience from her work within the area of clean energy, energy access and sustainable livelihoods. Her work includes project development in the wind power industry in Canada, policy analysis, research and consultancy work on energy access and poverty alleviation in Africa and South East Asia as well as non-profit entrepreneurship to empower homeless people.
Mathilde's research focuses on institutional, policy- and socio-economic aspects of clean energy diffusion in developing countries including the role of private entrepreneurs in rural electrification, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa. In her PhD, she looked at private business models to bring electricity to rural off-grid communities in East Africa/Kenya through solar-powered mini-grids.
She currently works on a project that will demonstrate the integration of a small wind turbine into a solar PV mini-grid for rural electrification with the aim to reduce cost of electricity and to support local value creation. More broadly, her work focuses on 1) stimulating large- scale diffusion of clean technologies through markets creation incentives 2) firm level and industry level process for diffusion, system building and upgrading 3) effects of rural electrification at the end-user level in regards to productive use, poverty aspects, power relations and livelihoods. Her research draws on the analytical perspectives of sustainability transitions, innovation systems, niche development, global value chain analysis, hybrid organisations, institutional logics, and planned interventions.
Job Titles:
- Chief Advisor, Outreach and Communications
- Communications Unit
Job Titles:
- Finance Assistant
- Finance Associate
Mino is a Finance Associate in the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre since April 2023. She is supporting the Administration Unit with Budget management and Financial analysis and reporting. She works with the Project managers and Team leads in maintaining the financial sustainability of the centre. She also contributes in financial and budget discussions with donors and in providing compliant reporting and further requirements.
Mino has been in Finance and Administration for more than 10 years and have developed her specific interest in Budget and awards while she was a Finance Officer with Save the Children International. Her main achievement is the implementation of the Finance and HR department of later's new office, where she completed the recruitment and induction of the new staff, implemented the procedures, created new tools and supported the Programme team in drafting and managing budgets.
Prior to joining the UNEP-CCC, Mino was the Finance Associate at World Food Programme Madagascar, where she acted as the focal point to the Cash Based Transfer activity and was involved in managing all matters related to the Cooperating Partners.
Mino completed a one year Master in Finance and holds a Bachelor's in Accounting from the National Institute of Accounting and Business Administration in Madagascar. She speaks Malagasy, French and English.
Job Titles:
- Environmental Economist With a
- Reviewer for Energy & Environment
Miriam is an environmental economist with a PhD in Energy Planning. She has 22 years experience in the field of sustainable development that includes research, elegant leadership, strategic planning and project management.
Miriam is a peer reviewer for Energy & Environment (multi-science) and Climate and Development.
Job Titles:
- Digital Officer - Digital Management and Design
Monna is the Digital Officer at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, responsible for the digital portfolio. Apart from that she carries out graphic- and digital design tasks, like layout of publications and flyers, design of digital tools, video editing and motion graphics and all kinds of graphic design for web and Social media.
Monna holds a Master in design from The Danish School of Design (now KADK) and has a background in various jobs in the field of digital- & graphic design, multimedia design, digital management etc.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor in the Impact Assessment and Adaptation Analysis Section
Job Titles:
- Senior Economist
- Head of Section, Institutional Development
Myung-Kyoon Lee is a senior economist at UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre. His main research interests are climate and energy policies, implementation of NDCs, carbon market, and international climate negotiation. Before rejoining UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (former UNEP DTU) in July 2018, he served the Korea Development Institute as a visiting senior fellow, focusing mainly on climate and energy policies of Korea.
From 2011 until 2016, as the Director of Knowledge Services of GGGI (Global Green Growth Institute) in Seoul, Korea, he had led Knowledge Development and Sharing, Knowledge Management and Capacity Development in GGGI. He also supported GGGI's operation on the ground for green growth by providing technical and management advice. He had been a professor in the faculty of environment at Keimyung University as well as Senior Economist at UNEP Risoe Center for Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development, where he managed its ‘Capacity Development for the CDM (CD4CDM)' programme and led its Climate Change cluster.
He has previously worked for Korea Energy Economics Institute, LG Economic Research Institute, and Korea Environment Institute. He received a B.A. in Economics from Seoul National University in Korea and AM and Ph.D. in Economics from Brown University in the USA. He has published widely on energy, environment, and development issues and has also served as a lead author of Working Group III of IPCC's AR5.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Advisor on Energy
Lakshmi is an Advisor on Energy and Climate at UNEP-CCC. With over 8 years' experience, she has worked at the intersection of research, policy advisory, and consultancy, in the areas of energy transition, sustainable development, technology transfer, and impact assessment.
Job Titles:
- Project Officer - Climate Technology
- Project Officer at UNEP - CCC
Paul is a Project officer at UNEP-CCC and has joined the Technology-Transitions and System Innovation Team in August 2021. His work focuses on the promotion and upscaling of climate technologies that support the strengthening of resilient and sustainable societies in developing countries. Here, he has a special focus on water related topics. Paul is currently engaged in the Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) project, supporting countries with identifying relevant climate technologies, as well as building capacity to harness their full potential.
Paul holds a MSc. in Human Security from Aarhus University and a Bachelor in Political Science from Freie Universität Berlin. Throughout his studies, Paul specialised on international climate diplomacy and cooperation as well as just transition. In this regard, he previously gained work experience in Saudi Arabia and South Africa, working with the Danish and German government on renewable energy and water management projects.
Paul is fluent in German, English and Spanish and is conversant in Danish.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant ( Inwards )
Pia joined UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre (former UNEP DTU) in 2008 and is the HR focal point. In this capacity, Pia's work focuses on assisting the Management, all personnel, PhD's, guests and students in HR related matters and is responsible for the PhD administration.
Pia coordinates most meetings involving UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre management at all levels (Management/Strategy/Sections), is handling the calendars of the Director and the Deputy Director, assisting both in travel related matters and furthermore, she support the Management and participants in COP related issues.
Pia is involved in the coordination of & support to general meetings and conferences at the UN City as she is the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre/UN City admin. focal point (also on security issues) and is responsible for the student workers. Last but not least, she assists all personnel in their day-to-day tasks.
Prior to joining UNEP DTU, Pia worked as Admin. Coordinator in the Danish Cancer Society after graduating from the Copenhagen Business School as bilingual correspondent in English & French in 1992.
Job Titles:
- Energy Sector Professional and Principal / Managing Consultant
- Senior Advisor - Energy Efficiency
Romanas Savickas is a senior Energy sector professional and Principal/Managing Consultant. His professional more than 25 years of intercontinental experience in the Private, Public & Academia sectors is grounded by theoretical knowledge and PhD degree in Energy and Thermal engineering.
Romanas Savickas is developing and managing Energy Efficiency and Climate Mitigation projects by utilising Integrated Energy Systems, District Heating, District Cooling, Renewable, Low Carbon, Buildings Energy Efficiency, Digitalisation and Hydrogen technologies, by collaborating with National / Local Governments to increase Energy Efficiency and reduce GHG emissions, creating, engaging and coordinating Public-Private-Academia Stakeholders groups. He also provides capacity building, training and other direct support to National and Local authorities, master planning, heating and cooling planning, identification of potential policy opportunities, including technical and financial estimates, development of long term Energy strategy. Activities include the development of Technical-Financial Feasibility Studies, Innovative Business Models, Legal/Regulatory/Policy, Socio-economic assessments, managing Projects of 20-250 mln. USD.
Romanas Savickas is the facilitator of Innovative and Digital Energy Technologies, author of "Interactive Actual Energy Consumption Map" for the Vilnius city, Lithuania (the winner of the Ist place in "Eurocities 2014" for the Innovation in the Energy under the Covenant of Mayors). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiVII7hqsl0
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Circular Economy
Job Titles:
- Head of Section, Technology - Transitions and System Innovation
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant ( Outwards )
Job Titles:
- Senior Scientist - Energy and Transport
Job Titles:
- Project Officer - Climate Transparency
Job Titles:
- Senior Economist - Finance
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Cities and Transport
Job Titles:
- Project Officer - Climate and Energy
Job Titles:
- Project Officer - Climate Change Adaptation
Job Titles:
- Project Officer - Climate and Energy
I am an energy engineer with an MSc in Sustainable Energy from the Technical University of Denmark. I specialize in thermal energy systems with a focus on district heating and cooling solutions. I am passionate about the green transition and want to contribute to achieving the 2050 energy targets. I have previous experience in developing linear and non-linear mathematical optimization tools to optimize the dispatch and management of district energy networks. I am currently assisting in projects related to development of rapid assessment and pre-feasibility tools for sustainable district energy projects.
Job Titles:
- Advisor - Climate and Energy
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Energy Efficiency and Finance