Steering Committee

Chief Investment Officer, Green Climate Fund

Amer Baig brings to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) over 30 years of experience in investment banking, investment management and financial services. Prior to joining GCF, Mr Baig was a partner and co-founder of a private investment firm and previously worked at the World Bank Group developing innovative financial products and mobilising capital across both private and public sectors. Earlier in his career, he worked in investment banking at Standard Chartered and Lazard, focusing on strategic and M&A transactions, capital markets and restructurings.

Mr Baig has also served as an external expert on the Working Group for Connectivity for the UN’s Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Infrastructure and currently serves on the board of directors of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. He holds an economics degree from Durham University.

President and CEO, World Resources Institute

Author of “The New Global Possible”

Ani Dasgupta is President and CEO of the World Resources Institute and author of “The New Global Possible: Rebuilding Optimism in the Age of Climate Crisis”. At WRI, he spearheads global efforts to drive systemic change across people, nature and climate. Mr Dasgupta is a widely recognised leader in climate solutions, finance, sustainable cities and poverty alleviation. His work is often featured in global media outlets including the New York Times, TIME Magazine, Associated Press and the Financial Times. He became CEO of WRI in 2021 after seven years as Global Director of the WRI Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities. Prior to joining WRI, Mr Dasgupta spent two decades at the World Bank.

Former President of the United Nations General Assembly Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Defence of Ecuador

Her Excellency María Fernanda Espinosa is an Ecuadorian academic, diplomat and global leader in multilateral affairs. She served as the 73rd President of the United Nations General Assembly, becoming the fourth woman and the first from Latin America and the Caribbean to hold this position. She also served twice as Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, as Minister of National Defence, and as the country’s first female Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

Earlier in her career, Ms Espinosa worked closely with indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon and served as Regional Director for South America at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Ms Espinosa is President of Cities Alliance, Vice-President of the UN Council of Presidents of the General Assembly, and Executive Director of GWL Voices, currently on leave while pursuing her candidacy for United Nations Secretary-General. She also serves on several international advisory bodies including the International Crisis Group and the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre, and is a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Human Security and the High-Level Advisory Council of the UN Alliance of Civilisations, among others.

Her distinctions include the Eleanor Roosevelt Award and recognition among the BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women.

Senior Adviser to the United Nations Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition

Suzanne Johnson is a global policy, finance and sustainability expert who brings together business, finance and government to advance investment in the ocean economy as a way to positively impact nature, climate and people. As Senior Adviser to the United Nations Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition, she leads sustainable ocean-finance efforts, working with corporations, investors, governments, development finance and UN institutions to support a sustainable and productive ocean economy. Her work focuses on aligning investment returns with long-term environmental and societal benefits, including through investment frameworks and blue-bond guidance that help translate sustainability commitments into capital flows. 

Ms Johnson also serves as Senior Adviser to Lloyd’s Register Foundation on sustainability and ocean-economy matters. Previously, she was Vice-President of Corporate and External Affairs at Lloyd’s Register. Her career spans public policy, investment management and energy, including serving as Special Assistant to Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, former US Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She holds an MBA from Wharton (University of Pennsylvania).

CEO, We Mean Business Coalition

María Mendiluce is CEO of We Mean Business Coalition (WMBC), leading global efforts to drive corporate action towards net zero. To date, WMBC has mobilised over 20,000 companies to commit to Paris-aligned emissions reductions.

Ms Mendiluce is an energy economist and serves on the Board of the Science Based Targets initiative. She is a co-founder of the SME Climate Hub and co-leads the Women Leading on Climate Network. Previously Managing Director of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, she also held senior positions in both the government and energy sectors. Ms Mendiluce is among TIME’s 100 most influential climate leaders and has received numerous international awards for her leadership in sustainability and climate action. She holds a PhD in energy economics.

CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All Co-Chair of UN-Energy

Damilola Ogunbiyi is Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. Her work centres on ending energy poverty and advancing a just and equitable energy transition.

She leads SEforALL’s engagement with governments, financiers and development partners on electricity access, clean cooking and sustainable energy planning. She also co-chairs the Mission 300 Joint Working Group, which supports efforts to expand electricity access across Africa.

Before joining SEforALL, she became the first woman to lead Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency. There, she initiated the Nigerian Electrification Project, a joint World Bank and African Development Bank programme, and developed the Energizing Economies Initiative. Earlier, she led the Lagos State Electricity Board, overseeing decentralised energy projects for hospitals, schools and government facilities.

Her advisory roles include the World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab and the European Investment Bank’s Climate and Environment Advisory Council.

Executive Director, Global Commission on the Economics of Water Professor of Water-Cycle Diplomacy and Design, Delft University of Technology

Henk Ovink is Professor of Water-Cycle Diplomacy and Design at Delft University of Technology. He is the founding Commissioner and Executive Director of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. He is also Honorary Lecturer at Mariana Mazzucato’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London, and Senior Fellow at Wageningen University on green water research and diplomacy. Mr Ovink is Chair of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Board of Governors.

He was the first-ever Global Water Ambassador for over eight years, and Ambassador to the United Nations to co-lead the second UN Water Conference in 2023.  Mr Ovink served on President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force where he led the long-term innovation, resilience and rebuilding efforts. He developed and led the “Rebuild by Design” competition and initiated the National Disaster Resilience Competition. Before joining the Task Force, he was both Acting Director-General of Spatial Planning and Water Affairs and Director National Spatial Planning for the Netherlands after multiple roles in education, research and the private sector, starting with his own start-up for planning, design and innovation.

Special Adviser to the President of the Inter-American Development Bank

Avinash Persaud is Special Adviser to the President of the Inter-American Development Bank. Mr Persaud has over 30 years of experience in finance, public policy and academia. Prior to this appointment in January 2024, he was Special Climate Envoy to the Prime Minister of Barbados and an architect of the “Bridgetown Initiative” that played an instrumental role in helping to set the international financial-reform agenda in recent years.

Mr Persaud is a member of the High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance of the COP26, 27 and 28 presidencies and a member of the Independent Expert Group on Debt, Nature and Climate, established by the governments of Colombia, France, Germany and Kenya. He previously served as Chair of the Caribbean Community's Commission on the Economy and Commissioner of the UN Commission on Financial Reform.  Prior to his public-policy roles, Mr Persaud was a senior executive at several major banks including J.P. Morgan, State Street and UBS.

Mr Persaud has authored numerous academic publications with particular emphasis on financial policy. An Emeritus Professor of Gresham College in the United Kingdom, he is also 2024 Perry World Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, former Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute and winner of the Jacques de Larosière Award in Global Finance for his work on financial-risk management and systemic crises.