Yasar is the Knowledge Officer in the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF), a joint initiative of C40 and GIZ which facilitates access to finance for climate change mitigation and resilience projects in urban areas. In his role, Yasar is part of the delivery of the CFF’s City Academy on Finance and Equity (CAFE) and other knowledge dissemination activities. Yasar joined C40 in November 2022 as an intern working across the Climate Action Implementation and CFF teams, where he supported coordination across the teams and the delivery of events. Before joining C40, Yasar completed his Master’s degree in World History at the University of Cambridge, writing on Kwame Nkrumah and Pan-Africanism in post-colonial Ghana, and before that completed his undergraduate degree in History at the University of Oxford. Prior to C40, he worked with the Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign and Starfish Greathearts.
Aditi Maheshwari has been addressing climate change from both a public and private sector perspective for over 20 years. She currently serves as the Managing Director for Climate Action Implementation at C40, where she leads new programme design and delivery and funder engagement for major urban climate action programmes spanning multiple regions and sectors. Her remit also covers the management of existing programmes, including the Cities Finance Facility, Laneshift and UCAP CAI.
She was previously part of the leadership team of IFC’s Climate Business Department, where her areas of focus included sustainable cooling and decarbonisation of heavy industries. Prior to this appointment, she was the Director for Climate Action in the UN Secretary General’s Executive Office. Aditi’s role there was to lead stakeholder engagement to advance climate action in key sectors and deliver on coalitions and initiatives launched at the Climate Action Summit in 2019, prioritising energy and industry transition, cities, transport, resilience, and nature-based solutions.
Preceding this she was a Senior Operations Officer at IFC, mobilising private capital for climate investments in developing countries. She led initiatives to promote private sector investment aligned with national climate plans, and supported businesses to manage carbon risks and capitalise on opportunities. Her publication credits include co-authoring IFC’s Green Buildings: A Finance and Policy Blueprint for Emerging Markets and leading IFC’s flagship report on Climate Investment Opportunities in Cities. Aditi has held other climate and clean energy-related roles at the World Bank, DFID and the South African National Treasury while on an ODI Fellowship. She holds an MSc in Environmental and Resource Economics from University College London.
Daisy is the Programme Officer for the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF), a joint initiative of C40 Cities and GIZ that drives access to finance for climate change mitigation and resilience projects in urban areas. In her role, Daisy facilitates programme management, planning, reporting, and coordination across global and regional teams. She also contributes to the design and delivery of the CFF’s work to integrate equity and inclusion in sustainable infrastructure projects.
Prior to joining C40, Daisy worked for nearly ten years at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where she was responsible for developing briefings and speeches for senior officials. She researched and authored anti-bribery peer reviews and publications, and co-designed key launches and high-level multi-stakeholder events. She also contributed to the integration of gender considerations in the 2021 OECD Anti-Bribery Recommendation, adopted by the 44 countries Party to the Anti-Bribery Convention.
Daisy recently completed her MSc in Human Rights at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she focused on gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. She holds a BA in French from the University of London Institute in Paris and speaks English and French. She also volunteers at the LGBT+ helpline, Switchboard.
Guillermo is the Inclusive Climate Action Senior Manager, UCAP CAI/CFF, supporting integrating and mainstreaming inclusive climate action across different programmes.
Prior to C40, he worked in different public sector roles in Mexico and Australia. He lived over six years in Melbourne (Australia) where he studied urban planning and had the opportunity to work in designing sustainable transport policies across different government settings, including the Victorian Parliament, Glen Eira City Council, and the Victoria State Government.
In Mexico, he worked for over five years in the departments of the environment at Guadalajara City Council and Jalisco State Government across different policy areas, including waste management, climate change, and air quality.
Guillermo holds a Master’s in Urban Planning from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Engineering from ITESO university (Guadalajara, Mexico).
Marina serves as Knowledge Manager for the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF) and is responsible for the creation and delivery of training modules, tools, resources, and guides to support the mainstreaming of equity and inclusion (E&I) throughout the CFF’s work.
Prior to joining C40, Marina was the Technical Director of Despacio.org in Colombia, where she led consultancy projects that promote urban development and sustainable urban transport in Latin America. She co-founded the Mujeres en Movimiento – Women in Motion (WIM) Initiative in 2018 and has coordinated it since then to strengthen women’s leadership through training, network building, and research. She has also worked in Brazil at FGV Projetos and ISER on regional and participatory urban planning.
Marina holds an M.Sc. in Urban Management from the Technische Universität Berlin, and a BA in International Relations from PUC-Rio.
Connor serves as Project Officer in C40’s Inclusive Climate Action team. In this role, he is responsible for supporting the Global Green New Deal pilot cities in technical assistance activities, knowledge production, coordination, procurement, and funder reporting.
Prior to this, Connor worked at the Rainforest Foundation UK for two years supporting Real Time Monitoring projects in Central Africa and Peru. The projects aimed to equip indigenous forest peoples with technology to monitor illegal extractive activities taking place on their lands. Prior to this, Connor worked as part of the operations team at the recycling company TerraCycle.
Connor holds an MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development from UCL, joining the already quite big UCL alumni group we have at C40. The course focused on urban planning in the Global South and included a research project in Freetown, examining the cycles of risk experienced by communities living in informal settlements.
As Senior Programme Officer, Climate Action Implementation, Euan is responsible for supporting programme management, planning and coordination across global and regional C40 teams, developing funding and project proposals for new and existing government donors.
Prior to joining C40, Euan worked as a consultant, leading research and analysis within urban resilience projects in East Africa and Southeast Asia for clients including the FCDO, UCLG and Mercy Corps. He was also engaged as a consultant and intern with UN-Habitat in the Asia-Pacific region, supporting country-level and regional urban programmes and projects at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He is passionate about the role of youth and local government in advancing the SDGs and climate justice in cities through his membership in YOUNGO, the youth constituency of the UNFCCC. As a Cities Working Group representative, he has been fortunate enough to co-lead an event at the World Urban Forum (WUF) and produce policy briefs and demands for successive Global Youth Statements forwarded to the COP presidency.
Euan holds a BA in Geography and an MA in Cities and Global Development from the University of Sheffield, where he conducted award-winning research into a new eco-city in Lagos, Nigeria and fieldwork in the informal markets and settlements of Durban, South Africa.
Wilmar is C40’s Programme Manager for Energy. He is a sustainable energy specialist with experience leading initiatives funded by multilateral organizations, international cooperation agencies and national governments in Latin America and the Caribbean.
For more than 10 years, Wilmar has managed multi-stakeholder processes involving national and local governments, NGOs, donors, and financial institutions. Working as a public official, consultant, researcher and programme manager, he has managed policies and structured and developed projects and studies to promote a low-carbon energy transition in the region.
He has led initiatives for energy access for rural families, use of renewable energy for agribusiness, design of energy efficiency standards for buildings, implementation of energy management systems, design of decarbonization scenarios and energy planning, and energy-efficient street lighting, among others.
Wilmar is a Colombian Energy Engineer, with postgraduate studies in Energy Sources Management, and holds an MSc in Energy Policy from the University of Sussex.
Beatrice serves as the Regional Engagement Manager for Asia at C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF). Before joining C40, she spearheaded courses and workshops to improve Philippine public services and processes’ responsiveness and efficiency and support the government’s public-sector innovation thrust. To do this, she designed courses on citizen-centred service design and collaborated with partners to introduce experimentation.
She has long experience in the public sector as a project manager and researcher, delivering capability development and knowledge management interventions for the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region. She led campaigns to promote the Philippine government’s disaster resilience framework and assistance programs and documented local governments’ preparedness and response strategies. During this time, she also coached local officials on creating and planning development projects on wildlife conservation, climate adaptation, health, and food safety and security, among others.
Beatrice earned a BA in History from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Certificate in Social Sciences and the Humanities from Sciences Po Paris. She is also certified by the Asian Productivity Organization as a Public-Sector Productivity Specialist. She spends her free time volunteering for youth engagement and human rights education programs.
As Head of Implementation in Latin America, Sarah is responsible for the rollout of C40’s UCAP Climate Action Implementation (CAI) Programme in five C40 cities in Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Sarah has worked in the past 13 years in environmental sustainability and climate change both in the private and public sectors.
As the climate change advisor for the Secretary of Environment of the city of Bogotá, Sarah led and coordinated the formulation of the city’s CAP. Prior to this, she was the leader of the Building Energy Efficiency Accelerator program of the World Resources Institute in Bogotá and Colombia, while working at the Colombian Green Building Council. She also supported the Climate Change strategy for the Housing and Urban sector at the Ministry of Housing, Cities and Territory of Colombia and her first experience in the public sector was at the National Natural Parks office as a sustainable architect and project manager.
In the private sector she has worked as a bioclimatic and environmental sustainability advisor for architectural projects and founded an office for sustainable drainage and water recycling in Bogotá.
Sarah is an architect and holds a specialization in environmental engineering from Los Andes University in Bogotá and a MSc in sustainable design from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.
Bryn joins C40 from the humanitarian aid sector and has worked in disaster risk reduction and humanitarian responses across East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. His most recent work has been with Save the Children in Syria, where he served as Director of Program Operations overseeing program implementation across the country.
Before joining the Climate Finance Facility, he worked with International Rescue Committee and Danish Refugee Council in developing city and municipality-led responses to forced migration and urban displacement. He supported the Greater Amman Municipality in developing and implementing their Amman Resilience Strategy to create a more prosperous and inclusive city for Jordanians, migrants and refugees alike. Earlier in his career, Bryn led community-driven development and local governance programming to support post-conflict reconstruction efforts in over 1,000 villages in eastern DR Congo.
He holds a BA in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University and an LLM in International Law and Forced Migration from the Brussels School of International Studies. Bryn is married and a father of two children, six and three, and is living in southern Copenhagen. Outside of work, he enjoys hockey, roller skating, writing and yoga.
Wyda is a Programme Officer for C40’s UCAP Climate Action Implementation (CAI) Programme in the Southeast Asia team. She supports programme management, planning and coordination across the Climate Action Implementation team and with other global C40 teams. Wyda holds an M.Eng in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia.
Wyda has worked with various consulting firms on spatial planning and has broadened her experience on the social aspects of the palm oil and timber sectors through her work with the Earthworm Foundation. She has experience assisting more than 50 palm oil and timber producers in meeting sustainability standards, focusing on the social aspects.
Before joining C40, Wyda worked as NDPE (No Deforestation, No Peat Development, and No Exploitation) policy implementation lead in one of POSCO International’s subsidiaries, a Korean multinational corporation based in Indonesia.
Selina serves as the Director of Climate Action Implementation at C40. Before this she was City Finance Programme Director & Head of the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF), responsible for C40’s work on supporting cities to access finance to deliver their climate plans, leading the CFF C40 team, and overseeing this UNFCCC award-winning project preparation facility, which is delivered with our partners GIZ.
Prior to joining C40, Selina held a number of international climate and development roles in the UK civil service. Most recently, she led the team that developed the UK’s successful bid to secure COP26 Presidency. Other roles included the Head of the Programme Management Office which delivered the £3.3bn BEIS International Climate Fund and serving as the International Climate Fund’s forests monitoring lead. Prior to her work in international climate, Selina worked in Zimbabwe for the Department for International Development (DFID), leading on the WASH, Education and Humanitarian Programmes. Selina is based in London and studied Human Sciences at Oxford University.
Omar serves as Global Head of UCAP Climate Action Implementation Programme, within the Climate Action Implementation Team. In this role, he is responsible for providing overall programme management support and guidance to the three regions participating in the programme: Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa.
Prior to joining C40, Omar worked with INGOs such as Mercy Corps, Institute for Sustainable Communities and World Vision, as well as UNEP and UN-Habitat. He worked for several years in South and South East Asia, providing technical support to sub-national level governments on projects related to climate change mitigation, resilience building and green growth. Previously, Omar worked in Eritrea on an initiative to reforest the desert and produce food with seawater crops, planting over a million mangroves along the Red Sea for animal fodder and carbon credits.
Omar has a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from ITESO University in Guadalajara, Mexico, and a Master’s degree in Environment and Sustainable Development from University College London.
Martina serves as Regional Engagement Manager for LATAM at C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF). She was previously the City Adviser for Buenos Aires, Argentina, as part of C40 Climate Action Planning Programme, where she successfully delivered a Paris Agreement compatible Climate Action Plan for the city.
Prior to joining C40, Martina was Deputy Chief Resilience Officer at the Buenos Aires City Government, where she coordinated and managed the development of the first Resilience Strategy for the city. Martina also worked at a national level, as Coordinator for International Organisations at the Secretariat of Civil Protection, Emergencies and Catastrophes of the Argentinian National Government, where she was responsible for managing internationally funded projects related with disaster risk reduction to implement in Argentina affected regions.
During her master’s studies in London, she developed a humanitarian consultancy project in Ethiopia. She holds a Degree in International Studies by Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (Buenos Aires) and a MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she attended as a Chevening Scholar awarded by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Mehrnaz joined C40 in 2018 to help set up the flagship Inclusive Climate Action Programme. In 2021 she transitioned to the Climate Action Directorate and currently is the Head of the C40 Cities Finance Facility where she is responsible for strategy development, program design and funder engagement for major urban climate action programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, exploring ways to finance a just transition. She has 15 years of experience working on the nexus of climate change and socio-economic development in cities. Prior to joining C40, Mehrnaz spent over a decade working in the public, private and third sectors as a designer and a global urban development specialist, focusing particularly on matters related to climate change and planetary health, equity and inclusion, urban health, and urban economics.
Mehrnaz trained as an architect and holds an MPhil in Urban and Environmental Design in Architecture from the University of Cambridge, and her PhD at UCL focused on city and science diplomacy, and emerging forms of international urban governance to drive action toward planetary health. She holds several advisory positions with WHO, WRI, Google, Wellcome Trust, NGOs, and foundations. She has been a regular lecturer at universities in the UK and internationally helping design and deliver a number of executive and higher education courses.
Ingrid serves as Director for the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF), leading the CFF C40 team of this UNFCCC award-winning project preparation facility, which is delivered with C40 partner GIZ.
Previously, Ingrid was Head of the Climate Action Planning South East Asia, within the Measurement and Planning team. In this role, she was responsible for leading the climate action planning of South-East Asian cities of C40 to align their climate action programs with the Paris Agreement to be carbon neutral by 2050.
Prior to joining C40, Ingrid worked for Mott MacDonald where she led their Cities Practice in the Middle East, helped establish their Cities Practice in Southeast Asia and provided advisory services on infrastructure investment with a particular focus on public-private partnerships. She has worked on a multitude of project finance deals globally across a wide range of sectors and on many strategic master-planning advisory assignments. Ingrid holds a master’s degree in engineering-architecture, with a specialisation in urban development from KULeuven, Belgium and is also a certified APMG PPP professional (fellow).
Fernanda serves as Programme Manager for the Climate Action Implementation team. In this role, she supports the design and delivery of the Accelerated Implementation strategy and facilitates internal coordination across global and regional teams. Previously, Fernanda acted as Programme Manager for the Climate Action Planning Programme in Latin America, supporting the 9 cities of the region in delivering Paris Agreement-compliant plans. Prior to joining C40, Fernanda worked as National Coordinator to the Governors’ Task Force for Climate and Forest in Brazil, supporting the nine states of the Brazilian Amazon in the international and national climate agenda. She also worked as Executive Secretary to the Conservation Finance Alliance. Fernanda holds a BA in International Relations from PUC-Rio and an MSc inDevelopment Studies from the London School of Economics.
Aris is the Head of Knowledge and Partnerships for the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF), a joint initiative of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and GIZ. The CFF facilitates access to finance for climate change mitigation and resilience projects in urban areas. In his role, Aris collects, manages and disseminates all knowledge generated in CFF-supported projects, which include cycling infrastructure in Bogotá, electric buses in Mexico City, and community-led ecosystem-based adaptation in Durban. Aris holds a MSc in Environmental Policy and Regulation from LSE and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of York and the University of California, San Diego. Prior to joining C40, Aris worked for Carbon Analytics, an environmental accounting start-up, and for ABC Trust, an Anglo-Brazilian NGO helping children in Brazilian cities.