Preety Bhandari

Former Chief of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Theme, concurrently Director
, ADB
Profile / Bio: 

In her role at ADB, Preety was responsible for providing policy and strategic direction to ADB’s initiatives on climate change and disaster risk management, including mobilizing concessional financing from multilateral funds such as the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). She also had an oversight on climate financing from ADB’s own resources including through investments in private sector.  

Prior to joining ADB, she was heading the Finance, Technology and Capacity Building Program of the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. She led the support to the international negotiations on climate finance, which culminated in the launch of GCF and the Standing Committee on Finance. She coordinated the establishment of the Technology Mechanism under the Convention, which includes the Climate Technology Centre and Network.  

She has also worked as the Director of the Policy Analysis Division at TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) in India.  

She has over 30 years of experience in environment, climate change and sustainable development, having worked on projects across Asia, and in multicultural and diverse organizations. She is on the editorial board of Climate Policy and has in the past served as a member of the core group on climate change, established by the Government of India to assess India’s strategy for the UN climate change negotiations. She has also helped adjudicate for the Climate CoLab at MIT, which mobilizes and harnesses innovative ideas to address the challenge of climate change. She is currently advising initiatives led by the 2050 Pathways Platform. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee to the project on Mobilizing Development Finance for strategic and scaled-up investment in adaptation, being coordinated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. In 2020, she has joined the Board of the Gold Standard Foundation and also the IIASA-ISC Advisory Board on the Consultative Science Platform, Bouncing Forward Sustainably: Pathways to a post-COVID World. 

She left her position in ADB in September 2021.

Materials

Title Date Learning Materials Topic
Enhancing adaptation and Resilience Investments 22 July 2021 Slides Climate Change, Energy, Environment
Panel Discussion 24 March 2021 Slides Agriculture and Natural Resources
ADB Operational Priority 3: Tackling Climate Change, Disaster Resilience, and Environmental Sustainability 03 September 2019 Slides ADB Administration and Governance, Climate Change, Disaster Risk Management, Environment
Climate Change: The Politics of Action and Finance 20 September 2018 Slides Capacity Development, Climate Change, Disaster Risk Management, Finance
21st Conference of the Parties: What are the Implications for Local Governments? 09 August 2017 Slides Climate Change, Governance and Public Sector Management
UN Climate Change Conference: Outcomes and Implications 01 December 2016 Multimedia Climate Change, Environment
UN Climate Change Conference: Outcomes and Implications 01 December 2016 Slides Climate Change, Environment
UN Climate Change Conference: Outcomes and Implications 01 December 2016 Multimedia Climate Change, Environment
Localizing Global Agendas: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Action 27 September 2016 Slides Climate Change, Disaster Risk Management
Climate Finance: Getting the Numbers Right 17 March 2016 Slides Climate Change, Finance
Innovations for Strengthening Disaster Resilience 19 May 2015 Slides Climate Change, Disaster Risk Management, Poverty
ADB Climate Change Program Overview 12 March 2014 Slides Climate Change, Disaster Risk Management
Public-Private Partnerships and Climate Change for Green Cities 07 June 2013 Slides Public-Private Partnership, Climate Change, Urban Development
Climate Finance Architecture and the Green Climate Fund 11 April 2013 Slides Climate Change, Environment, Finance
ADB Climate Change Program Overview 21 March 2013 Slides Climate Change, Finance
The Mosaic of Climate Finance 13 September 2012 Slides Climate Change, Finance, Environment