Individual Researchers

  1. A. Ariyasuthan

    An individual with gravitas and a proven track record of successful project management, training, business consultancies, evaluation and capacity building through methodical, thorough and diligent work and able to adapt positively to any challenges that arise, also comfortable at making sometimes difficult decisions and taking ownership of key issues. Over 20 year field experience working in fragile, conflict, post conflict and transitional phases in Sri Lanka in all districts in different capacities by incorporating gender equality and diversity, disabled community, female headed household, environment, vulnerable youth and children into the project interventions as primary cross cutting themes.

  2. Betony Jones

    Betony Jones is an independent researcher in Berkeley, California. She conducts research on the economic and employment impacts of climate policies. She is particularly interested in the distributional aspects of climate policy impacts, and believes that the socio-economic impacts of climate policy shape the politics, and to build broad-based political support for economy-wide decarbonisation, climate change research needs to focus more on the social, economic, and political dimensions. Previously, she was the Associate Director of the UC Berkeley Labor Center Green Economy program. She has degrees from Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the University of Michigan.

  3. Hakan Ercan

    Dr. Hakan Ercan is currently employed by the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, at the Department of Economics. He specializes in the study of Turkish labour markets with emphasis on employment incentives and youth employment. He has recently chaired the Employment Commission for the Ministry of Development, in the preparation of the next medium term Development Plan of Turkey. His interest in green jobs started with a background paper for the Ankara ILO office for the first GAIN meeting in Geneva. He jointly teaches a core course for the Earth Systems Science graduate program at the Middle East Technical University. Mr. Ercan holds an economics Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.

  4. Hussein Abaza

    Dr. Hussein Abaza is currently the Senior Advisor to the Egyptian Minister of Environment as well as the Advisor to the Minister of Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform. Previously, he worked for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) from 1982 to 2009. While at UNEP, he was responsible for formulating and overseeing the implementation of the UNEP Economics and Trade Programme, led the team which conceptualized and launched the UNEP Green Economy initiative, and functioned as the Special Assistant to UNEP’s Executive Director. Mr. Abaza Founded the Centre for Sustainable Development Solutions in 2011 with the main objectives of promoting green economy and sustainable development, with particular focus on Egypt and the Middle East.

  5. Joaquim Bento

    J.Bento is Professor at Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”, University of São Paulo, Brazil. His research interests focus on the economic modeling of the Brazilian economy, to analyze impacts of economic and environmental policies overall effects, with a regional detail inside the country. His present research fields include the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the Brazilian commitments to COP21, deforestation reduction and the implementation of the new Brazilian Forest Code, and of the related different energy scenarios. Has a degree in Agronomy, masters in Applied Economics, PhD in Economics at University of São Paulo, Brazil, and a post-doc stage at Centre of Policy Studies (Victoria University, Australia).

  6. Lizhen Xu

    Lizhen Xu is a Senior Green Jobs Specialist. With over 15 years of experience in the fields of environmental projects and Human Resources Management in both the United Nations System and the private sector, her objective is to contribute to a low-carbon and Circular Economy by helping ease the skill gaps in the energy sector. She is the author of the EU Renewable Energy jobs barometer. Her area of research focuses on identifying skills, competencies critical in the energy transition process. Ms. Xu holds a Master in Labour Sciences from the Louvain University, Belgium (Magna Cum Laude).

  7. Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu

    Prof Chitiga-Mabugu is currently Director and Head of the School of Public Management and Administration of the University of Pretoria. Previously, she was the Executive Director of Economic Performance and Development at the Human Sciences Research Council. Her research interests are in tracing and analysing the effects of government policies on households and on the broader economy, based on the application of various modelling approaches. She has extensive professional experience materialised in a long list of published reports, co-authoring more than 20 client research studies, and university teaching and PhD supervision while in her earlier appointment at the University of Pretoria. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

  8. Mijin Cha

    J. Mijin Cha is an Assistant Professor at Occidental College, Urban and Environmental Policy department and a Fellow at the Worker Institute, Cornell University. Prior to coming to Occidental, Prof. Cha spent a decade working with non-profit organizations and think tanks to advance green economy, climate justice, and voting reform policy at the local, state, and federal levels. Her current research agenda focuses on climate justice and the transition to a low carbon economy with a specific focus on just transition for fossil fuel communities and workers. Prof. Cha is a graduate of Cornell University, holds a J.D. from the Univ. of California, Hastings and LLM and PhD degrees from the Univ. of London, SOAS.

  9. Mwala Lubinda

    Mr. Lubinda is current pursuing a PhD in Economics focusing on understand the growth-inequality-poverty nexus using independent and recursive Macro-Micro Models. Also, he is a researcher/lecturer in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Windhoek Namibia. His two main research areas are (i) the investigation of the economy-environment nexuses and macroeconomic modelling for policy analysis, and (ii) green growth, green jobs and the green economy. Specifically, he is interested in the generation of green economy statistics that can be used for the design, implementation and evaluation of green policies. He holds an MSc in Agriculture Economics.

  10. Lilia Couto

    Lilia Caiado is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London. Her main research goal is to assess the socioeconomic impacts of increasing the share of alternative renewable sources in the electricity mix in Brazil. Previously, Lilia has worked as a consultant for the United Nations Environmental Program and Vivid Economics and the Institute for Applied Economic Research, and as the coordinator for climate change, energy and sustainable finance of the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development. Lilia holds a B.Sc. in Economics and a Masters in Energy Planning from the Federal University of Rio the Janeiro.

  11. Fiona Tregenna

    Fiona Tregenna holds the South African Research Chair in Industrial Development and is a Professor in the Department of Economics and Econometrics at the University of Johannesburg. Fiona’s primary area of research is on structural change, with a particular focus on deindustrialisation. She has published on topics including: the specificity of the manufacturing sector as an engine of growth, intersectoral linkages, heterogeneity of activities within sectors, various aspects of deindustrialisation, intersectoral outsourcing, and employment intensity. Fiona has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge, a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), and earlier degrees from the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal).

  12. Ling FENG

    Dr. Ling FENG is an associate professor at the Chinese Academy of Personal Science. She has gained Master and Doctoral degrees in environmental education in the UK. When she worked as a researcher for the Chinese Academy of Personal Science in the past 13 years, she has carried out a few green workforce development projects which involve wide communication with public and private sectors. She has experiences of lecturing on the topic of Poverty Alleviation Through Promoting Green Employment. In particular, she was responsible for drafting the ministers’ declaration on the issue of green jobs for the 2022 BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting. In 2023, she attended the 111th International Labour Conference General Discussion Committee on a Just Transition, where she delivered speeches as a Chinese government representative, and took part in the preparation of the draft outcome document of the Committee as an ASPAG representative.