Director, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division

 

 

 

 

The world is getting warmer. And, even if the Paris Agreement goals are achieved, we may still see a temperature increase of more than two degrees, the benchmark established by climate scientists to avoid a climate catastrophe. For this reason, strengthening the resilience of households, communities, businesses and countries to combat climate change is not a choice but a dire necessity, especially in the Asia and the Pacific.

 

Preety Bhandari, Director of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division at the Asian Development Bank, will discuss ADB's strategic directions to build resilience to climate and disaster risks, weaving in the physical infrastructure, the natural environment, and the social and financial elements of resilience.

 

About the Speaker

 

Preety Bhandari is currently the Director for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department (SDCC) at ADB, and also serving as Chief of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management thematic group. She is responsible for providing policy and strategic direction to ADB's climate change program and leads the work on climate finance, with a particular focus on accessing finance from the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Coordination of ADB's activities in disaster risk management is also part of her portfolio. 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.