Experts & Staff

Leo is Director for International Cooperation at the World Resources Institute. Leo is responsible for managing WRI’s relationships with bilateral and multilateral development agencies. He acts as an ambassador for WRI within the international development community, and helps forge partnerships to support WRI’s mission as it expands its global reach on environment and development issues.

Leo comes to WRI with a rich background in programme and policy advisory roles in bilateral and multilateral development organisations. Prior to joining WRI, Leo served as Climate Change and Environment Adviser for the Africa region at the United Nations Development Programme, covering 45 countries. Before that he had served as an adviser to the British and Chinese governments and the World Bank, covering a range of technical and strategic issues linked to the environment-development nexus.

From 2006 to 2009, he helped develop and then coordinated a pioneering partnership between the UK and China on sustainable development, launched by Prime Ministers Blair and Wen, and involving 17 government ministries/agencies. In parallel, he co-founded the China Carbon Forum and led it to become a thriving professional association acting as the key interface between the business community and senior Chinese government decision-makers on climate policy issues.

Leo is fluent in four languages, and has published and been quoted in mainstream and specialist media on China’s development challenges (including the Financial Times, Reuters, The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, CNN, The Bangkok Post etc).