Dr. Richard Munang

Dr. Richard Munang is the Africa Regional Climate Change Coordinator at the UN Environment. He is responsible for guiding the actualization of UN Environments climate resilient development strategy for Africa in a manner that ensures human wellbeing. He is leading a continental wide strategic and innovative approach to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) implementation ensuring climate aims of mitigation & adaptation are realized simultaneously with leading socioeconomic priorities of countries. By this, elevate climate action beyond a silo regulatory obligation as classically pitched to becoming an enabler of priority socioeconomic development. This approach is incentivizing demand driven, country-led shift to the low emissions development pathway across Africa.

He has won many awards including but not limited to: the first person to win the prestigious African Environmental Hero Award 2016, he is the 2016 winner of UNEP's recognition highest award, the Baobab staff awards for Programme Innovation. He has been involved in enhancing human and institutional capacity building skills, as well as mentoring and empowering young professionals through the EBAFOSA country-driven model, allowing national stakeholders and institutions to lead in policy and ground actions, transferring continentally and globally sourced best practices to countries which in the processes have helped built both human and institutional capacities. Mentorship being a key pillar of any sustainable programming, he has mentored more than 5 million African youth to optimally apply the skills and knowledge acquired in class towards solving Africa’s environmental and development challenges. He has participated in a wide variety of research projects and has published over 500 articles in both international peer reviewed journal and magazines.  Dr. Munang holds a PhD in Environmental Change & Policy from the University of Nottingham and Executive Certificate in Climate Change and Energy Policy from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.”.