VCMI at COP26

Rachel Kyte

Rachel Kyte is the 14th Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University. A 2002 graduate of Fletcher’s Global Master of Arts Program (GMAP) and a professor of practice at the school since 2012, Rachel is the first woman to lead the nation’s oldest graduate-only school of international affairs, which attracts students from all corners of the globe and at all stages of their careers.

Prior to joining Fletcher, Rachel served as special representative of the UN secretary-general and chief executive officer of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). She previously was a World Bank Group vice president and special envoy for climate change, leading the run-up to the Paris Agreement. She was also vice president at the International Finance Corporation responsible for ESG risk and business advisory services.

In her UN role and as CEO of SEforALL, a public-private platform created by the UN and World Bank, Rachel led efforts to promote and finance clean, reliable and affordable energy as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She served as co-chair of UN Energy.

In the 2020 UK New Year Honours, Rachel was appointed as CMG for her services to sustainable energy and combating climate change.

Rachel is a member of the UN secretary-general’s high level advisory group on climate action, and an advisor to the UK government on climate diplomacy. Rachel is chair of the Rwanda Green Fund and chair of the ESG committee of the board of the Private Infrastructure Development Group. She served as an advisor to Spain’s foreign minister on digitalization and diplomacy and co-chairs a global multistakeholder task force on financial principles for a green recovery. She serves on several not-for-profit boards and advises private sector in areas of climate, energy and sustainable development.

A British citizen, Rachel earned her undergraduate degree in history and politics from the University of London. She is a regular contributor on global media. Rachel has received numerous awards for leadership in climate and sustainable development and was named by Time magazine as one of the 15 women leading climate action.

Tariye Gbadegesin

Tariye is the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investment LTD. An investment professional with over 20 years’ experience in finance, principal investments, and infrastructure, Tariye has mobilized over US$3 billion of capital for infrastructure projects in Africa.

Tariye is a member of the Advisory Council of the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington D.C., the Advisory Committee on Infrastructure for the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), and the Technical Working Group on Finance and Investment for the United Nations High Level Dialogue on Energy.

Tariye was on the founding team to establish the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a pan African Development Finance Institution with US$6 billion under management where she led several of AFC’s investments in the sectors of power, transport, industrials, & telecommunications. Tariye previously led the US$800 million Industrial and Telecommunications Infrastructure business at AFC.

Her global experience includes roles at the International Monetary Fund, the Boston Consulting Group, & Price Waterhouse Coopers. Tariye holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Amherst College, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal is the global leader of Climate & Energy at WWF-International. He has 35 years of experience in environmental law and policy and previously served as Minister of the Environment of Peru (2011 to 2016) and President of the Twentieth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – COP20 in 2014.

Manuel was the Executive Director of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law, an influential institution in Latin America. He has a law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, where he is a professor, and completed a master’s degree in Business Law at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas. He is a board member of Forest Trends, Amazon Conservation Association and Peruvian Society of Environmental Law, and a member of the Assembly of the World Wide Fund for Nature – Colombia.

He is part of the Aspen Institute Management and Leadership Advisory Group, chairman of the evaluation council of the French sovereign Green Bonds, a Global Ambassador for the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience initiatives, and a member of the IUCN Global Standard Steering Committee. He is an active member of different groups aiming to get strong outcomes as a part of the formal climate talks and the non-party stakeholders’ agenda. He has been recognized by the governments of France, Germany, and Spain, as well as by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, for his contribution to the Paris Agreement.

Laurie Ristino

Laurie Ristino serves as VCMI’s Co-Executive Director, responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the Secretariat.  Laurie is also Meridian Institute’s General Counsel and a Senior Fellow.

Previously, Laurie served as senior counsel at the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC, advising on environmental and sustainable agriculture matters.  After her federal service, she was appointed as a law professor and director of a sustainable food systems center at Vermont Law School. She currently teaches environmental policy and global food system sustainability at Johns Hopkins University. A recognized expert in her field, she has been quoted in leading media outlets such as Inside Climate News, Christian Science Monitor, and Yale360 and has authored academic articles, book chapters, and a book on conservation easements.

Mark Kenber

Mark Kenber serves as VCMI’s Executive Director for External Affairs. He has worked on environment, climate and energy issues for over two decades, in government, NGOs and the private sector. He is currently Managing Director of Orbitas, a Climate Advisers initiative that aims to make capital providers aware of climate transition risks to investments in tropical soft commodity production and shift their lending and investment decisions accordingly..

With a background in development and environmental economics, Mark has worked across various areas of environmental and climate policy, with a particular focus on the use of economic instruments in the pursuit of sustainable development. His previous roles include: Chief Executive of Mongoose Energy Ltd, the UK’s largest developer and manager of community energy projects; Policy Director and later Chief Executive at The Climate Group; Senior Policy Officer at WWF International’s Climate Change Programme; Policy and Programme Director at Fundación Natura in Quito; Climate Change Advisor to the Ecuadorian government ;and lecturer at both the Catholic University in Quito and the Institute of Development Studies in the UK.

He has recently been elected to the Board of Directors of the TSVCM and is currently also a board member of Community Energy England and Verra, Chair of the Reneum Advisory Council and Brighton and Hove Energy Services Coop and a member of the RE100 Advisory Committee.