Experts & Staff

Leo is an environment and development professional with a strong track record advancing sustainable development within bilateral and multilateral development agencies.

Leo comes to WRI from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where he served as Climate Change and Environment Adviser covering Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining UNDP, Leo worked for six years in China, 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 2006-2009 he led a pioneering cross-governmental partnership between the UK and China on sustainable development, initiated by Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Wen Jiabao, and involving 17 government ministries/agencies. In parallel, he co-founded the China Carbon Forum and led it to become a thriving professional association serving as the key interface between the business community and senior Chinese government decision-makers on climate policy reform issues. Leo has also served as an Environmental Economic Advisor at the Department for International Development (DFID) (2002-2006) and as an Environmental Economist with the World Bank (2007-2008).

He 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).