Professional Experience:
I am an independent environmental consultant and sustainability expert with over 25 years of experience delivering complex programmes across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. A vetted UNDP Global Expert on Ecosystems and Biodiversity, I have worked with the World Bank, UNDP, UNESCO, CEFAS, the European Union and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development across more than 15 countries.
I started my career in Kuwait, working as a forensic scientist with the Ministry of Interior, a training specialist at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, and as team leader during the launch of the Scientific Centre's aquarium. I then completed an MA in Environment, Politics and Globalization at King's College London before beginning my international development career at the World Bank in Copenhagen and Washington DC.
At the World Bank I spent seven years as an Operations Officer in the Environment and Energy Unit for the MENA region, leading environment sector projects across Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Djibouti, Sudan and Egypt. I led the development of Kuwait's Environmental Impact Assessment regulations, conducted Cost of Environmental Degradation studies for Kuwait and Bahrain, secured grant funding for least developed countries in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on climate change adaptation, and resolved a complex indigenous peoples safeguard issue across the region. I also developed the Gulf Environment Partnership and Action Program spanning all Arabian Gulf riparian countries.
Since establishing my consultancy I have delivered assignments for leading international organisations. As UNDP Project Manager in Kuwait I produced Kuwait's National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change and the country's first Voluntary National Review of the SDGs. For UNDP Yemen I prepared the emergency response plan for the FSO Safer oil tanker, coordinating across Yemeni authorities, WFP, UNEP, PERSGA and OCHA in a highly complex humanitarian setting. For UNESCO I conducted biodiversity field surveys and oil spill response training in the Socotra Archipelago. For the World Bank I led the Integrated Solid Waste Management Action Plan with Kuwait Municipality and provided environmental safeguard reviews across MENA.
Through a long-term engagement with the UK's Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science I led climate change outreach and policy development across the GCC under an FCDO-funded programme, and hosted a widely followed podcast series on climate change in the Arab World.
More recently I have expanded into ESG and sustainable finance, advising Kuwait's Capital Markets Authority and Boursa Kuwait on sustainability reporting and ESG maturity. Since July 2025 I have been supporting the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development on Green Climate Fund accreditation, developing the Fund's Environmental and Social Policy and mainstreaming IFC Performance Standards across its Arab region operations.
I am fluent in Arabic and English, hold professional certifications from the London School of Economics, Harvard and the IMF, and am based in Kuwait, available for regional and international assignments