PURI Jyotsna
Fellow
Affiliation: IFAD
Biography
I am a well-recognized senior leader in climate change, research and development effectiveness. I am currently the Associate vice-president (UN Assistant Secretary General) at IFAD. I lead the UN/IFI agency on strategic and technical areas including on climate, finance and agriculture. A few years ago I was recognized as one of sixteen global women leaders in the area of climate and biodiversity.
In my current position at IFAD, I have led its transition to being a global leader in climate adaptation with a special focus on LMICs. In my previous role as the head of the Independent Evaluation office at the Green Climate Fund, I led the first performance review of the GCF that led the way to emphasizing the key areas of focus for the GCF in its new strategy.
At IFAD I am leading the work on the strategic framework for the next seven years and will also be the lead author of its flagship publication the Rural Development Report 2025 that will focus on financing the rural transformation. I have a rich publication record and I write both for peer reviewed journals as well as for lay audiences in newspapers and popular media.
I have strong experience working with international organizations and understand the political economy of decision making and governance. Other than the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Green Climate Fund, I have worked previously with the World Bank (in the Latin America office and in Development Economics), UNEP (as a green policy advisor) and at Columbia University (as a research scientist at the Earth Institute).
I have more than 25 years of experience in developing and managing portfolios focused on climate, development, finance, agriculture, health and infrastructure and in leading negotiations for organizations in multi-lateral settings as well as working with institutional Boards. I am recognized as a dynamic thought and action leader in the development and climate space.
I have deep experience setting strategic visions and with building, leading and managing future-fit teams, representing externally and working with Boards. I currently lead a global team of more than 200 people spread over five continents. Previously I have been a Board appointed official at the Green Climate Fund and Deputy Executive Director at the International Initiative of Impact Evaluation (3ie).
My academic qualifications include a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Agriculture and Resource Economics and an MA in Development Economics. I have been responsible for building new teams (3ie, UNEP, GCF, IFAD), providing data driven, evidence-based strategic vision (IFAD, 3ie, UNEP, GCF) and building new initiatives (UNDP/GEF, Columbia University, UNEP) and am well regarded as a global expert in technical aspects of climate, poverty, development and
biodiversity. With my managerial, operational and academic backgrounds, I am able to combine thought with action while building partnerships at all levels.
Publications
- Rural Development Report: Financing Rural Transformations, lead author, Flagship report, IFAD, (forthcoming 2025).
- ‘Resilience monetization and credits initiative: A background paper’, with co-authors, Working paper, Duke University, May 2024.
- ‘Transformational change, an evidence review’ with co-authors, forthcoming in the European Journal of Development Research, 2024.
- Innovations for effective development, Strategic Discussion paper for the IFAD Board (forthcoming, April IFAD 2024).
- Necessary but not sufficient? An examination of two areas of multilateral environmental institutions, in Institutional Diversity and Environmental Sustainability, Ann-Ashlee Pigford and Tuihedur Rehman (eds), 2024.
Events & Presentations
- Resilience credits: Innovations in shaping new markets in food security, Invited talk the Inter-American Development Bank, Washington DC, February 2024.
- A market for resilience? Innovations in measurement and monetization. Invited talk at Columbia University co-hosted by the School of International and Public Affairs and the Columbia Climate School, February 2024.
- ‘Financing food systems’ Keynote speaker at the Farm Foundation, co-hosted by the Government of France and the University of Paris, February 2024.
- Speaker at the high level Kick-off of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, Berlin, 2024.
- Keynote speech, Latin America meeting for Economists, Lima, Peru, August, 2024.
- Convocation speaker at the Tro Vergata University, Rome, November 2023.
- Speaker at COP28 UNFCCC events, December 2023.
