Chizuru Aoki

Chizuru is Lead Environmental Specialist for the GEF Programming Unit, and is a member of the GEF’s Leadership Team. She heads GEF’s strategy development and representation in five global environmental agreements for which the GEF serves as the financial mechanism. She is also responsible for climate finance, and manages the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), and the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) Trust Fund.

Chizuru joined the GEF in 2010 and served as the Climate Change Mitigation Coordinator from 2011 to 2015. Prior to joining the GEF, she led one of the largest UN-led environmental interventions in post-conflict Iraq to facilitate ecosystem management and technology transfer for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). She was a Fulbright Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), receiving her Ph.D in Technology, Management and Policy in 2002. Her work at MIT focused on innovation and technological change for sustainability in developing countries. Earlier in her career, she managed a program to promote cleaner production. Chizuru holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Rice University and a MS in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a citizen of Japan.