Climate change, energy and resilience

Meggan believes that African cities are places of innovation and potential, where globally relevant solutions are found. She leads the Climate Change, Energy and Resilience workstream at ICLEI Africa, where a diverse team works with African city stakeholders to build resilience, enable low emission development, and improve access to finance and energy. Meggan holds a PhD in Environmental Science and before joining ICLEI Africa worked as a municipal official.

Kate holds a PhD in Environmental Science, focused on coastal changes associated with climate change. She has a special interest in understanding climate change and the associated risks, especially relating to coastal cities. She has worked with and for local governments to build climate resilience, developing climate adaptation plans, and identifying challenges and opportunities associated with natural assets to overcome shocks and stressors associated with climate change.

Azizat holds a PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering,  and currently works on the CoMSSA, ENACT and AFMEG projects at ICLEI Africa. She has experience in capacity building, research, system  design, as well as project management and implementation in energy efficiency, decentralised renewable energy systems, and energy storage. She is passionate about contributing to sustainable energy development within African cities as the way to the overall development of the African continent.

Carine Buma is a seasoned climate and energy professional with extensive experience in collaborating with partners and sub-national governments across Africa, supporting them to develop and implement innovative, inclusive and impactful climate and energy plans. In her current role as Senior Specialist, Climate Change, Energy, and Resilience at ICLEI Africa, she manages the Enabling African Cities for Transformative Energy Access (ENACT) project. This initiative, implemented with Mercy Corps in Kampala and Freetown, aims to improve clean cooking access in Africa’s urban informal settlements.

Dania is a climate and development specialist with experience as a consultant, applied policy researcher and technical advisor. She has over 10 years of experience in climate research and consulting, working alongside donor agencies, practitioners, local and national government, civil society, global and regional networks, and with academia to implement a range of projects specifically around building capacity, improved climate governance through multi-level action and strengthened engagement in political processes. Since 2021, Dania has been seconded from ICLEI Africa to the High Level Climate Champions team, where she is currently the Cities Engagement lead, with the goal to strengthen the engagement of cities, states and regions with Parties through the Marrakech Partnership, to amplify the voice of the Local Governments & Municipal Authority (LGMA) Constituency, and to showcase local leadership on climate activities from a subnational government perspective.

David has over a decade of experience contributing to solutions driving the sustainable energy transition. With a focus on urban informality, he has worked with a wide range of development partners and subnational governments across Africa. He has a particular interest in the role of human-centred design as an enabler of sustainable innovation. He holds an Honours Degree in Environmental and Geographical Studies, and qualifications in sustainable energy, public policy and project management. David joins our climate change and energy team, to provide strategic advice, drive business development, develop plans, and deliver action on climate change mitigation, sustainable energy, and clean cooking.

Decide is a seasoned professional with a proven track record in disaster risk management, driving successful strategies and projects in development and humanitarian settings across various African countries. His expertise lies in analysing and mitigating potential hazards, crafting robust climate-informed disaster risk reduction plans, and leveraging diverse research methods for effective risk management. His academic background includes an MSc in Social Ecology and an MA in Disaster Risk Reduction Management Systems, along with a PhD from the University of Pretoria. Decide joins our climate change adaptation, resilience and coastal management team, to provide strategic advice, drive business development, develop plans, and deliver action on all these topics. Decide will lead our office’s disaster risk reduction work with our team of experts.

Hayley has extensive experience working at the interface of climate change and development issues, with a specific focus on climate change adaptation, disaster risk management and resilience. She has worked on diverse large research programmes in varied contexts, predominantly in urban centres across Southern African focused on issues such as disaster risk reduction and building climate change resilience. She has worked in academia, consultancy and research organisations entailing interdisciplinary engagement with local and national governments, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders. She holds a PhD in Geography from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Lucy holds a Msc in Political Science and a MPhil in Climate Change and Development. She has worked on GCF and GEF adaptation project design in several French speaking countries before joining ICLEI Africa in early 2021. Lucy currently works on participatory adaptation action planning, gender inclusion and finance for local climate action under the CoM SSA project.

Michael is a researcher with a focus on climate change and energy policy for just transitions in the Global South, and more than ten years of experience working in Southern, West and East Africa, and Latin America. He works at the science-policy interface at the intersection between national and international policy processes, specifically the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement. Michael has worked at universities, consultancies and think tanks, and holds a PhD in Climate Policy, and an MPhil in Energy and Development Studies from the University of Cape Town.

Born in Johannesburg yet growing up in Durban, Ryan is comfortable having both plenty to do as well as nothing at all. Ryan has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical engineering from the University of Pretoria. He then furthered his studies at Stellenbosch University in sustainable and renewable energy, obtaining his Master’s in Philosophy in 2017.

Stéphanie Canac is an economist with 8 years of experience in strategy, finance and infrastructure project preparation. She worked on a wide range of infrastructure and blue economy projects in Africa and recently joined ICLEI Africa to support the climate change team with its finance work.

Ayman is a trilingual policy officer and an energy engineer by training. He has solid experience in working at the global network level and a proven track record in political advocacy in an African context. His academic background is in energy transition and governance, as well as energy efficiency and renewables. Ayman has a Master’s degree in Political Science and Social Science from the European Institute in Berlin (Germany), a Master’s degree in Automatic Control of Energy Efficiency from the University of Lorraine in Nancy (France), as well as an Engineering Degree in Renewable Energy from the International University of Rabat (Morocco).

Blondel is an expert in climate finance and policy, with over 20 years of experience in climate justice and empowering local communities in Africa. He holds degrees in communications, ethnology and international cooperation, and strongly believes in the role of local governments in climate action. Before joining ICLEI Africa, Blondel worked as journalist and more recently in involving African civil society in the Green Climate Fund processes. At ICLEI Africa, Blondel facilitates the mobilisation and access to inclusive climate finance by local governments in Central Africa.

Claudia is a professional officer specialising in climate resilience, with degrees in Social Dynamics, Environmental Management, and a Master's in Environment, Society, and Sustainability. She has vast experience in a range of disciplines such as communications, research, knowledge management, capacity building and project coordination, which allows her to delve strategically into the intricate dynamics between humans and nature in the context of climate change.

Emma is a gender, policy and adaptation specialist with an MSc in Public Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics. She has more than seven years’ experience providing technical assistance and developing, implementing and assessing policy and projects for UN agencies, multilateral development banks, local and international NGOs, and country governments. At ICLEI, Emma is providing technical support to cities on participatory adaptation action planning and gender mainstreaming.

Meagen Swain holds a Master of Philosophy in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from the University of Cape Town with a theoretical background in Environmental and Geographical sciences. Before joining ICLEI Africa as a Professional Officer in the Climate Change, Energy and Resilience workstream, she completed the City of Cape Town’s Urban Sustainability Internship Programme, within the City's Environmental Management Department. During her time at the City of Cape Town, she supported the public participation process of the city’s Climate Change Strategy and assisted in strengthening the strategy and action plan. Her interests lie in climate change, resilience and urban greening.

Nelson is part of both the Climate Change, Energy & Resilience work stream, and the Membership team, while undertaking his MA in International Studies at Stellenbosch University. He has experience working for the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service, a global network of International Voluntary Service CSOs, as well as the culture and education sectors of UNESCO.

Nicola is passionate about developing more just and regenerative urban systems through local climate action. She holds a Masters in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University. She has worked in Environmental Management in the local government sector and as a climate change consultant, developing large donor-funded mitigation and adaptation projects with small island developing states (SIDS) and African countries. Nicola recently joined ICLEI to support African cities to develop and implement climate action plans under the CoM SSA initiative.

Ntombi has recently read a Master of Science in Climate Change and Development from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. Her study focused on adaptation methods, climate change, urban governance, water insecurity, and water scarcity in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. She also holds a Master of Philosophy (Law) from the University of the Western Cape which focused on children’s rights. She has eight and a half years of experience in policy research, supporting members of parliament at the Parliament of South Africa. She won an award in the Civil Society category in the 2022 Mail and Guardian 200 Young South Africans. She is also a recipient of the Chevening Scholarship awarded by the UK government to outstanding individuals with leadership potential from around the world to read a master’s degree in the UK.

With a background in chemical engineering and renewable energy, Sadie’s interests fall in the broad cross-road between engineering and sustainability. She has grown from an intern to a professional officer at ICLEI Africa and currently works mainly on climate change mitigation (such as quantifying city-level greenhouse gas emissions to help local governments set targets and actions for low-carbon development). She also has a passion for climate finance and project preparation/ development.