About Gareth Phillips

Gareth Phillips is Manager of the Climate and Environment Finance Division in the African Development Bank, based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Gareth has over 25 years’ experience in climate change and sustainability. Trained as a forester with degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen and Oxford, Gareth Phillips has worked in a wide variety of sectors on greenhouse gas accounting, inventory verification, the Clean Development Mechanism and Emission Trading Systems. Current Position: Gareth Phillips manages a team of 15 staff and consultants who access funds from GEF, CIF, and GCF and oversee the Africa Climate Change Fund. Gareth Phillips is leading the development of several new initiatives that use public funds to leverage private sector investment. Specific Areas of Responsibility: Leading the development of the Adaptation Benefits Mechanism Driving efforts to create a Commercial Forestry Fund to inject equity into the African plantation forestry industry Leading the development of Green Banks and National Climate Change Funds across six countries in Africa Addressing gender and climate issues, including a study on a “Women Lead Plastic Recycling Economy” in Uganda and securing funding from Global Affairs Canada for projects focused on women and climate Highlights of Former Positions: Chief Climate Change Officer, Sindicatum Sustainable Resources: Raised USD 360 million to invest in emission reduction projects under the Clean Development Mechanism. Gareth Phillips built a world-class team of climate change professionals responsible for developing emission reduction aspects of clean technology projects in Southeast Asia. Global Product Manager, SGS Climate Change Programme: Over a 10-year span in various roles, Gareth Phillips led some of the earliest FSC Certification projects, certifying plantation and natural forests against Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Forest Management. He developed the buffering concept for accounting for carbon stored in forests, certified GHG emission baselines and inventories for major emitters under the UK ETS, and managed SGS’s accreditation for UK ETS, the Clean Development Mechanism, and the EU ETS. Gareth Phillips also submitted the first request for registration of a CDM project.