Andrew Steer

Andrew joined WRI from the World Bank, where he served as Special Envoy for Climate Change since 2010. In this role he guided Bank Group efforts on climate change in more than 130 countries, oversaw the $7 billion Climate investment Funds, and led the World Bank’s engagement on international climate negotiations. He was a member of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s High Level Panel on Sustainable Energy for All and on the B20 Board on Green Growth.

From 2007 to 2010 he served as Director General and Member of the Management Board at the UK Department of International Development (DFID) in London. In this capacity he was responsible for overseeing the development policy analysis and research for the UK Government.

Prior to joining the UK Government, Andrew held several senior posts at the World Bank, including Director of the Environmental Department, where he oversaw a major expansion of the Bank’s environmental program, and a number of important innovations, including natural capital accounting and the introduction of carbon trading at the World Bank. For a decade (1997-2007) he was resident in East Asia, where he directed World Bank operations in Vietnam and Indonesia. In earlier years he was Head of the Bank’s Country Risk department, and was also Director and chief author of the 1992 World Development Report on Environment and Development, the Bank’s Flagship report to the Rio Earth Summit.

Andrew was educated at St Andrews University, Scotland, the University of Pennsylvania, and at Cambridge University. He has a PhD in Economics, has written widely on sustainable development issues, and has taught at several universities.

He is married to Dr. Liesbet Steer, and has two children, Charlotte (11) and Ben (10).