Smita Nakhooda

Smita Nakhooda is a Research Fellow in the Climate Change Environment and Forests Program at ODI where she leads work on energy and low carbon development, and on international finance to help developing countries address climate change.

She was previously a Senior Associate in the Institutions and Governance Program at the World Resources Institute , where she led research and engagement programmes on the governance of electricity in major developing countries, and on the environmental impacts of development finance. She also developed a program of work addressing governance of forests in the context of global efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. In 2010 she was a Senior Research Associate of Idasa, an African democracy institute based in South Africa, working with civil society and independent research institutions to inform and influence emerging policies and plans in the electricity sector. Earlier in her career she worked on rural electrification in East Africa with the United Nations Development Program.

Smita holds an MSc in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK), and a BA in Government and Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College (USA).