Project Manager with more than 8 years of experience in the education sector as a secondary school teacher, more than 2 years of experience in the business development sector as a business manager in development banking and more than 10 years in the field of environment, climate change and disaster risks management and resilience building working with donors, development partners and stakeholders. I have over 10 years experience in project management working in 15 countries in the Pacific region. These experiences includes capacity building, business developments, disaster risk management/reduction and climate change adaptation, mitigation and finance, climate science information, biodiversity and land degradation.
I have represented Nauru, Fiji and SPREP at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) and familiar with the UNFCCC processes and procedures in coordination, monitoring and reporting to the UNFCCC secretariat. In addition, I was the development of the Third National Communication Coordinator for Fiji and experience with building capacity by mainstreaming multilateral environment agreement (UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD) into inter-ministerial structures and mechanisms across Fiji Government and non-government organizations.
I am a climate scientist with a background in meteorology and weather/climate prediction. My main area of expertise is in seasonal to interannual climate variations, including teleconnections and Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude circulation variability. I have over 40 years' experience in the area and have been involved in writing the last three IPCC Working Group 1 Assessment Reports (AR4, AR6, AR6). I have four years' experience as a Commissioner on the NZ CLimate Change Commission and have worked on shaping climate change policy for several years. I am also an experienced science communicator, winning the NZ Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize in 2018.
James Lewis, Director of Intercoastal Consulting, is a certified practicing civil engineer with over 15 years of experience specialising in coastal engineering throughout Australasia and across the Pacific. He has a broad knowledge of coastal protection design, integrated coastal management and surf amenity. James’s skills extend outside the office where he has led large-scale metocean deployments, analysing the data captured in the field to calibrate numerical models used to inform coastal design.
He has focussed the last 10 years of his career on working in Small Island Developing States (SIDs) in climate change adaptation, concerned primarily with developing climate-resilient coastal protection. James aspires to see the design phase through to implementation; having supported procurement, and contracting and undertaken construction supervision on large projects in remote locations. He aims to provide value and support through the complete project lifecycle including the social, financial and institutional aspects of these projects, endeavoring to understand the administrative, governmental and funding mechanisms specific to each country and community and their relation to the delivery of a successful project.
Using his knowledge of coastal engineering, the ocean and the environment, James’ primary endeavor is to assist coastal communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Krishneil Narayan is a sustainable development professional with an economic, environmental and social change experience of 15 years. He is the Executive Director at Sustainable Future Consultancy specializing in sustainable development, climate change, security, youth development, education, disaster risk management, gender, social, economic and environmental project design, preparation, implementation and evaluation.
Krishneil is an experienced climate change negotiator at the United Nations where he has championed the priorities of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) for over a decade, contributed to the adoption of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage in 2013, the Paris Agreement in 2015, supported Fiji's COP23 Presidency and was an advisor to the UK Government's COP26 Presidency for the climate adaptation workstream.
He also works as an advisor to the Governments, development agencies, diplomatic missions, NGOs and the private sector to formulate development action plans. Having worked in the public sector, development organizations like the United Nations; and civil society he has extensive knowledge of international, regional and national policy analysis.
Graphic design specialist. 30 years experience designing a wide range of technical, education and outreach materials, in print and online, to enhance the communication of environmental concerns throughout the Pacific and further afield.
Dr Simon Torok is Co-Founder and Director of Scientell Pty Ltd, a science communication and marketing consultancy specialising in environmental and climate change communication.
Simon has a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication from the Australian National University, and completed a PhD in climate change science at the University of Melbourne’s School of Earth Sciences, examining Australia’s historical temperature record.
He has advised in Brazil on communicating science to your people, and in England he has worked as a climate change communicator at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. In Australia he has worked as Communication Manager with CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, where he developed strategies to deliver communication campaigns that – using new, social and traditional media – raised awareness of the impact of CSIRO’s research into understanding our oceans, coasts, climate and atmosphere. He has also worked as editor of CSIRO's magazines for young people.
