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Achala C Abeysinghe

Achala C Abeysinghe was principal researcher in IIED's Climate Change research group, and head of its global climate law, policy and governance programme, until July 2019 

Achala Abeysinghe is an expert on legal issues in international climate change negotiations. She is currently legal and technical adviser to the chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group for the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Full biography

Her interests are in equity and fairness issues in climate change, the national legislative and policy frameworks on climate change and climate change adaptation, and financial mechanisms under the UNFCCC regime. She heads the European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi) workshops programme for vulnerable developing countries, and is a lead author of the chapter on Climate Resilient Pathways in the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Achala Abeysinghe is principal researcher and team leader of global climate law, policy and governance team at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). At IIED, She also heads the training and support programme of the European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi).

A lawyer by training, she has also been working as the legal and strategy adviser to the chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group for the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for past six years. Her work currently focuses mainly on issues related to compliance, transparency and NDC under the UNFCCC and national legislative frameworks on climate change.

In 2015, Achala was nominated as one of the top 15 female climate champions in the world in a list compiled by the University of Massachusetts. Earlier this year, she was recognised as one of the 'good 100' of 2015 by the good100 magazine that captured 100 individuals in the world who are improving the world through their work.

She was a lead author of the chapter on Climate Resilient Pathways in the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Expertise

International environmental law on climate change; legal issues in international climate change negotiations, equity and fairness issues in climate change; national legislative and policy frameworks on climate change climate change adaptation, and financial mechanisms under the UNFCCC regime.

Before IIED

Robert S. McNamara research fellow, The World Bank/Vrije Universiteit, The Netherlands; attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka; lecturer in law, Legal Studies Department, The Open University of Sri Lanka.

Education
PhD in international environmental law on climate change, Kent Law School, University of Kent; LLM in International Environmental Law, University of Kent; LLB (Hons), University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Current work

Legal and technical adviser to the chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group for the UNFCCC; head of the European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi) workshops programme; lead author IPCC 5th AR working group II, working with parliamentarians in African countries on knowledge sharing initiative for parliamentarians; Rio +20 process, IIED focal point for UNFCCC, Adaptation Fund Board.

Interviews

IIED expert interviews: Achala Abeysinghe
Achala C Abeysinghe's picture
Twitter: @AchalaC
Languages: English, Sinhalese (Sri Lanka)

Achala C Abeysinghe's blog posts

A group of people huddle in deep, urgent discussion

Taking stock: how the LDCs became masters in climate activism and optimism

Blog, Jul 2019
Fiji Prime Minister Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama addressing the opening session of this week’s UN climate talks in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo: UNclimatechange, Creative Commons via Flickr)

Governments must move to formal negotiations in Bangkok and start shaping the final rulebook

Blog, Sep 2018
Men stand on a river bank and in the water to clear detritus

Long-term strategies under the Paris Agreement – key principles for good governance

Blog, Jul 2018
Achala C Abeysinghe (second left) recently spoke on a panel discussion at COP23 on Women Leading the World's Climate Agenda (Photo: Anne Schulthess/IIED)

COP23 outcomes call for faster action and higher ambition to keep Paris on track

Blog, Nov 2017
Achala Abeysinghe advises Giza Gaspar-Martins, the former chair of the Least Developed Countries Group, in Paris at COP21 (Photo: Matt Wright/IIED)

Women in the poorest countries lack leadership opportunities in the UN

Blog, Nov 2016
An image of the world showing global surface temperatures: April 2016 was the hottest April on record, the seventh month in a row to break temperature records. You can watch a video progression of changing global temperatures below (Image: NASA)

Taking the Paris Agreement forward: what to expect in Bonn?

Blog, May 2016
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