Chizuru Aoki

Chizuru heads the GEF Division of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and Funds, and is a member of the GEF’s Leadership Team. She oversees the GEF’s work with six MEAs as their financial mechanisms, through strategy development, programming, governance support, and resource mobilization.

She manages a growing team of talented colleagues who work with the GEF family of funds, including the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), and the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) Trust Fund, and supports GEF senior management. Chizuru is also responsible for climate finance, and has engaged in coordinating joint action among the Green Climate Fund, Climate Investment Funds, the Adaptation Fund, and the GEF.

Chizuru joined the GEF in 2010, and served as the Climate Change Mitigation Coordinator from 2011 to 2015 and the Lead Environmental Specialist until mid-2024. Prior to joining the GEF, she led one of the largest UN-led environmental interventions in post-conflict Iraq to facilitate ecosystem management and technology transfer with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Earlier in her career, she managed a program to promote cleaner production. She was a Fulbright Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), receiving her Ph.D in Technology, Management and Policy. Chizuru also holds a BS in Civil Engineering and a MS in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. She is a citizen of Japan.