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Advisory Board

Mandy Rambharos is Vice President for Global Climate Cooperation at Environmental Defense Fund, one of the world’s leading international nonprofit organizations.

She leads work to promote more ambitious and effective global climate action under the Paris Agreement by directing EDF’s multilateral engagement, including at the United Nations and its agencies, as well as the G20 and G7. She also leads EDF’s strategy to promote well-designed carbon pricing and markets that support the transformation toward a low-emissions future, while improving the well-being of marginalized communities.

Prior to her work at EDF, Rambharos spent 20 years at South Africa’s Eskom Holdings, the largest electric utility on the African continent. As General Manager for Just Energy Transition, she led the development of Eskom’s wide-ranging strategy to transition from a coal-dominated utility to a renewables company.

Rambharos is a former negotiator for South Africa at the United Nations climate talks. She negotiated Article 6 of the Paris Agreement leading South Africa’s and co-leading the African group negotiations on carbon markets. Mandy led the negotiations for South Africa for many years, and then co-chaired the negotiations on carbon markets for the last few years, including co-chairing the successful outcome on Article 6 at COP 26. In the past Mandy led the negotiations for the G77 and China in the area of Response Measures. She was instrumental to the Just Energy Transition Partnership agreed at COP26 in Glasgow between South Africa and Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

Rambharos is an expert on the energy industry, just transition, mitigation, adaptation, carbon markets, and global climate negotiations. Mandy remains a member of the Presidential Climate Commission of South Africa, that is driving the Just Energy Transition in the country.