Earth Matters Team
Tanzeed Alam, Managing Director
For over 17 years, Tanzeed has promoted positive change on climate change, energy and environmental conservation across three continents within government, industry, businesses and communities.
Amongst other areas, Tanzeed has led the work on the Zayed Sustainability Prize 2019, helped Dubai develop its Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and helped World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) UAE with a study understanding private sector engagement with a Sustainable Blue Economy in the UAE.
Previously, Tanzeed directed the Climate Change, Energy, Sustainability and Policy work of WWF’s in the UAE and GCC region, he was also Science Policy Advisor for Energy & Climate Change at the UK’s independent scientific academy, the Royal Society.
Tanzeed has a post graduate MSc in Conservation from University College London and BSc (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh.
Paola Ferreira, Associate Consultant
Paola is an environmental policy and strategy expert with 18 years of experience and proven ability to lead environmental initiatives in complex policy environments.
Her expertise is focused on formulating environmental proposals with solid scientific and technical basis, and high impact conservation results.
Her previous experience includes leading the Climate and Conservation team at Emirates Nature in association with WWF as well as key projects on energy efficiency and renewable energy in the UAE, and leading the development of Colombia’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).
Paola is a Biologist and a Civil Engineer from Los Andes University in Colombia and a MSc. in Technology & Policy from MIT.
Charles Callaghan, Associate Consultant
Charles is a consultant and researcher with over five years of experience in climate change and sustainable development. A significant amount of Charles’ work has focused on the development of low-carbon and climate resilient projects and programmes, where he has advised a variety of institutions (including UN agencies, development finance institutions, government ministries, and fund managers) on the development of proposals to the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund.
Charles has also helped found a technical assistance initiative designed to assist low and lower middle-income countries to develop strategies for accessing finance for projects related to their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and other low-carbon and development policies. He has also contributed to the development of several national and regional climate investment plans, and supported the growth of an energy access start-up in West Africa.
Charles holds a Master’s degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London – specialising in the Economic Development of Africa. He is currently working towards a certification in Climate Adaptation Finance from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
Riad Bestani, Associate Consultant
With more than 25 years of international experience across various industries, Riad has advocated his past years to Circular Economy in the manufacturing sector and has just recently joined the list of Environment experts in the Region.
His focus is to provide solutions to Sustainability and Recycling challenges which he did in his late role of GM by diverting waste from landfill for his waste generator customers. Since 2016, he has been actively promoting sustainable solutions with local UAE government bodies, including MOCCAE, from which he was awarded recognitions for his actions along with other entities such as Tadweer and Dubai Municipality.
Prior to that, he took various positions as Product and Process Engineer, Project Manager, Sourcing and Supply Chain Director in Multinational companies. He is also a member of the Swiss Business Council Environment Group who is regularly organising Sustainability panel discussions for which he acted as speaker or moderator.
Riad holds a M.Sc in Engineering and Manufacturing from Syracuse University, US and a M.Sc in Material Science and Mechanical Engineer from Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France. He has been living in the GCC for the past 11 years.
Moaz Sawaf, Associate Consultant
Moaz is a conservation and environmental education expert, with over 30 years of experience in the UAE and wider MENA region. He cofounded the Arabia Leopard Trust in 1991 and has run tours focusing on ecotourism, culture and heritage, environmental awareness and survival in wilderness areas.
While working with Emirates Nature-WWF, he managed conservation and education projects, helping to establish Wadi Wurayah National Park in Fujeirah (UAE) and managed the blue flag and eco schools projects for the UAE. A native Arabic speaker, Moaz has Business Administration degree from Boulder University in Colorado, USA.
Gregory Verutes, Associate Consultant
Gregory Verutes, Ph.D. brings a decade of experience applying natural capital and ecosystem-service assessment approaches, specifically the InVEST tools, for quantifying coastal and marine goods and services such as tourism, blue carbon, coastal risk reduction, and habitat conservation.
Dr. Verutes has led teams in the development of questions for stakeholders and scientific experts that ultimately leverage existing resources and feed into analytical tools to strengthen local capacity, and support decisions that can lead to better outcomes for people and nature. He specialises in data visualisation, synthesis, and reporting for sustainability science publications and other communication materials.
Kyle Weber, Associate Consultant
A passionate humanitarian and environmentalist with over 14 years of international entrepreneurship experience in sustainability, mobility, renewable energy and community building. Kyle hails from Chicago, IL and graduated from Kettering University with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and from Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi where he graduated with an MSc in Engineering Systems and Management.
Previously he worked as a Field Engineer for Schlumberger in Abu Dhabi, as a volunteer teacher and renewable energy engineer in Somaliland (Northern Somalia), co-founded Energy Action Partners (ENACT), a non-profit that works to expand individual opportunities and strengthen communities through collaborations to improve access to sustainable energy services, founded EVERA, an engineering consultancy focused on promoting sustainable mobility throughout the Middle East and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for EV Lab, a retail concept promoting and selling electric vehicles in Dubai.
Shivaji Chakraborty, Associate Consultant
An experienced energy and environmental professional with 17 years of experience in leading and managing teams for project execution. With a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering and numerous sustainability and green buildings qualifications and certifications, Shivaji is a carbon management and carbon markets expert.
He has extensive experience with third party verification & certification services, environmental monitoring, industrial hygiene, QEHS audits, Life Cycle Assessment, energy management, carbon management, Clean Development Mechanism & GHG accounting. He is skilled in conducting energy audits, sustainability assessments, carbon abatement projects with international exposure across South East Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa: India, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Oman, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.
Nora Ali Bakhsh, Associate Consultant
Nora is a communications & research professional with over 5 years of work experience in environmental communications, and 8 years of experience in managing research projects focusing on Middle East politics, history, and economics.
Nora's expertise in environmental communications is particularly geared toward digital and social media campaigns, and she worked with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF UAE) to raise the profile of environmental issues in the country, get the general public more involved in conservation initiatives, and collaborate with private and public sector partners on large-scale campaigns.
Nora holds a Master's degree in Anthropology from the American University of Beirut, and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from the American University of Sharjah.
Victoria Guisado, Associate Consultant
Victoria is an environmental researcher with over 4 years of experience in academia and consulting, focusing her expertise on ecosystem services. Her research centers on devising economic strategies to address environmental challenges and evaluating the value of natural resources and environmental impacts. Notably, she has played an integral role in advancing the Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD).
She has collaborated with international organizations, national governments, and conservation groups worldwide.
Victoria holds an M.A. in Environment and Resource Management, specialising in Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity, from Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam.