Rachel Kyte

Rachel Kyte is Dean Emerita of The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a professor of practice. Kyte was the first woman to lead the United States’ oldest graduate-only school of global affairs.

Kyte served as special representative of the UN secretary-general and chief executive officer of Sustainable Development for All (SEforALL). She previously was the World Bank Group vice president and special envoy for climate change, leading action on climate finance in the run-up to the Paris Agreement. Kyte served as an advisor to the UN secretary-general on climate action and the crisis response to the invasion of Ukraine, chaired the Rwandan Green Fund (FONERWA) and advised the UK government on COP26.

Kyte is currently co-chair of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) working to build high integrity voluntary carbon markets, member of the board Private Infrastructure Development Group with responsibility for ESG, and a member of the G20 Expert Group on MDB reform, appointed by the Government of India. Kyte is an advisor to General Atlantic’s Beyond Net Zero fund and a member of the board of the Carbon Policy Initiative. She is an advisor to Mahindra University’s Center for Sustainable Development and plays a leadership role at the World Economic Forum on trade, climate, energy and minerals. Kyte is an advisor to AIIB, JBIC and served as a member of IDB-Invest’s Blue Ribbon Commission.

Kyte regularly speaks, lectures and writes on issues of mobilization of finance for climate action, energy transitions and climate diplomacy. She has been recognized for her leadership on both sides of the Atlantic and was made a Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2020 New Years Honors.