OUR TEAM
Vanika Bajaj
South Asia Programme Manager
Vanika has joined the team to work on the South Asian Regional Energy Partnership. She has a degree in Sustainable Development Practice from the TERI School of Advanced Studies in New Delhi and has previously worked with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in India as a United Nations Development Program Consultant. She has experience in Greenhouse Gas Inventory preparation and issues related to climate mitigation and has also contributed to
India’s Third National Communication and India’s Long-Term Strategy on Low Carbon Development submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Nick Dunlop
Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
A former Secretary-General of Parliamentarians for Global Action and Executive Director of EarthAction, Nick has long experience of organising innovative global political networks. He worked as a consultant on political engagement for the United Nations and has worked with Leonardo DiCaprio and other celebrities on climate campaigns. Nick was co-recipient of the first Indira Gandhi Prize, presented by the President of India for his work on convening a group of heads of government to help end the Cold War called the Six Nation Peace Initiative. He is a citizen of Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.
Bibiana Jones
Senior Advisor
A former Argentine diplomat, Bibiana served as Ambassador to Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. She was the Permanent Representative to UNEP and UN Habitat in Nairobi. She served as Deputy Head of the Northern Africa and Middle East Department, and as Head of the Sub-Saharan Africa Department at the Argentine Foreign Ministry. Bibiana now lives in Spain, which was her first diplomatic post.
Mohammad Mamun Mia
Bangladesh Coordinator
Mamun is the Executive Director at The Earth Foundation, which serves as the secretariat of the Climate Parliament in Bangladesh. Prior to this role, he was the President of the United Nations Youth and Students Association of Bangladesh for five years. Additionally, he played a pivotal role in co-founding the Dhaka University Model United Nations Association and was elected as its inaugural president. His professional experience also includes a collaboration with ActionAid Bangladesh. Acknowledging his outstanding potential as a global leader, Mamun was designated as a Young Fellow by the Asian Forum on Global Governance.
Lucy Pearson
Executive Director
Based in London, Lucy oversees the Climate Parliament’s portfolio of projects and implementation teams across Africa, Europe and South Asia including Parliamentarians for Climate Finance and the Green Grids Initiative. She is responsible for strategic planning and global operations, and manages Climate Parliament’s ecosystem of working groups and partners. Previously COO and Research Director for the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers global report series, she holds an honours degree in government and international relations from the University of Sydney in Australia.
Lilia Chanaoui
Network Coordinator
Lilia holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Policy from Sciences Po Paris. She worked for three years at the Foreign Affairs committee of the Assemblée Nationale, the French parliament, and has experience working in the European Parliament. Lilia has lived and studied in Senegal and Taiwan, and speaks fluent Mandarin. At the Climate Parliament, she is Network Coordinator for Arab and francophone Sub-Saharan African countries. She is based in Paris.
Alejandra Fischer
Regional Coordinator
Based in the UK, Alejandra holds a BA in Law and a Master's degree in Contemporary History. Her research focused on the relationship between International Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, and Chilean cases of forced migration, approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. She worked for four years in the Chilean Congress, contributing to public policy formulation through legislative initiatives, and has extensive experience working with grassroots organizations. At Climate Parliament, she serves as Regional Coordinator for Parliamentarians for Climate Finance.
Léa Hillaireau
Programme Manager
As Programme Manager at Climate Parliament Léa leads engagement with MPs in Africa, partners and donor agencies. She is also involved in developing knowledge products on climate and renewable energy policy for parliamentarians. She trained as a lawyer in France. After graduating from a Masters in European Law and Politics, she worked as a legal assistant at the Council of Notariats of the European Union, an organisation that promotes efficient access to justice for all in Europe. Léa has also volunteered for Notre Affaire à Tous, a French non-profit that uses litigation to fight climate change and promotes the recognition of environmental rights in legislation
Dr Sergio Missana
Secretary-General
Sergio is a well-known Chilean author. He holds a PhD in Spanish from Stanford University and teaches literature part-time at Stanford’s Santiago Programme. He served as Director of Publications and Head of International Relations at the BBVA Foundation in Madrid and was a member of the Governing Council of the European Foundation Centre in Brussels. He was an editor of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report on human rights violations committed by the Chilean military dictatorship between1973 and 1990.
Eliza Cocksworth
Network and Finance Coordinator
Based in the UK, Eliza holds a BA in French literature from King's College, London, and is soon to complete her MA in Human Rights from the University of Sussex. As Network and Finance Coordinator for the Climate Parliament, Eliza’s work covers MP engagement, organisation of events, and the financial coordination of the organisation. Her focus countries in Africa currently are Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, The Gambia, and Uganda. She also leads on the Climate Parliament’s Gender and Inclusion strategy.
Abshiro Halake
Senior Advisor
Former Senator of the Republic of Kenya, Abshiro Halake has decades of experience working in conservation, climate change and sustainability. Before serving in Parliament, she was the Deputy Director of the Kenyan Wildlife Service, Secretary General of the Kenyan Red Cross Society, Trade and Investment Commissioner for the Canadian High Commission and Chairperson for the Centre for Multiparty Democracy in Kenya. As a legislator in Kenya's 12th Parliament, Abshiro focused on environment, biodiversity, climate, women, youth and pastoralist issues.
Dr Sanjay Kumar
Chief Policy Advisor
Sanjay recently retired as Director General of Forests and Special Secretary to the Government of India. He holds a PhD in Poverty and Rural Livelihoods from the University of Cambridge and has represented India in various global environmental negotiations. Sanjay previously served as Executive Director of the Climate Parliament, where he pursued the vision of powering the global economy with one hundred percent renewables. In his current role as Deputy Secretary-General, he leads Climate Parliament's global work with the CEO & Investor Council and international collaborations to pursue the objectives of the One Sun Declaration under the Green Grids Initiative - One Sun One World One Grid.
Sam Onuigbo
Senior Advisor
Sam Onuigbo served as a member of the House of Representatives of Nigeria between 2015 and 2023. During his tenure, he championed Nigeria’s Climate Change Act 2021, a historic body of legislation. He served as the Chairperson of Climate Parliament Nigeria group from 2020 to 2023. He was Vice President (Africa) of the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE) International. In recognition of his outstanding service as a leader in the National Assembly and his contribution on climate and energy issues, he was one of five MPs (out of 469 legislators) of the 9th Assembly to be inducted into the Most Valuable Parliamentarians Hall of Fame in 2023. Prior to his service in Parliament, he worked for eighteen years at the United States embassy in Abuja. Sam Onuigbo is currently the Chairman, Security, Special Interventions and Climate Change of the Governing Board of the North East Development Commission.