H.E. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi was appointed minister of climate change and environment for the United Arab Emirates in February 2016. Previously, he served as a permanent representative of the UAE to the International Renewable Energy Agency from 2010-17. He was also the director of the department of energy and climate change within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2010-16. Earlier, as project engineer at Masdar, Al Zeyoudi played an instrumental role in the UAE’s successful 2009 bid to host IRENA. He also heads the UAE Council for Climate Change and Environment, National Committee of Biosecurity, and Emirates Committee for Sustainable Environment Research. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, the Board of Trustees of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, Audit and Selection Committees of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, and Board of Directors of the Global Green Growth Institute. Al Zeyoudi holds a PhD in project and program management from SKEMA Business School in France, an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology, an MSc in project Mmnagement from the British University in Dubai, and a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa.