Dr. Richard Munang is the Director of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA). As Director, he is leading the Institute to become Africa's most trusted research institution on natural resources and the green economy, so that Africa counts what it keeps and its resources deliver for its people.
He is an accomplished senior leader in the UN system, respected across its research, policy and enforcement branches, with nearly two decades of experience turning science into practical solutions, policies, standards, financing tools and enforcement approaches. He has depth of expertise in sustainability, systems transformation and natural resource governance, and deep knowledge of climate change adaptation, environmental monitoring and early warning systems, food, water, energy and land systems, and environmental crime governance, across Africa, the Global South and at the global level.
Prior to joining UNU-INRA, Dr. Munang served as Head of the Global Programme on Crimes that Affect the Environment at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, leading the Organization's global response to illegal mining, logging, fishing, wildlife trafficking and hazardous waste crime, and advancing approaches that use environmental insights and enforcement data to support investigations, prosecutions and investment decisions.
Before that, at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), he was Head of Global Environment Monitoring Systems, integrating global monitoring across water, air and oceans so that environmental information reaches Member States in real time; Deputy Regional Director for Africa, leading programmes across all 54 African countries; and, for a decade, Africa Regional Climate Change Coordinator, leading climate adaptation, clean energy, innovative financing and food security programmes in more than 50 countries.
His scholarly research work has shaped landmark initiatives, including the first Africa Adaptation Gap Report, which helped raise adaptation to equal standing with mitigation in African climate positions; Africa's first technical standard for affordable solar dryers; climate entrepreneurship curricula in African universities; the Ecosystems-Based Adaptation for Food Security Assembly (EBAFOSA); and Innovative Volunteerism, which has engaged millions of young people across the continent in climate enterprise.
Dr. Munang is Adjunct Research Professor at Western University, Canada. He has written more than 100 publications, including peer-reviewed papers, books and book chapters, and is recognized among the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders in Sustainability and the Top 100 Africa and Middle East Sustainability Voices. His honours include the Your Nottingham Alumni Award and UNEP's Baobab Award for Programme Innovation, amongst many others.
He holds a PhD in Environmental Change and Policy from the University of Nottingham (UK) and an Executive Certificate in Climate Change and Energy Policymaking for the Long Term from the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University (USA).
