Ligia Noronha was appointed Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) in April 2014.
Since her appointment, she has guided UNEP DTIE in delivering its mandate of promoting environmental sustainability through technology, industry, and economic policy, and has led the implementation of three of UNEP’s seven sub-programmes, namely climate change, chemicals and waste, and resource efficiency.
Prior to joining UNEP, Ligia Noronha served in TERI as Executive Director of Research Coordination and as Director of the Resources, Regulation and Global Security Division.
From 2005 to 2011 she served as Secretary of the Asian Energy Institute and, from 2005 to 2009, as Coordinator of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnerships (REEEP), South Asia. In 2004 and 2005, she was Team Leader of Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Ligia Noronha has served on the National Security Advisory Board of the Government of India, and on several expert committees of the Government of India and Goa, including the Expert Committee on Climate Change, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, and the Task Force on Natural Resources of the Commission on Centre State Relations.
In addition, she has been a member of the Planning Board of the Government of Goa and member of the Goa Jubilee Development Council, a member of Shell International’s External Review Committee on Sustainability Reporting, and member of the Global Assurance Group’s project on Minerals, Metal and Sustainable Development.
Ligia Noronha has published internationally on issues relevant to energy and resource security, climate change, India’s environmental and coastal policy, responsible mining, and resource federalism. From 2009 to 2011, she was a Visiting Senior Fellow at the University of Sydney based Centre for International Security Studies (CISS).
She holds a Masters in Economics from the University of Bombay, a Masters in Sea Use Law, Economics, and Policy, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.