Expert

Region: Global

Joining Date: June 2026

James Reeves is a transport and infrastructure economist with more than 36 years of international experience supporting climate and disaster resilience initiatives. His work focuses on infrastructure planning, transport sector strategies, multi-hazard risk assessments, vulnerability analysis, adaptation pathways and sector financing. He has worked extensively in small island developing states and fragile contexts, providing technical leadership on feasibility studies, resilience strategies, institutional strengthening and capacity development. He has applied loss and damage methodologies across projects in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Expert

Region: Africa

Joining Date: April 2026

James Thonjo is a climate policy expert with extensive experience in loss and damage under the UNFCCC framework. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism and as an Enhanced Transparency Framework technical expert reviewer. He has led Kenya’s integration of loss and damage into its NDC and Biennial Transparency Reports and has supported both technical assistance and climate finance processes at the national level. His work spans national planning, climate finance, and community resilience building.

Organization

Region: Global

Joining Date: July 2026

JBA Global Resilience supports governments, communities and development partners in preparing for and responding to climate and disaster risks. Its technical services cover hazard and risk modelling, early warning, emergency preparedness, DRF and resilience investment planning. Drawing on multidisciplinary teams and global project experience, JBA translates risk analysis into practical strategies, digital tools, institutional strengthening and capacity development, including in fragile and data-scarce contexts.

Expert

Region: Global

Joining Date: April 2026

Dr. Joel Persson is an applied research scientist with over nine years’ experience in natural resource and climate governance. He specialises in developing multi-method and inclusive tools to assess economic and non-economic loss and damage from climate change as well as developing robust Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) systems for targeted interventions. Joel’s work has mainly focused on agrifood systems in Southeast Asia with special attention to vulnerable rural communities’ capacities to address intersecting climate-development challenges. His areas of expertise involve delivering insightful and actionable knowledge products for capacity-building, policy analyses, training, and supporting multi-stakeholder processes. 

Expert

Region: Oceania

Joining Date: December 2024

Joseph Cuthbertson is a Board Member of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) and has worked in the hospital, humanitarian and prehospital field for the last 20 years. He is also a fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons Facult

Expert

Region: Africa

Joining Date: June 2026

Dr Joyce Kimutai is a climate scientist specializing in climate change attribution, vulnerability assessment and evidence generation for loss and damage. Her work focuses on extreme weather and climate events, including floods, droughts and heatwaves, and explores how attribution science can support policy processes, climate litigation and loss and damage responses. She supports technical assistance through climate risk analysis, non-economic loss and damage assessment, early warning systems, capacity building, and science-policy engagement. She has contributed to IPCC work and supports UNFCCC processes, including research and systematic observation discussions.

Expert

Region: Global

Joining Date: March 2026

Jutta May is an Information and Knowledge Management Specialist with over 30 years of experience, including 20 years in the Pacific region. Her work supports the design, development, and management of data and information systems for disaster risk reduction and climate change. This includes research, data governance, needs analysis, co-design, strategy and policy advice, metadata, capacity development, and project management to optimize the use of data, information, and collections. Jutta holds a Master of Information Studies with Knowledge Management Specialization, based in Australia.  

Expert

Region: Asia

Joining Date: June 2026

Kamal Djemouai is an independent climate change consultant with expertise in loss and damage, climate finance, adaptation, transparency and climate negotiations. He serves as an adviser to African members of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage and has supported the African Group of Negotiators on climate finance, adaptation, mitigation and transparency. His work includes technical advisory services, environmental impact assessments, capacity-building and support to international climate policy processes, with a focus on addressing climate-related losses and damages across multiple sectors.

Expert

Region: Asia, Oceania

Joining Date: April 2026

Karen’s mission is to advance understanding of climate-related non-economic losses and support equitable responses that are locally led and grounded in community values. She works with governments, NGOs, and communities across the Asia-Pacific to generate evidence on the social and cultural impacts of climate change. Her expertise strengthens the Santiago Network’s role in providing effective, context-specific technical assistance to countries facing loss and damage. 

Expert

Region: Global

Joining Date: June 2026

Katarina Kohutova is a climate risk and disaster risk management specialist with experience supporting governments and partners in climate-vulnerable contexts across Asia and Africa. Her expertise includes climate risk assessment, anticipatory action, forecast-based financing, early warning–early action systems, climate information services and risk-informed planning. She provides technical advisory support on disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, institutional strengthening and the integration of climate and disaster risk information into decision-making, preparedness and resilience planning.

Expert

Region: Global

Joining Date: June 2026

Dr Keith Bettinger is a climate change adaptation and finance specialist with more than a decade of experience supporting vulnerable countries on climate policy, National Adaptation Plans, climate risk and vulnerability assessments, institutional capacity strengthening and climate finance access. He has worked extensively with least developed countries and small island developing states, including across the Pacific, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. His experience includes developing GCF, Adaptation Fund and GEF-LDCF proposals, supporting NAP processes, and providing technical assistance on adaptation, project development, capacity building and loss and damage.

Expert

Region: Asia

Joining Date: May 2025

Dr. Kelly Dorkenoo is a researcher and policy adviser on climate governance, with a PhD on loss and damage. Her work focuses on supporting climate-affected countries and communities to assess and address loss and damage, particularly in agrifood systems across Asia. She combines theoretical knowledge with tailored methodologies to support locally-led assessments of economic and non-economic loss and damage, develop evidence-based national L&D frameworks and support measures for affected communities. Her key areas of expertise include capacity-building, policy framework design, development of participatory methodologies, and training delivery. Previously, she worked on climate adaptation governance at the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre.