Observer Research Foundation Middle East

Director and Fellow, Climate and Energy

Mannat Jaspal is the director and fellow for climate and energy at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) Middle East. She is expanding the research centre to support innovative, impactful and policy-relevant efforts in the region and beyond. Her focus spans geopolitics, geoeconomics, and climate and energy policy, and she has expertise in climate finance, transition finance, carbon markets, multilateral development bank reforms and just energy transitions. Previously, she was part of the geoeconomics studies programme at ORF New Delhi, where she authored policy briefs, op-eds and special reports on sustainable finance and just energy transitions for the foundation and key government stakeholders. She also curated the Energy Transition Dialogues 2023, fostering conversation and partnerships to accelerate renewable energy investments and climate finance across India and the global south. Earlier in her career, she led the social impact measurement and management division at a multinational consulting firm and worked with the United Nations Development Programme on projects spanning education, health, livelihoods and gender. Her professional experience covers Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Ms Jaspal holds a master’s degree in economics and international finance from the University of Warwick, where she received an India-Warwick Scholarship.