Sarah Colenbrander

Sarah is the Director of ODI's Climate and Sustainability program. She is an environmental economist who has supported policy-makers across Asia, Africa, and Latin America to develop low-carbon development strategies.

Before joining ODI, Sarah was Head of Global Programmes for the Coalition for Urban Transitions – a network of 35 organizations (including ODI) that supports national governments to identify and implement the deep structural shifts needed to foster productive, inclusive, sustainable cities. She was the lead author of Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity, the report that underpinned the Infrastructure, Cities, and Local Action track of the 2019 UN Climate Summit.

Sarah has also worked on climate change mitigation in cities, energy, and forestry at IIED, the University of Leeds, and Forests Alive. She has co-authored a wide range of academic papers, as well as reports for the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, UN Environment, and the World Bank.

Sarah is an associate of the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and a guest lecturer at the University of Oxford, University College London, and the University of Manchester. Sarah holds a Masters in Environment and Development from Trinity College, Dublin.