Adnan Z. Amin is an experienced international official and development economist specializing in sustainable development In December 2022, Mr. Amin was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties ( In his role, he has overall oversight and responsibility for supporting the COP28 President, leading the COP28 Office and delivering COP28.

Prior to this, Mr. Amin led a distinguished career serving t he United Nations and international organizations for over 20 years. Mr. Amin served as the f ounding Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency ( from 2011 to 2019 leading the organization to become the authoritative voice of renewable energy and a leading player in the global energy transition. In recognition of his leadership and outstanding service to IRENA, he was granted the honorary title of Director General Emeritus in 2019.

He also served as Head of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination Secretariat, the Secretary General’s principal policy coordination body comprising the Executive Heads of the UN system as well as Executive Director of a major reform commission on coherence in the UN’s development, environment and humanitarian activities Previously, Mr. Amin was the Director of the United Nations Environment Programme ( New York Office and led the Secretariat supporting the intergovernmental review of international environmental governance while also serving as a Trustee and Member of the Board of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, one of the world’s premier biodiversity information institutions.

Mr. Amin was appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations as a member of his High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change in September 2020 and has served on several advisory boards in the private sector and academia Before his current appointment, he was Senior Research Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government until July 2022, specializing in geopolitics of the energy transition.

In 2019 he was a warded the title of Honorary Professor of Practice at the University of Sussex Business School, his alma mater He has been conferred the following honours:

- Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear bestowed by the President of Kenya, December 2018
- First Class Order of Zayed II bestow ed by the President of the United Arab Emirates, March 2019
- Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, bestowed by the President of Italy, November 2020
- Astana Medal bestowed by the President of Kazakhstan September 2018

After his tenure at IRENA, Mr. Amin has served on a number of important initiatives including:

- Member of the OECD High Level Advisory Group on Aligning Development Co operation with the
- Objectives of the Paris Agreement
- Distinguished Fellow of the Atlantic Council
- Member of the Jury of the Zayed Sustainability Prize
- Member of the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee
- Member of the Stanford University Global Energy Council
- Member of the Global Commission to end Energy Poverty MIT/Rockefeller Fo undation
- Member of the International Advisory Panel on Energy of the Government of Singapore