Our Team

Christophe is coordinating the Innovative Solar window under the Renewable Energy Program. Prior to joining ESMAP, Christophe was the Climate Change Coordinator for the Energy Practice in the East Asia and Pacific Region. He coordinated the China Energy Team in Beijing for three years and both the Energy and Climate Change World Bank engagements in Brazil for five years. Christophe joined the Bank Energy Practice in 2002, having lead teams for 25+ projects and  25+ analytical works in Energy covering a broad spectrum of topics ranging from rural access to renewables, energy efficiency, coal phasing out, battery storage, electrical vehicles, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), energy pricing, power and gas sector reforms, utility management and privatization, mineral sector reform, institutional modernization, post-disaster recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia and East Asia, and before the Bank, also in Europe.

Christophe has been working on Climate Change and Carbon / Green Finance across several sectors for more than 20 years, leading pioneer reports on low-carbon development and climate change strategies in several countries and regions as well as developing innovative tools and modeling related to GHG abatement costs and investment financing. Before joining the World Bank, he was a Senior Researcher at CIRED, a public research center in energy and environment economics located in Paris, France, coordinating the areas of power sector reform, RE, Demand Side Management, rural access and GHG mitigation in Europe and developing countries. He participated in Kyoto Protocol negotiations as a member of the official French delegation to UNFCCC, leading Tech Transfer (art 4.5) and CDM (art. 12) and was appointed to the UNFCCC Secretariat CDM MethPanel for 5 years to design and implement the CDM globally. He holds an engineer degree, a master’s degree in business administration and a PhD in Energy Economics and published peer-reviewed papers in several scientific journals.

Claire is a member of the power system planning team.  Her primary focus is to support the Africa program, as well as maintenance and development of the Electricity Planning Model and growing climate resilience-related work for energy infrastructure.

Before joining ESMAP, Claire worked in the Sustainable Development Chief Economist’s office for almost 2 years focusing on Climate Change mitigation and decision making under deep uncertainty. She provided cross-support to the Energy Global Practice, mostly on projects involving power planning, and to the Environment Global Practice to help teams and clients take long-term uncertainties into account in the preparation of projects and strategies.   Prior to the World Bank, Claire worked for four years in the oil refining industry as a strategic marketing engineer.

Claire holds a PhD in economics on “Robust energy and climate modeling for policy assessment’ from Nanterre University (France), an engineering degree from ENSTA ParisTech, and an M.Sc in Economics from Ponts ParisTech.

Claire is the author of a forthcoming book on “How much is needed? Infrastructure investment for sustainable development.”

Clemencia will be leading the ESMAP’s Global Facility on Mini Grids (GFMG), a key part of ESMAP’s electricity access program.  She brings extensive operational experience in dealing with a wide range of issues in the electricity sector, from rural and peri-urban electrification, developing regional transmission networks, to supporting reforms of electricity utilities and leading country policy dialogue and energy programs in several countries.

Clemencia previously worked in the Middle East and North Africa, Latin American and the Caribbean, and Africa regions in operations, on analytical work, and sharing of knowledge in DEC and PPIAF.  In addition to her work on the electricity sector, Clemencia worked several years on a broader infrastructure agenda, and on the best ways to tap on private sector participation in the various sectors.  Clemencia holds a master’s degree in political economy and a Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University.

Daron is part of the ESMAP Accelerating Decarbonization and Knowledge Hub teams. His work focuses on efficient, clean cooling technical assistance programs; the Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) index, and various regional operations as a continuation of the 2015 global rollout of RISE. Within the World Bank, Daron has supported projects in Djibouti, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, and Senegal, as well as helped to implement the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting mandate. Prior to joining the World Bank, Daron was a private sector consultant, advising asset management firms, and a public sector advisor for a new energy efficiency fund as part of the Ontario government’s Climate Change Action Plan. Daron holds an Honor’s BA in Commerce from Queen’s University and a MA in Global Affairs from the University of Toronto.

Defne is the co-lead of the Energy Subsidy Reform Facility. Prior to joining ESMAP, Defne worked as a Senior Energy Specialist in the Bank’s Energy and Extractives Global Practice in the South Asia Region, focusing on energy sector reform, policy and regulation, energy efficiency, sustainable cooling, and agriculture-water energy nexus topics in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.  

Defne previously worked in the East Asia and Pacific Region focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, rural electrification, regional power trade, and energy sector policy and reform engagements in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam.  Before joining the World Bank, Defne worked for the Energy Market Regulatory Authority of Turkey; in a private international energy major in Houston and an international policy think tank in Washington DC.  Defne has an MA from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), with a concentration in energy and international finance.

Djeanane provides operational and administrative support to the M&E and Portfolio team. Prior to joining ESMAP, she worked at the World Bank Country Office in Haiti, the United Nations Office for Project Services, and Christian Aid.  Djeanane holds a BA in Business Administration and one in Hospitality from Université de Montpellier in France and Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Technologie in Haiti.

Ms. Monfort earned her MA in Sustainable Development from Université du Maine in France where her thesis focused on sustainable tourism for economic and social development in remote locations in Haiti. Djeanane is currently enrolled in a master’s in public administration specializing in Program Evaluation.

Dolf Gielen is the lead for the Green Hydrogen Program in ESMAP. Prior to joining the World Bank, Dolf worked for IEA, IRENA and UNIDO. He has 30 years of experience in energy and climate policy, with emphasis on innovation, technology and economics. Dolf has advised many senior public and private sector players in various settings. This includes CEM, G7, G20, MI, SE4ALL, UNFCCC, SE4ALL and WEF, amongst others. He was part of the management team that established IRENA as a new intergovernmental agency.    

Dolf has a PhD from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands in energy and materials systems modeling. He studied chemical engineering and environmental sciences. Dolf has written more than 150 peer reviewed scientific papers, books, and reports. At the center of his work is the support for better informed energy and climate decision making.

Learn more about Dolf:  Researchgate | Google Scholar

Elin leads the geothermal programs both under Accelerating Decarbonization (Geothermal Direct Use) and Energizing Renewables (Geothermal Electrical Generation). Prior before joining ESMAP, Elin worked at Mannvit an international consulting company where she worked exclusively on geothermal projects since 1999. Elin’s areas of specialization include project management, project development, preparation of feasibility studies, process design, commissioning and supervision of mechanical systems, including steamfield and power plant.  She holds a C.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iceland and M.Sc. in engineering from the Technical University of Denmark.

Elisa leads the coordination and project management of the ESMAP Energy Analytics Hub which includes: Tracking SDG7: Energy Progress Report, Multi-tier Framework Global Survey (MTF), and Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE). She has worked on several projects on energy access, particularly: Energy Access for the Urban Poor Program, Global Status of Electricity Access Report (SEAR), and the Energy Sector Resilience Project. Elisa’s experience covers several countries in Africa, East Asia and Pacific, South Asia and Latin American and Caribbean. Prior to ESMAP, Elisa worked in Sustainable Development and Climate Change Policy at Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. She holds a Ph.D in Sustainable Development (Energy) and MSc in Economics and is a Harvard Kennedy School Fellow in Sustainability Science.

Henrik is leading the new Zero Carbon Public Sector program under the Accelerating Decarbonization window in the upcoming ESMAP business plan for 2021-2024. He holds over 20 years of experience in designing and implementing energy efficiency strategies and policies in developing and emerging economies. He has been advisor to various multilateral development organizations for projects on energy efficient buildings, low carbon cities, energy standards and labeling and energy performance contracting. Henrik holds a master’s degree in Energy Planning from the University of Aalborg, Denmark.

Jenny is a senior energy specialist, leading the cross-sectoral Efficient, Clean Cooling program which focuses on efficient and climate friendly solutions for space cooling and cold chains in the health and agriculture sectors.

Prior to joining ESMAP, Jenny worked in the Bank’s Energy and Extractives Global Practice in the Africa regions for over 10 years, where she managed various energy sector country dialogue and investment lending and analytical projects on energy access, energy efficiency, and renewables in countries such as Liberia, South Sudan, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. Jenny has also worked extensively on regional integration, energy finance, utility performance improvement, and power sector reforms and led regional program such as the Lighting Africa Program, Africa Electrification Initiative, and the Africa Energy Efficiency program.

Jenny started her career at the World Bank in the Liberia Country Office where she supported the infrastructure portfolio of the Urban, Transport and Energy Global Practices. Jenny holds a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.

Johanna joined the ESMAP Energy Access program while providing cross-support to the Energy and Extractives global unit and lending operational support to World Bank regions.

Being an off-grid electricity access expert, Johanna has supported the ESMAP/Lighting Global program as an STC since 2019. As part of her work, she helped with the preparation of energy access projects in Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea and delivered several knowledge products focusing on the leave no one behind agenda, innovative application of subsidies, and off-grid solar market development. Prior to joining the World Bank, Johanna worked with GOGLA, the industry association for the off-grid solar sector. As the first employee at GOGLA, she played a catalytic role in establishing and growing the association. As the policy director she was part of the management team, led the advocacy work as well as the teams working on policy engagement, access to finance, consumer protection, and impact research. Johanna holds a Magister in Political Science and a Bachelor in International Development from the University of Vienna. Currently, she is pursuing an MBA at Warwick Business School.