A development economist, lawyer and changemaker with over 40 years of varied experience, Mr. Tripathi is the Secretary-General of the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet, New York and Chancellor of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Bhubaneswar - the world’s largest academic institution dedicated exclusively to indigenous people and cultures. He serves on the Global Steering Group of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative, the Jury of Paris Peace Forum and is also a Trustee at Water Unite.

Mr. Tripathi has served with the UN for more than two decades in key positions across the planet and was most recently the UN Assistant Secretary-General, Head of New York Office at UN Environment and Secretary of the UN Environment Management Group. His other strategic engagements with the UN include: Head of Human Rights Investigations for the UN in post-war Bosnia (UNMIBH); Chair of the Committees on Laws, Treaties and Administrative matters for the UN-mediated Cyprus unification talks; UN Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias where he facilitated international cooperation and funding of over US$ 7 billion for post-tsunami recovery efforts in support of the government and affected populations; and Executive Head of UNORCID, a UN System Office of ten UN agencies established by the UN Secretary-General in 2011 to facilitate the implementation of a US$ 1 Billion REDD+ partnership between Indonesia, Norway and other stakeholders.

An alumnus of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Mr. Tripathi has published widely on conservation, green economy transition, sustainable development and climate change mitigation/adaptation.


Mr. Tripathi was instrumental in establishing the Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (TLFF) in Indonesia in 2016 and the Sustainable India Finance Facility (SIFF) in 2017 to leverage ‘private finance for public good’ at mega-scale to achieve transformative social and environmental impact for millions of people in developing countries. He previously served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Forests.