Lavanya Rama Iyer
Lavanya joined WWF-Malaysia in 2013. She is a professionally qualified lawyer and a Chevening Scholar. She has a MSc in Sustainability (Climate Change) from the University of Leeds and a law degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury. She represents WWF-Malaysia in the CSO-SDG Alliance and several SDG Task Forces convened by EPU to implement the SDG Agenda in Malaysia. Lavanya has attended the UN SDG Regional Forum in Bangkok and the High Level Political Forum in New York.
She has represented WWF-Malaysia in several national efforts on environment and sustainability, including the preparation of the SDG Roadmap, the Third National Communication to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 11th Malaysia Plan, the National Biodiversity Policy 2016-2025 and national reports to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Lavanya also coordinated the Malaysian Climate Change Group (MCCG) from 2014-2016 and chaired the organization of the MCCG event called the Interfaith Dialogue on Climate Change in 2015.
Her other work experiences include working with the Malaysian Government on a UNDP funded project to prepare Malaysia’s climate change report called the Second National Communication to the UNFCCC; working at the UN in Geneva on post conflict issues; and practicing law in Malaysia. She has been a Malaysian delegate at the UNFCCC negotiations and was an expert reviewer of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report and Malaysia’s First Biennial Update Report to the UNFCCC. She has also spoken and presented in forums and panels domestically and internationally on sustainable development and climate change issues including at Astana Expo 2017 on Energy of the Future.
More recently, she has been supporting the formation of the Malaysian chapter of the Climate Governance Initiative for Corporate Boards and involved in the 12th Malaysia Plan consultations.
Her work interests include promoting the value of nature to develop sustainably and addressing climate change.
