About
Alan Miller is a lawyer and an internationally recognized authority on climate finance and policy. His recent clients include the UNEP Finance Initiative (report on climate risks for the financial system); Sustainable Energy For All (report on access to cooling); a UN project to modernize weather systems in 11 African LDCs; and a US State Department project promoting private investment in climate adaptation. He is also an Associate with Climate Finance Advisors and an Adjunct Professor at the Kogod School of Business at American University and the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland.
In January 2014 he retired from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) after 16 years in the World Bank Group (WBG) working on climate change issues including 6 years in the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat. His responsibilities included representing the IFC/WBG at meetings of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, G8, and the G20 as well as other international forums.
Prior to joining the IFC in 2003 Alan was for six years Climate Change Team Leader at the GEF Secretariat managing policies and approval of over $1 billion in donor funding for clean energy projects in more than 70 developing countries. He previously created and directed the Center for Global Change at the University of Maryland (1989-96) and served on the staffs of the World Resources Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Environmental Law Institute. He has taught at 9 universities in four disciplines and has degrees from Cornell University (A.B., Government 1971) and University of Michigan (J.D. and M.P.P. 1974). He was a Fulbright Scholar in Australia (Macquarie University, 1977) and Japan (Tokyo University, 1987).
Education
• A.B., Government, 1971, Cornell University
• J.D., U. Michigan Law School, 1974
• Masters in Public Policy (MPP), U. Michigan, 1974
Recent Work History
January 2014 (retirement from the World Bank) to the present: Independent consultant on climate finance and policy; clients and activities include:
- Editor for Climate Conscious submissions on Medium
- Review and assessment of World Bank use of off-balance sheet climate finance (internal and external impact over time)
- Climate issues for the financial sector, background paper for the Global Commission on Adaptation prepared with support from the UNEP Finance Initiative (2019)
- Consultant/writer, SEForAll Access to Cooling Project (2018- present)
- Linking financing for refrigerant replacement and energy efficiency, two papers and presentations prepared for the Natural Resources Defense Council with support from the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (2018-19)
- Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Residency, February 2018 (book project, ongoing)
- Private sector advisor, UNDP GEF project to modernize weather and climate observation in 11 African Least Developed Countries (2014-18)
- Private Finance Advisor, US AID CEADIR project on climate change economics
- Co-author of paper on climate risk for Maryland Pension Fund that became basis for state law passed in 2018 to require analysis and disclosure of climate risks
- Adjunct professor, U. Michigan Law School (2015-2016); Kogod School of Business, American University (2017-2020); U. Maryland School of Public Policy (2019, 2021)
- Board Member, Good Earth Minerals (2015 to present)