Youssef Nassef
Youssef Nassef is the director of the Adaptation Division at UN Climate Change
(UNFCCC). He has over thirty-four years of experience in diplomacy and international
environmental policy, and is a seconded ambassador from the Egyptian Foreign
Service. While assuming progressively higher levels of leadership at the UNFCCC, he
led UNFCCC support for all workstreams on Adaptation and Loss and Damage. Most
recently, he created the Resilience Frontiers initiative which applies foresight-led
approaches for attaining post-2030 resilience. Nassef holds a PhD in international
technology policy and management and an MA in law and diplomacy in international
environmental policy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He earned an MA in
Middle East studies and a BSc in computer science and physics from the American
University in Cairo.
The Adaptation division supports Parties in enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening
resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change. It facilitates the provision of
holistic technical guidance and advice to Parties on all aspects of adaptation and
resilience, especially on assessing climate change risks and sharing knowledge;
planning responses to impacts and vulnerability; and enhancing implementation and
reviewing progress.
The division supports a number of processes, including the NAP process,
the Glasgow–Sharm el-Sheikh work programme on the global goal on adaptation and
four constituted bodies.