Senior Management

Prior to joining IRENA, Ms. Singh worked within India’s federal government and at the apex level within provincial government. Federally, she was responsible for leading the development of the National Solar Mission of India policy in 2010, an early policy framework designed to drive solar power development across the country. At the Madhya Pradesh provincial Government, Ms. Singh steered rural development providing strategic planning and implementation guidance across the state for large initiatives. Her work involved poverty reduction and sustainable development within rural communities. She was also responsible for spearheading initiatives aimed at improving livelihoods for nearly two million poor women across the state. In Madhya Pradesh, Ms. Singh led livelihood projects based on decentralised renewable energy solutions to support rural artisans and ran an ambitious intervention to restore the flow of 40 rivers across the state, based on the use of remote sensing maps. She also played a key role in drafting the framework for the state Right to Water Act. Prior to that, Ms. Singh was Director, Country support and Partnerships at IRENA where she was responsible for regional and country level initiatives and for spearheading partnerships with regional energy and economic organisations.

In his role, Mr. Badr is tasked with leading the development of the division by building strong lines of cooperation with development banks and international financial institutions. He also spearheads the Agency’s implementation of the Climate Investment Platform, a multi-stakeholder platform established in partnership with SE4All, the UNDP and in coordination with Green Climate Fund, and manages IRENA’s ongoing relationship with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. Prior to joining IRENA, Mr. Badr held several senior operational positions in the field of climate change, renewable energy, energy efficiency, water and infrastructure projects in a number of multinational financial institutions, including the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Commission (EuropeAid), and Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Mr. Badr is certified a project infrastructure project manager, with a B.Sc in Civil Engineering and Master’s Degree in Infrastructure Economics from the Université de Nantes, France.

Mr. Biya has 18 years of diplomatic experience, including in the field of sustainable development. Previously, he undertook a number of assignments at the Ministry of External Relations of Cameroon on partnerships and cooperation with the European Union and the UN. He also served at the Permanent Mission of Cameroon to the UN in New York where he represented the Cameroon at the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). He holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (University of Yaoundé II).

Mr. Gonul joined IRENA in 2014 as Head of Regions Unit. Formerly, he worked as Senior Energy Economist of the Islamic Development Bank between 2010 and 2014, where he led the work for the development of an Energy Sector Policy for the Bank as well as the processing of complex loan and technical assistance projects in Africa and Asia. Between 2004 and 2010, Mr. Gonul served as Senior Expert at the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels, where he spearheaded policy analysis, sectoral in-depth reviews, regional / country reviews concerning energy investments, trade and transportation. He also held positions in the EU Commission’s Delegation in Ankara and Turkey’s Ministry of Energy since 1993. Mr. Gonul holds Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Oil and Gas Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara.

He has more than 30 years of experience in administrative operations with both for-profit and non-profit entities in the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Mr. Neese has a Master of Business administration from the University of Oklahoma in addition to his financial certifications as CPA, CMA, CTP and qualified financial advisor.

Ms Press has served with IRENA since its inception in 2011. Before joining the Agency, she worked for some 18 years in development and peace and security, predominately with the United Nations. Ms Press served in Africa, Europe, Middle East, North America, and South-East Asia. She has an MA in Public Administration.

Roland joined IRENA in 2012 and has worked in multiple work programs since. For two years prior to joining IRENA, Roland had been Professor for Energy Economics at the University of Applied Science in Damstadt. Previously, he worked for 15 years in the oil and gas and utilities industries for Shell and E.ON, latterly as General Manager Power with Shell and as Head of Division, Project Leader, Project Executive and Technical Project Developer with E.ON. Prior to that, he worked as an Energy Market Consultant for Lahmeyer International and as a researcher in renewable energy. Roland has solid business experience in energy markets, energy economics and strategies, renewable integration management, energy project development and project financing.

Before joining IRENA, Ms. Secada was Director-General of Climate Change and Desertification under the Ministry of Environment in Peru, where she led the design and implementation of the country´s public policies on climate change. Under her lead the high-level permanent Commission on Climate Change of Peru was established, and as Technical Secretary she guided the process to update the country´s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Prior to that, as the Director for Green House Gas Mitigation, Ms Secada was responsible for developing and coordinating low-carbon public policies and sustainable development in Peru. She is also engaged in UNFCCC Climate Change International Negotiations and led Peru’s COP24 and COP25 delegations in Katowice and Madrid, respectively. Ms. Secada has fostered international cooperation to implement climate change projects with UNDP, SECO Swiss Cooperation, FAO, UNEP- DTU, NDC Partnership, Global Environmental Facility (GEF), International Development Bank, and World Bank, and served as country focal point for Germany´s International Climate Initiative (IKI) and Euroclima+ programme financed by the EU. Ms. Secada holds a Bachelor’s in Science and Philosophy from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru, a Master’s in Conservation Science from Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru, and has studied Environmental Change and Management at School of Geography and the Environment at Oxford University.