Cecilia Bjerborn Murai brings 25 years of experience in international and African settings, where she has been involved in developing and implementing programs and projects that focus on sustainable finance policy, investment strategies and instruments, and investor education.  She has been an active player in the global sustainable business and finance sector since its inception and has throughout her career established impactful strategies and partnerships for institutions engaged in sustainable finance.

She has worked for over 15 years with the United Nations and the World Bank Group. During this time, she worked on global initiatives such as the UN Principles for Responsible Investing and at IFC as Global Sustainable Investing Lead with institutional investors in the US, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East and Southern Africa on their ESG integration strategies.  She was part of pioneering projects such as the implementation of the first ESG equity indices in Brazil, MENA, and India. Before her work with the World Bank Group, she gained experience working for specialist sustainability management consulting firms in Sweden and the UK implementing Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS) and reporting for clients in the construction, manufacturing, and utilities sectors.

She has spent the last decade living and working in Africa, primarily in transaction advisory for sustainable infrastructure as well as developing the Green and Sustainable Bond Market as a consultant for FSD Africa, creating sustainable bond listing guidelines in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, and the SADC region, and providing training and technical support for green bond issuers, stock exchanges, fund managers, and regulators. She has also authored several market-leading Sustainability and Integrated Annual Reports for private sector companies in Kenya. She was a technical regional advisor for the EU Global Gateway project and led the Climate Finance pillar of the first African Climate Summit. Following that, she developed a program on debt sustainability initiatives and sustainable investment mobilization for UNECA and the African Union.

Cecilia holds an MSc in Environmental Engineering from Imperial College UK, is an Associate Member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (AMIEM) UK and holds a certificate in Project Management from George Washington University, USA.

She enjoys spending time in nature with her family and supports the primary school’s extracurricular activities related to conservation and beach sports.