Bhawana Upadhyay is a Senior Specialist at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) in Bangkok, working across environmental and social safeguards, gender, climate policy, and finance.
Her work connects policy, practice, and communities to strengthen inclusive stakeholder engagement, climate finance, and disaster resilience.
I would like to become a Climate Restoration Alliance Ambassador because I believe climate restoration requires not only technological and ecological solutions, but also inclusive approaches that recognize the knowledge, rights, needs and contributions of local communities, Indigenous people, women, youth and elderly and other marginalized groups.
For more than 20 years, I have worked across Asia and Pacific at the intersection of gender equality, social inclusion, natural resource management, climate change, disaster resilience, environmental and social safeguards, and climate finance. In my current role at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), I work on strengthening gender-responsive and socially inclusive climate and disaster action and have coordinated institutional work toward accreditation to the Green Climate Fund. My earlier work with organizations including Oxfam, RECOFTC, IWMI and CGIAR has involved research, policy development, capacity building and community-focused approaches to natural resources, agriculture, water, forests and climate resilience.
I would like to use the Ambassador role to help connect climate restoration ideas with practitioners, policymakers, researchers, civil society and communities in Asia. I am particularly interested in communicating the social and gender dimensions of restoration, supporting local knowledge exchange including indigenous people skills and experiences, and helping demonstrate how ecological restoration can contribute to resilient and inclusive livelihoods.
As a writer, researcher, trainer and practitioner, I can also contribute to public awareness and dialogue by translating complex climate and environmental issues into accessible stories, evidence and practical messages. I see the Ambassador role as an opportunity to learn from the Alliance while contributing my regional experience, networks and commitment to inclusive climate action.
Published here with permission from the Foundation for Climate Restoration.
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