Kunzang

Kunzang works as a Global Coordinator at ICIMOD. Her position is central to advocacy related to the climate and environmental needs of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region. She works on influencing global policy forums, negotiations, and partnerships to secure investments and address climate resilience and environmental challenges.

Kunzang has over 16 years of experience in environment and sustainable development, and has provided strategic policy and legal leadership in critical areas such as waste management, environmental impact assessment, integrated water resource management, environmental governance, and climate change adaptation.

Earlier, she had served as the head of legal and policy services at both Bhutan’s National Environment Commission and later at its Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. In these positions, she played a key role in drafting significant environmental laws for Bhutan, including the Waste Prevention and Management Act (2009), the Water Act (2011), and regulations for ozone and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) management under the Montreal Protocol and Carbon Market Rules, 2023. She also guided Bhutan through the ratification of the Paris Agreement and the Kigali Amendment, and served as the country’s National Ozone Officer as well.

Internationally, Kunzang represented Bhutan and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the UNFCCC climate negotiations. She played a crucial role in securing the recognition of ‘loss and damage’ in the Paris Agreement rule book at COP24 and also promoted the LDC Smooth Transition agenda. At COP28, she was instrumental in advancing the ‘mountain agenda’, thereby ensuring that the needs of the mountainous regions were included in global climate discussions, particularly in the Global Stocktake and Global Goal on Adaptation. She has also been co-facilitating compliance agendas for developing countries under the Paris Agreement and Kyoto Protocol since COP26.

A World Bank Scholar, Kunzang’s academic and professional achievements illustrate her expertise in environmental policy,  international relations, and diplomacy. She also serves as a trainer and mentor for UNFCCC young women negotiators.

Kunzang holds a master’s in environmental management from Yale University and a bachelor’s in law from Pune University, India.