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> Climate Change research group

Brianna Craft

Senior researcher, Climate Change

Brianna Craft started in the UN climate negotiations in 2011, and witnessed the adoption of the Paris Agreement first hand. She works to further equity in this forum for the world’s poorest countries, which have done the least to cause climate change but are the most vulnerable to its impacts.
Full biography
Expertise

International climate change negotiations and diplomacy are the focus of Brianna’s work. Her academic background lies in the development and transfer of environmentally-sound technologies, as a component of these negotiations. She has several years’ experience in building the capacity of developing country delegates to negotiate, and has published work on the global adaptation goal.

Before IIED

Brianna worked as a research assistant for the Collaborative Initiative for Research Ethics (CIRE) at Brown University from September 2011 to June 2013. Her work focused on the anti-racism theory and the exploitation of African-Americans in medical research. 

In 2012, she interned for the UNFCCC’s Adaptation Program in their National Adaptation Plans and Policy Subprogram. She examined adaptation projects being implemented in least developed countries under the National Adaptation Programmes of Action and presented potential classification systems for these projects within the frameworks of various UN agencies.

Brianna worked as an AmeriCorps sustainability coordinator for the Environmental Outreach and Stewardship Alliance. From 2010-2011, her work involved: organising community events, such as the Columbia City Climate Co-op Meetings; engaging in environmental outreach, like promoting environmental clubs at local schools; and performing habitat restoration at a 15-acre Seattle greenbelt.  

During 2009, Brianna won the Bonderman Travel Fellowship and undertook an independent exploration of the 14 countries exploring how climate change affects people around the world.

Education
An alumna of Brown University, Brianna holds a MA in Environmental Studies. Her thesis focused on transferring technology to the least developed countries as part of UN climate change agreements and drew on the methods of: stakeholder interviews; creating and analysing a project database; participant observation as a Gambian delegate to the UNFCCC; and literature review. She also has a BA in Architectural Studies from the University of Washington, with minors in Environmental Studies and Urban Planning.

Current work

Brianna supports the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group at the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations. She works with LDC representatives to negotiate outcomes on technology development and transfer that benefit the world’s poorest. 

She also conducts research and contributes to strategy aimed at increasing the influence of the LDCs’ climate diplomacy. And she designs training workshops and mentors junior women to become better UNFCCC negotiators as part of the European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi).

Interviews

IIED expert interviews: Brianna Craft
Brianna Craft's picture
Telephone: 
+44 (0) 20 3463 7399
Email: 
brianna.craft@iied.org
Twitter: @pbnclimate
ResearchGate
Google Scholar
 

Brianna Craft's projects

UNFCCC negotiations session, Bonn, May 2017 (Photo Janna Tenzing/IIED)

Facilitating better representation of LDCs in the UNFCCC process

Project, Mar 2018
Group of people posing for a picture in front on a building

Helping poorest nations engage in climate diplomacy

Project, Nov 2014
Group of men and women pose for a photo on stairs

Workshops that build climate negotiators' capacity: European Capacity Building Initiative training and support programme

Project, Dec 2012

Latest publications

The impacts of COVID-19 on climate diplomacy

Pocket Guide to Technology under the UNFCCC

The critical role of science in guiding UN climate negotiations

European Capacity Building Initiative – ecbi Training and Support Programme

Initiative européenne pour le renforcement des capacités – ecbi Programme de formation et d'appui

Least Developed Countries' experiences with the UNFCCC technology mechanism

View more publications by this author

 

Brianna Craft's blog posts

Landscape of terrace fields and homes.

Delivering an inclusive COP26 in the age of COVID-19 requires more than vaccines

Blog, Jul 2021
Five people sitting on a table delivering a presentation

Challenges for climate diplomacy during a pandemic

Blog, Mar 2021
Smiling women gather in front of a climate change conference sign and give a thumbs up

Supporting more than equal numbers in international climate debates

Blog, Mar 2020
Participants at the 2018 European Capacity Building Initiative workshop for new negotiators from least developed countries countries (Photo: Matt Wright/IIED)

Women in the UN climate negotiations: are we tipping the balance?

Blog, Mar 2019
Hordes of journalists gather at a packed press conference to listen to the High Ambition Coalition in Paris in 2015

Climate diplomacy in the age of Trump: updating our theory of change

Blog, Apr 2018
Stella Gama of Malawi at a desk speaks into a microphone as she briefs the Technology Executive Committee

Supporting least developed countries on climate technology transfer

Blog, Apr 2018
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Links to other sites

Measuring the adaptation goal in the global stocktake of the Paris Agreement

Climate Policy, June 2018

 
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50 years linking local to global

Find out more about IIED’s plans in our 50th birthday year: our achievements and what comes next…

IIED's mission is to build a fairer, more sustainable world, using evidence, action and influence in partnership with others. We link local priorities and global challenges, and our 2019-2024 strategy details how we will Make Change Happen

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Tel: +44 (0)20 3463 7399

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