Pacifica Ogola

Dr. Pacifica F. Achieng Ogola is a prominent Kenyan environmental scientist and climate diplomat . She serves as the Director of the Climate Change Directorate within Kenya’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry.With over 25 years of sectoral experience, she acts as Kenya’s Lead Negotiator and National Focal Point to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In this capacity, she guides national climate policy, carbon market regulations, and Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement . She is also a board member for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Interim President of African Women Advancing Geothermal Energy (AWAG).Before joining the Ministry in 2016, Dr. Ogola spent 17 years at the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen). Her final role there was Chief Clean Development Mechanism Officer, managing environmental compliance and carbon offsetting for major renewable energy infrastructure.She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Natural Resources from the University of Iceland, specializing in geothermal energy development. Her core expertise centers on clean energy deployment and global climate governance. Dr. Ogola holds a PhD in Environmental Science and has extensive experience in climate change governance, national and international climate diplomacy, and policy formulation. She is the Director and Head of the Climate Change Directorate at the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry.
In her international capacity, she serves as a UNFCCC Negotiations Co-facilitator for Bunker Fuels, Budget, and Article 6.2 (Carbon Markets) negotiations. She is also the Technical National Focal Point to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Previously, Dr. Ogola served at the Kenya Electricity Generating Company Ltd (KenGen), with her last executive position being Chief Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Officer. In this role, she led environmental compliance, including Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA), Environmental Audits, and the monitoring of hydro, wind, thermal, and geothermal electric power projects. She also managed six Clean Development Mechanism (CDM – Carbon Markets) power projects, successfully trading carbon credits from these initiatives.
Dr. Ogola serves on the following national and international Boards:
Green Climate Fund (GCF);
Technical Advisory Body for the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO);
NETFUND Board of Trustees (Representative of the Principal Secretary, Environment and Climate Change);
KenGen Industry Advisory Board, Geothermal Training Centre.
She is the Co-Chair for the Kenya-Japan Joint Credit Mechanism (JCM) for carbon trading and has led other related bilateral agreements.
She has published papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and is a reviewer, trainer, mentor, and Lead Expert in Environmental Impact Assessment/Environmental Audits. Additionally, she is a United Nations University Geothermal Training Programme Fellow and holds the distinction of being the first African to earn a PhD in Iceland.