Dr Mohammed Abdelraouf

Dr Mohammed Abdelraouf is the Sustainability Research Program Manager of the Gulf Research Center. He holds a Ph. D. in Environmental Economics from Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt and has done an advanced training program in Environmental Economics at the University of Augsburg, Germany. Dr Raouf was the lead author for UNEP GEO-5 and 6 Reports, West Asia chapter on Environmental Governance section. He is a part-time lecturer of Environmental Economics at various universities in the MENA region. Dr Raouf writes articles and commentaries in Arabic, English and French in various media outlets in the MENA region and globally. He published various policy papers on different environmental issues in MENA Region and authored five books. His recent book, co-edited with Dr Elie Azar, titled “Sustainability in the Gulf: Challenges and Opportunities”, published by Rutledge in 2018.

Dr Vera Lalchevska

Dr Vera Lalchevska is a politicologue and currently acts Senior Researcher at the Gulf Research Center Foundation in Geneva, where she is also in charge of strategic partnerships. She holds a Master’s degree in International Development Policy from Duke University and a PhD in Development Studies from Geneva’s Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. Her focus is on the human rights angle of sustainable development – namely, SDG numbers 16, 10, 11, 8, 5, 4, and 3. Previously Deputy National Coordinator for the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie in her country’s government, she was also a long-time UN Press Officer, covering, inter alia, the Human Rights Council, the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.  She has also advised the UN Human Rights Office on integrating the human rights mechanisms within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals system. In her twenty-year career, Dr Lalchevska has co-founded several non-governmental organisations promoting human rights and development and has worked for a handful of think tanks in Washington DC and Geneva, as well as several UN bodies in the field and in headquarters.

Dr Manal Shehabi

Dr Manal Shehabi is an applied economist with recognised expertise in energy, economics, and resource sustainability in resource exporters, focusing on the Middle East. She is an Academic Visitor at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, and Founding Director of SHEER Research & Advisory.  She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and a Research Associate of the Economic Research Forum.  She publishes in high-impact journals, books, and policy reports. Her research offers important contributions to understanding and modelling energy and economic sustainability and policy alternative in Gulf hydrocarbon economies following the energy transition and hydrocarbon price volatility.  This research examines areas of hydrogen and decarbonisation, economic diversification, subsidy reform, expatriate labour, oligopoly rents and policy alternatives.  The impacts of her research on policy include constructing an economic model for policymaking in Kuwait, reviewing Kuwait’s national hydrogen strategy, conducting capacity building for policymakers, and serving as an expert with the UNFCCC.  She contributed to various international policy reports, including in the capacity as lead co-author of policy briefs to the 2021 T7 Germany (of the G7) and the 2021 T20 Italy (of the G20); co-author of a report to the UNFCCC on the impacts of response measures in developing countries, presented at COP 26; co-author of Kuwait Energy Outlook 2020; and Contributing Author to the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.  A regular speaker at international seminars and conferences, she has been interviewed and cited in major international media outlets (such as Time Magazine, Bloomberg, Aljazeera, Al-Arabiya, Sky News Arabia, ABC radio, and the BBC). She has experience advising policymakers and multinational firms in various industries, mainly energy and mining, including Fortune 500 companies. A polyglot, her language skills include French, Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin Chinese.