Sharon Gil
Programme Officer, UNEP’s Paris Office
Sharon Gil is a programme officer in UNEP’s Paris Office and leads the work on circular economy in cities. She is a strong advocate for a just transition to a circular economy. She also coordinates partnerships and joint resource mobilization on sustainable urbanization for UNEP.
An urban planner by profession, Sharon started her career in sustainable urban development in the late 90s, as a technical expert on the award-winning UNDP Private Sector Participation in Managing the Environment (PRIME) Project which has the distinction of being one of the first eco-industrial initiatives in Asia. She continued to develop her expertise in sustainable urbanization by rehabilitating old urban areas in Hong Kong with a private architecture and planning firm. Moving back to the development sector, she was instrumental in conceptualizing and implementing the first multi-hazard mapping project focused in coastal cities in the Philippines, bringing together scientists in different fields and linking them with local government actors. She also worked for over a year as Planning Advisor in Zambia where she focused on capacity building on land distribution and gender equality. Sharon joined UNEP in 2012 to manage a project on mainstreaming environment issues in city planning and management.
Sharon has a Masters degree in International Affairs from Columbia University New York’s School of International and Public Affairs. She studied urban planning at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Architecture as a Japan/ADB fellow.
