Dr. Kanta Kumari Rigaud is the Lead Adaptation Specialist at the World Bank, with more than 25 years professional experience in natural resources management, environmental management and climate change/adaptation issues. She currently works in the Climate Policy and Finance Department on policy, knowledge management and tools development. She recently co-led the Bank’s engagement on the Turn Down the Heat reports. Kanta leads the Bank’s work on mainstreaming climate risks into project design and upstream dialogue with countries. She is also the Bank’s Focal Point for the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience—a US$1billion program of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF). Prior to her current position, Kanta worked in the Middle East and North Africa Region of the Bank, spearheading several adaptation and conservation initiatives in agricultural and rural landscapes. Prior to the Bank, she worked at the Global Environment Facility on policy, biodiversity,and monitoring and evaluation issues. She was the GEF representative to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Forum on Forests, and several other national and international fora. Kanta has also worked as Senior Research Associate at the Center for Social and Economic Research for the Global Environment in East Anglia, UK , and with the World Wildlife Fund Malaysia. Kanta holds a PhD from the University East Anglia, UK, her doctoral dissertation addressed Total Economic Valuation of the Forests in Malaysia; a Masters in Behavioral Ecology from the University of Stirling, UK; a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology; and a Diploma in Education from Malaysia. She has more than 35 publications, including articles in peer-reviewed journals, and technical reports on natural resources, and environmental and climate issues.