Smita Nakhooda is a leads ODI's work stream on climate finance, and is an expert on climate change and energy policy in developing countries. She currently advises various international organisations and governments on climate finance issues.

She was previously a Senior Associate in the Institutions and Governance Program at the World Resources Institute, where she led programmes to stregnthen governance of electricity in major developing countries, and on the environmental impacts of development finance. She also developed work to stregnthen governance of forests in the context of global efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. In 2010 she was a Senior Research Associate of Idasa, an African democracy institute based in South Africa, working with civil society and independent research institutions to inform and influence emerging policies and plans in the electricity sector. Earlier in her career she worked on rural electrification in East Africa with the United Nations Development Program.

Smita holds an MSc in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK), and a BA in Government and Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College (USA).