Nair de Sousa is a young Climate Geoscientist, who has a genuine enthusiasm for advancing the Energy Sector in Africa by fighting against Climate Change. Currently serving as the Sustainable Energy Director with a focus on low carbon technologies in multiple sectors, Nair leads ACBA’s Geosciences & Technology team responsible for supporting governments and businesses in improving their NDCs by implementing circular economy strategies, and policy implementation for technology deployment into domestic markets throughout Africa. 

Her current role as the Sustainable Energy Director at ACBA includes developing carbon credits for multiple purposes (reduction, protection, and removal), and assessing & quantifying the carbon/methane emissions released by industrial processes. She assesses the country’s capacity for permanent storage of CO2 supporting emission reduction in multiple sectors. Additionally,  she assesses the country’s geothermal energy potential for generating new forms of producing energy and supports governments and businesses with infrastructure development and security for building regional pipelines for CO2 capture, transport, and permanent storage infrastructures

Having a BSc. in Geology, a post-degree in Research Methods in Geosciences, and an MSc. Reservoir Evaluation and Management, Nair uses her academic background to develop unparalleled expertise for developing innovative forms of combating the Climate Crisis. Her current research includes assessing the country’s permanent CO2 storage capacity for carbon emission reduction and assessing the country’s geothermal energy potential for generating new forms of producing energy. For supporting her current role, Nair has recently reinforced her skills and completed Financial Risk Management and Sustainability & Climate Risk certifications successfully. 

Before her current role, Nair was part of a team of policy, economics, and technical experts that have helped advance some of the most important carbon capture and storage policies to date in the US and Europe. From this experience, she developed an understanding of the business model, technical, and policy experience in the US and Europe, and is currently making it relevant to the context of emerging markets in African countries. 

Nair believes that building a valuable database for a Circular Carbon Market in Africa is a key step that African governments and businesses should embrace to provide sustainable-bankable solutions for current issues such as underdevelopment, energy crisis, and energy dependence. 

Being a member of the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition, she advocates for Policy Development of low-cost technologies that reduce the worst impacts of Climate Change. 

Nair is a Young African Leader (YALI) and a 2021 Mandela Washington Fellow Alumni who have been striving in “Transforming the Africa We Want” into a better place by impacting governments, businesses, and the life of people within African communities and the world.